John Lawrence Reynolds

John Lawrence Reynolds
Born (1939-11-05) November 5, 1939
Hamilton, Ontario
Nationality Canadian
Alma mater McMaster University
Occupation Writer
Awards

John Lawrence Reynolds (born November 5, 1939) is a Canadian author. He has published more than 20 fiction and non-fiction books. Two of his novels won the Arthur Ellis AwardThe Man Who Murdered God (1990) and Gypsy Sins (1994). Born in Hamilton, Ontario, he has lived in Burlington for several years.[1]

Biography

Reynolds was born in Hamilton, Ontario to John Henry and Mable Irene (née Winegarden) Reynolds. His childhood there has been characterised as "less than idyllic, rife with upheaval and poverty."[2] He went on to graduate from Westdale Secondary School in Hamilton where he co-founded "Terry & The Pirates", an early rock-and-roll band.[3] In 1960, he joined Russell T. Kelley Advertising as a trainee and eventually became the company's Creative Director and a shareholder. He obtained a degree in English and Psychology from McMaster University via its extension studies programme in 1974, and left the advertising agency that same year to pursue other interests. These included travel and feature writing, photography, film and video writing and directing and radio announcing. In the latter capacity he hosted John's Jazz five nights a week on CING-FM (FM108) from 1976 to 1977[4] and Saturday Night Jazz on CKDS-FM from 1981 to 1983.

Reynolds published his first novel, The Man Who Murdered God, in 1989. It was to become the first in a series of six crime novels whose central character was Joe McGuire, a Boston policeman. From the mid-1990s he concentrated primarily on non-fiction books. Described in the National Post as one of Canada's most successful ghostwriters, Reynolds also collaborated on several autobiographies by Canadian political and business figures.[5] He returned to crime fiction in 2012 with Beach Strip. Set on Lake Ontario, the novel is narrated in the voice of Josie, the widow of a murdered policeman.[6][7]

Reynolds has been married to Judith Suzanne Reynolds (née Soucie) since 1993. He has two children from his first marriage.[1]

Books

Of his first five mystery novels, four were short-listed for Arthur Ellis Awards as Best Mystery Novel. Two won—The Man Who Murdered God (1990) and Gypsy Sins (1994).[8] He also won a National Business Book Award in 2002 for Free Rider: How a Bay Street Whiz Kid Stole and Spent $20 Million.[9] His 2006 book Shadow People: Inside History's Most Notorious Secret Societies was published in the US as Secret Societies: Their Mysteries Revealed and has been translated into several languages including Spanish (Breve Historia de las Sociedades Secretas), French (Le monde des sociétés secrètes), Polish (Ludzie z cienia), and Turkish (Gizli Örgütler).

Fiction

Non-fiction

References

  1. 1 2 "John Lawrence Reynolds." Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2004. Biography in Context. Web. 10 Jan. 2014. Gale Document Number: GALE|H1000131826
  2. Burlington Post (9 March 2007). "Author of The Naked Investor thrilled to earn a living doing what he loves". Retrieved 11 July 2014.
  3. Walma, Mark (Summer 1990). "Characters". Hamilton Magazine. Reprint on the official website of Mark Walma retrieved 11 July 2014.
  4. Rock Radio Scrapbook. FM 108 Gold 'N Great Alumni. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Mark Medley, Mark (11 March 2011). "The Shape-Shifters: Canadian writers on ghostwriting". National Post. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
  6. Batten, Jack (16 June 2012). "Whodunit: John Lawrence Reynolds returns to crime fiction with Beach Strip". Toronto Star. Retrieved 11 July 2014
  7. North, John (April 2003). "Haunted Hearts by John Lawrence Reynolds". Quill & Quire. Retrieved 11 July 2014
  8. New, William H. (ed.) (2002). Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada. p. 65. University of Toronto Press
  9. 1 2 National Business Book Award. 2002 Winner. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
  10. Alberstat, JoAnn (19 August 2012). "Blunt digs a bit deeper; Jackman visits N.S.; Reynolds turns tables". The Chronicle Herald. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
  11. Waldman, Debby (April 2000). "Mad Notions: A True Tale of Murder and Mayhem by John Lawrence Reynolds". Quill and Quire. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
  12. Gillespie, Mike (6 February 2008)."Read 'em or weep". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved 11 July 2014 via HighBeam Research (subscription required).
  13. Burlington Post (3 June 2007). "Book delves into secret societies". Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  14. Deber, Raisa (1 May 2008). "Not a system, but not collapsing either". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  15. Bell, Nadya (3 August 2008). "New book on Craig Dobbin to be released in September". The Telegram. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
  16. Milner, Brian (10 June 2009). "Crises, writers and quickie books". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 15 July 2014.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, April 27, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.