by Gardner McKay (Author)
This book is an anthology of short stories written by Gardner McKay. Many of these stories were recorded for Gardner's weekly radio show: Stories on the Wind, which aired on Hawaii Public Radio from 1995-2001. Here are a few synopsis of the stories in the book: ALL THAT MATTERS; a couple who writes trashy romance novels finds them to be stronger than realities of life. AN INCIDENT NEAR SHAMBALAH; a married yuppie graduates to manhood among lions. BUTTERWEED; the radio Storyman who writes about the past is offered a listener's house. 41 NORTH, 49 WEST; on the boat deck of an ocean liner in the mid-Atlantic, a man considering suicide encounters a Titanic passenger from the neighborhood, held in the past. INTO THE ROSE GARDEN; a woman who upgrades houses for resale, is destroyed by a rose garden she plans to convert into a badminton court. MRS SONDEGAARD; A Nobel Peace Prize laureate is found to have evolved from a diabolic but pivotal childhood. ONE SUMMER IN CHARENTE; during World War II, a French farm boy kills a cousin and her lover, an enemy soldier. QUID PRO QUO; a mother owl extracts revenge from the Fifth Avenue family responsible for her owlet's demise. THE PINCHBECK GENIUS; a classic painter creates an artist to give a critic what he wants. THE WITNESS' TALE; a well-meaning robbery victim becomes the victim of his own charity.
Author Biography
Gardner McKay, Author and Playwright, was born in Manhattan, 1932. His early years were spent in France, New York, Connecticut and Kentucky. At age fifteen, He published his first story. Over the next several years he received many awards, including The Drama Critics Circle Award, the Sydney Carrington Prize, National Regional Theatre Award of Canada and three National Endow- ment for the Arts grants for playwriting. His plays include Sea Marks; Masters of the Sea; Toyer, Untold Damage; and In Order of Appearance. His novel Toyer won critical acclaim upon its release in 1998. Gardner's "Stories on the Wind," a weekly radio show on Hawaii Public Radio ran from 1995--2001. He taught playwriting at UCLA and at USC. He also taught in Juneau, Alaska and at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He had been a professional skipper, sculptor, photographer and actor, as well as a drama critic for the Los Angeles Herald Examiner. In addition to all that, he raised African lions. During his final year, Gardner wrote his memoir, Journey Without A Map, which was published posthumously. The Kinsman, a novel, was published in 2012 and Trompe l'Oeil, a novel, 2015. Also a novella: Ten Bloomsbury Square.