Irby, Lee 1963-

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Irby, Lee 1963-

PERSONAL:

Born 1963, in Richmond, VA; married Beth Forys (an environmental scientist); children: Iris, Jay. Education: University of Virginia, B.A., 1986; University of South Florida, M.A.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Eckerd College, 4200 54th Ave. S., St. Petersburg, FL 33711. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Virgin Islands Daily News, former sportswriter; worked as a paralegal and as a bartender; Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, FL, currently professor of history.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Certificate of Artistic Merit, State of Florida, 2000, for draft of 7,000 Clams; Thompson Prize for Best Essay, Florida Historical Quarterly, 2001; recipient of fellowships and scholarships.

WRITINGS:

7,000 Clams (novel; "Frank Hearn" series), Doubleday (New York, NY), 2004.

The Up and Up (novel; "Frank Hearn" series), Doubleday (New York, NY), 2006.

Contributor to periodicals, including Florida Historical Quarterly, Negative Capability, Tampa Review, North American Review, and Weekly Planet.

SIDELIGHTS:

Lee Irby had written several unpublished novels before coming up with the idea for his debut, 7,000 Clams. While skimming through the archives of the St. Petersburg Times, he came across a brief item that said that in 1925, Yankees slugger Babe Ruth had been sued for seven thousand dollars he owed for a gambling debt. It led Irby to consider life in the 1920s and to create his character Frank Hearn, a rough-living, eye patch-wearing bootlegger.

Irby's fictional tale finds Frank traveling from New Jersey to St. Petersburg, where the Yankees will hold spring training, after having a load of liquor hijacked by a mob boss. He takes along the beautiful Ginger, who witnessed a gangland murder involving Al Capone, and upon arriving in Florida, Frank finds a gambling IOU signed by Babe Ruth. Library Journal contributor Thomas L. Kilpatrick wrote that in this novel "Irby has hit a home run his first time at bat."

Frank Hearn returns in The Up and Up, this time to become involved with his real estate partner in a fixed jai alai bet. After being discovered, they are chased down by mobsters, and Frank lands in jail, where crooked cops take his winnings. He is bailed out by his gorgeous secretary, Irene, and then faces murder charges when his partner is killed. A Publishers Weekly contributor felt that this book should attract new fans to the series with its "ratcheting tension, smoothly incorporated flapper lingo, rich period details and likable characters."