Koger, Grove 1947–

PERSONAL: Born May 23, 1947, in Boise, ID; son of Grove (a farmer and beekeeper) and Mary (a legal secretary; maiden name, Coleman) Koger; companion of Margaret A. Dodson (a teacher, librarian, and writer). Ethnicity: "Caucasian." Education: College of Idaho, B.A., 1970; University of Washington, M.Libr., 1974. Politics: "Democratic." Hobbies and other interests: Reading, cooking, travel.

ADDRESSES: Home—1026 E. Strawberry Ln., Boise, ID 83712. Office—Boise Public Library, 715 S. Capitol Blvd., Boise, ID 83702. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Writer. Teacher and librarian at high school in Wilder, ID, 1970–72; Meridian Free Library District, Meridian, ID, director, 1974–76; Boise Public Library, Boise, ID, reference librarian, 1977–. Boise State University, reference librarian at Albertsons Library, 1986–2000; Log Cabin Literary Center, member.

MEMBER: International Lawrence Durrell Society, Friends of Arthur Machen.

AWARDS, HONORS: Allie Beth Martin Award, Public Library Association and Baker & Taylor, 1999; first place award for magazine writing, Idaho Press Club, 1999.

WRITINGS:

Ruby Testifies (play), produced in Bloomington, IN, 1990.

When the Going Was Good: A Guide to the Ninetynine Best Narratives of Travel, Exploration, and Adventure (annotated bibliography), Scarecrow Press (Lanham, MD), 2002.

Author of column "Idaho Reader" for Idaho Arts Journal, 1987–88, and "Thumbing through Idaho" column in Boise Weekly, 1995–98. Contributor to reference books; contributor to periodicals, including Bloomsbury Review, Boston Book Review, San Francisco Review of Books, Art Idaho, Library Journal, Deus Loci: Lawrence Durrell Journal, Wilson Library Bulletin, Mercator's World, and Reference Services Review. Contributing editor for various magazine, 1987–91.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Sea Dreaming: A Guide to the Best Maritime Literature; Action and Passion: The Worlds of Adventure Fiction.

SIDELIGHTS: Grove Koger told CA: "It is a commonplace to observe that writing is a process of discovery, but unlike so many other commonplaces, this one is true. My high school teacher Herb Grosdidier put it less eloquently but more practically: we don't know what we think until we write it down.

"Of course discovery can entail both inward and outward journeys. Because I write for pleasure, I've been able to follow my interests where they've led me—into the somewhat déclassé world of travel literature, for instance, and into those popular and therefore suspect genres that Lawrence Durrell called the 'minor mythologies.' When the Going Was Good: A Guide to the Ninety-nine Best Narratives of Travel, Exploration, and Adventure treats the travel book as a legitimate literary form, but in such a way that will (I hope) engage both scholars and Virginia Woolf's common readers. In Sea Dreaming: A Guide to the Best Maritime Literature I'm considering Herman Melville alongside James Michener, while in Action and Passion: The Worlds of Adventure Fiction, I plan to introduce such writers as Anthony Hope and P.C. Wren to new generations."