Beard, Philip 1963–

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Beard, Philip 1963–

PERSONAL: Born 1963; married; wife's name, Traci; children: Cali, Phoebe, Madelynne. Education: Attended Colgate University; University of Pittsburgh, LAW degree, 1988, education degree, 2000. Hobbies and other interests: Coaching varsity golf.

ADDRESSES: Home—Aspinwall, PA. Agent—Jane Dystel, Dystel & Goderich Literary Management, 1 Union Square West, Ste. 904, New York, NY 10003. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Stonecipher, Cunningham, Beard & Schmitt (law firm), Pittsburgh, PA, partner, 1990–2000, member of counsel, 2000–.

WRITINGS:

Dear Zoe (novel), Viking (New York, NY), 2005.

SIDELIGHTS: Philip Beard's first novel, Dear Zoe, is told in the form of letters written by the protagonist, a fifteen-year-old girl named Tess De Nunzio, to her stepsister Zoe. The letters are Tess's way of dealing with the tragedy of Zoe's death, a tragedy for which she was partly responsible. On the morning of September 11, 2001, Tess was watching four-year-old Zoe play in the yard when she heard the news of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Running inside to get more information from the television, she left Zoe unattended and the little girl ran into the street, where she was struck by a car—the driver of which was also distracted by the news of the disaster. Tess's mother is overcome with grief, and eventually the teenaged girl comes to feel so alienated from her mother and her caring, sensitive stepfather that she goes to live with her biological father, a carefree sort who lives on the edge of the law.

Dear Zoe is a reflection of how the deep personal tragedy of Zoe's death is overshadowed by the greater tragedy that happened at the same instant. It is also a coming-of-age story, relating Tess's experimentation with drugs and sex. Several reviewers commented on the author's success at creating an authentic persona for Tess. Keddy Ann Outlaw, a contributor to Library Journal, stated that Tess's "plucky, spirited voice deserves a wide audience." Cristina Rouvalis, reviewing the book for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, found many "charming" elements in the book, but added that "it never sugar-coats the depths of a young girl's despair." Kristine Huntley, assessing the novel for Booklist, called it "a piercing look at how a family recovers from a devastating loss."

Dear Zoe was many years in the making. Beard began writing the book long before the September 11 attacks, and had finished a version of it, but it was rejected by one publisher after another. He was advised to change the viewpoint of the story and do away with the epistolary style, which he eventually did. The book then faced many more rejections, and Beard decided to go ahead and invest money in self-publishing the book as he had originally written it. He was very close to completing that project when a publisher approached him with a deal for the earlier version. By the time it was published, Beard had reworked it to include the September 11 references.

Beard, a lawyer as well as an author, was asked by Bookreporter online interviewers Carol Fitzgerald and Shannon McKenna how his legal training influenced his writing. The author answered, "Although the end-product is certainly different, the skill sets of both crafts are entirely consistent. In both genres, you define your conflicts early, let them play out against one another, and then hope that you have made your case convincingly or eloquently enough to convince your audience. Whether as a lawyer or novelist, I'm trying to make someone believe in a reality I have created, to care about it enough to stay with me until the end, and, if I'm really lucky, to make them remember it."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, February 1, 2005, Kristine Huntley, review of Dear Zoe, p. 940.

Entertainment Weekly, March 25, 2005, Jennifer Reese, review of Dear Zoe, p. 76.

Kirkus Reviews, January 15, 2005, review of Dear Zoe, p. 65.

Library Journal, February 15, 2005, Keddy Ann Outlaw, review of Dear Zoe, p. 113.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 13, 2005, Cristina Rouvalis, review of Dear Zoe.

Publishers Weekly, April 19, 2004, John F. Baker, "Rep to the Rescue," p. 12; January 24, 2005, Bridget Kinsella, "Philip Beard: Dear Zoe," p. 117, review of Dear Zoe, p. 218.