Terry Davis (author)
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| Terry Davis | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1947 Spokane, Washington |
| Occupation | novelist, columnist, screenwriter, professor |
| Genres | Fiction, Young Adult |
Terry Davis (born 1947) is an American novelist who lives in Minnesota and is currently a professor in the English department at Minnesota State University, Mankato, where he teaches Creative writing--fiction and screenwriting--as well as adolescent literature. Davis, who has been a high-school English teacher and a wrestling coach, is the author of three novels for young adults: Vision Quest (1979), Mysterious Ways (1984), and If Rock & Roll Were a Machine (1992). He has also written Presenting Chris Crutcher, a biography of the respected young-adult author.
John Irving called Vision Quest "the truest novel about growing up since Catcher in the Rye," and said, "it's a better novel about wrestling, and wrestlers, than The World According to Garp."[cite this quote]
Vision Quest was made into a 1985 movie of the same title, starring Matthew Modine and Linda Fiorentino.
Contents |
[edit] Early Life
Author Terry Davis was born and raised in Spokane, Washington where his character and literary bent was shaped. The son of a housewife and a sales executive, Davis excelled at Shadle Park High School as a wrestler and basketball player, then went on to study English at Eastern Washington University where he met fellow student Chris Crutcher -- a year his senior.
Recognized early as a gifted writer, Davis went from Eastern to study under John Irving at the University of Iowa's Writers' Workshop, and later at Stanford University as an honored Wallace Stegner Literary Fellow. It was here that the novel Vision Quest began to take shape.
[edit] Recent Years
To fans of novelist Terry Davis, it is no news that he loves motorcycles. They play a role in most of his fiction and articles, and in Mankato Minnesota Davis riding around on a Norton or Yamaha is a familiar sight. Now Davis is carrying that passion a step further in real life. Terry Davis' Clandestine Classic Cycles opened in Rapidan, Minnesota on May 01, 2007. Opening Clandestine Classic Cycles is the realization of a long term dream for Terry Davis whose love for classic bikes is clearly displayed in his 1992 novel If Rock & Roll Were a Machine. Davis continues to teach and write and is currently working on a screen play entitled The Silk Ball.
[edit] Awards
- Vision Quest - ALA Best Books for Young Adults, 1980
- Vision Quest - New York Public Library Best Books for the Teen Age, 1980
- If Rock & Roll Were a Machine - ALA Best Books for Young Adults, 1993
- If Rock & Roll Were a Machine - New York Public Library Best Books for the Teen Age, 1993
- If Rock & Roll Were a Machine - New York Public Library Best Books for the Teen Age, 1994
- Vision Quest - ALA Best Books for Young Adults In the Last Quarter Century, 1995
[edit] External links
- Terry Davis's Homepage
- Clandestine Classic Cycles artical
- Terry Davis at the Internet Movie Database
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