Ron Carlson: Biographical Sketch
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Ron Carlson, the author of Five Skies, was born in 1947 in Logan, Utah and grew up in the old west side of Salt Lake City. In an interview for "Author Talk," he described his childhood as taking place "in a fun neighborhood of vacant lots and railroad tracks and the river." His dream was to "buy an old jeep, get some maps and head out."

Carlson did head out, to become the author of four story collections, the novels Betrayed by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Truants, and the young-adult novel The Speed of Light, as well as Five Skies. His short stories have appeared in Harper’s, The New Yorker, GQ, Esquire, Playboy, The Best American Short Stories, and The O. Henry Prize Stories. He has been honored by a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Fiction, the Cohen Prize of the literary journal Ploughshares, and the National Society of Arts and Letters Literature Award.

Carlson teaches as well as writes. He has served as a professor of English at Arizona State University and currently directs the writing program at the University of California, Irvine. He lives in Irvine, but – fortunately for us in Reading Across Rhode Island – has a son who lives in Rhode Island, so he enthusiastically agreed to come East to make RARI appearances!

Over the years, Carlson has found relaxation in jogging, reading, walking and fishing. Asked what classic or contemporary author he would most like to have dinner with, he answered "Mark Twain."

A motto he feels is worth trying to live by is "Make haste to be kind."

Maxine Williams

Note: Information above came from http://www.erpmedia.net/featured_carlson.html and http://www.teenreads.com/authors/talk-carlson-ron.asp.

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