CORRIGAN, John R. 1970-

PERSONAL:

Born February 24, 1970, in Augusta, ME; son of John W. (an accountant and business owner) and Connie (a homemaker; maiden name, Dumont) Corrigan; married September 3, 1994; wife's name, Lisa (in insurance); children: Delaney, Audrey. Ethnicity: "White." Education: State University of New York—College at Fredonia, B.A., 1992; University of Texas—El Paso, M.F.A., 1998. Politics: Independent. Religion: Roman Catholic. Hobbies and other interests: Golf.

ADDRESSES:

Home—72 Barton St., Presque Isle, ME 04769. Office—Maine School of Science and Mathematics, 95 High St., Limestone, ME 04750. Agent—Giles Anderson, Anderson Literary Agency, 395 Riverside Dr., Suite 12AH, New York, NY 10025. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Maine School of Science and Mathematics, Limestone, teacher of English literature and writing, 1998—.

MEMBER:

Mystery Writers of America.

WRITINGS:

Cut Shot (mystery novel), Sleeping Bear Press (Chelsea, MI), 2001.

Snap Hook (mystery novel), University Press of New England (Hanover, NH), 2004.

Author of regular column in Golf Today.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

Center Cut, a mystery novel, publication by University Press of New England (Hanover, NH) expected in 2005; research on the Professional Golfers Association (PGA) Tour.

SIDELIGHTS:

John R. Corrigan told CA: "My mysteries are set on the PGA Tour and feature the first-person point of view of Jack Austin, a Maine native and journeyman Tour player. A constant theme is dyslexia. At age nine, I failed mathematics. A teacher told my mother to 'face it. Some kids are just slow.' Thankfully, my mother didn't accept that. My parents took me to the Boston Children's Hospital. I was diagnosed as 'learning disabled, presumed dyslexic.' One specialist said my symptoms made me a 'poster boy for dyslexia.' Many dyslexics are very focused, driven, and tend to see the world in black and white. Jack Austin surely fits this description. My wife would say I do, too.

"How does the mystery genre fit in the golf world? Mysteries can be set anywhere—look at shelves in any chain store. You see sleuths that are chefs, sports agents, scholars. I've always seen similarities between the PGA Tour player and the classic detective fiction protagonist because both live in worlds that require a moral code; both exist in somewhat solitary worlds as well. What makes the books very challenging to write, though, aren't the similarities; it's the differences. Jack Austin is not a detective. He is a golfer. As a writer, I have to deal with those limitations. He is a character who has spent his entire life striving to achieve great things in golf. Thus, he is not a crack pistol shot, so any shooting must be from very close range or with a shotgun. That said, in the mold of the classics—Raymond Chandler, Robert B. Parker—Jack is a man of honor, of morals, and a guy who lives by his own code, respects the game, its founding fathers, his fellow competitors, and the Tour. Also, as a dyslexic, he tends to see things in terms of right and wrong. Readers know this, and it allows him to take on things—to get into situations—some people might not."