February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Spouse: Alison Dwyer (an archaeologist). We’ve been married 10 years this summer.
Residence: Decorah, Iowa — a beautiful slice of small-town America
Published works: “St. Patrick of Ireland” (Simon & Schuster 2004); “War, Women, and Druids” (Univ of Texas Press 2002); “The Galatian Language (Mellen Press 2001)
Ireland and the Classical World” (Univ of Texas Press 2001).
Personal: Earned the first-ever joint PhD in Classics and Celtic Studies from Harvard in 1994; an associate professor at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, and holds an endowed chair in Classics. Previously taught at Boston University and Washington University in St. Louis.
What is your latest book about?
“St. Patrick of Ireland” is a biography of a young, spoiled Roman nobleman
and atheist who eventually becomes St. Patrick. He was kidnapped by pirates
when he was about 16 and sold into slavery in Ireland. He stayed there six years until he finally staged an amazing escape. But once he was back in Britain, he felt God was calling him back to Ireland. He returned there and spent the rest of his life under harsh conditions working to help the Irish. He also left behind two short Latin letters that I translate and include in the book.
I’ve also just finished another book for Simon & Schuster on the travels of the first-century BC Greek philosopher among the Celts of Gaul. It’s a narrative history of the ancient Celts and should be out in about a year. My next book is going to be a biography of Julius Caesar.
What is your writing routine? Are there ideal conditions?
I teach college full time, so my writing is usually done in an hour snatched here and there between classes, grading papers, and attending committee meetings (colleges love meetings). In the summers and during
school breaks I can devote more time to it.
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What advice to you have for aspiring writers?
Keep writing and don’t give up. I sent out my first book proposal to about
50 agents before I found a wonderful person who sold it to a major publisher. Also read Strunk and White’s “Elements of Style” at least once a year.
Name three books that are memorable in terms of your reading pleasure?
I hate to sound like a professor, but my picks would mostly be classics of Western literature. First, Homer’s “Odyssey,” and second, Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales.” I also love historical fiction, with my favorite being Gore Vidal’s “Creation.”
What book are you currently reading?
I just finished Ernest Gaines’s “A Lesson Before Dying” and am going to start
Marilynne Robinson’s novel “Gilead.”
Is there a book you wish you had written?
Yes — Thomas Cahill’s “How the Irish Saved Civilization,” because I would have
changed a few things. Cahill is a wonderful writer, but the Irish didn’t really save civilization. It was never lost in the first place.
Name a book that you were pleasantly surprised by?
Cahill’s “Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea.” It’s a great survey of Greek civilization and was a required text in one of my courses this year.
If you could meet one author, living or dead, who would it be?
Jonathan Swift. Anyone who can write a satire like “Gulliver’s Travels” has got to be a great guy.
What book changed your life?
“Dante’s Inferno.” Before reading it, I used to think the worst sins were illicit sex and murder. Dante shows that the most horrible thing you can do is betray someone who trusts you.
What is your favorite spot in Ireland?
The Hill of Tara, at least until they build the new highway nearby. Until
then you can stand on this ancient site in peace and feel the joy of history.
You’re Irish if . . .
You can sing more than one verse of “Danny Boy.”