Born Janice Meredith Wilson in 1937, Jan Karon was
raised on a farm near Lenoir, North Carolina. Karon knew at a very early
age that she wanted to be a writer. She penned her first novel when she
was 10 years old, the same year she won a short-story contest organized
by the local high school. Karon married as a teenager and had a
daughter, Candace.
At 18, Karon began working as a receptionist for a Charlotte, N.C.
advertising agency. She advanced in the company after leaving samples of
her writing on her boss' desk, who eventually noticed her talent. Karon
went on to have a highly successful career in the field, winning awards
for ad agencies from Charlotte to San Francisco. In time, she became a
creative vice president at the high-profile McKinney & Silver, in
Raleigh. While there, she won the prestigious Stephen Kelly Award, with
which the Magazine Publishers of America honor the year's best print
campaign.
During her years in advertising, Karon kept alive her childhood ambition
to be an author. At the age of 50, she left her career in advertising and
moved to Blowing Rock, North Carolina, to pursue that dream. After
struggling "and failing" to get a novel underway, Karon awoke one night
with a mental image of an Episcopal priest walking down a village
street. She grew curious about him, and started writing. Soon, Karon was
publishing weekly installments about Father Tim in her local newspaper,
The Blowing Rocket, which saw its circulation double as a result.
"It certainly worked for Mr. Dickens," says Karon.
The Father Tim stories became Karon's first Mitford novel,
At Home in Mitford. That
book has since been nominated three times (1996, 1997, and 1998) for an
ABBY (American Booksellers Book of the Year Award), which honors titles
that bookstore owners most enjoy recommending to customers, and the only
book ever nominated for three consecutive years. The fourth Mitford
novel,
A New Song, won both the
Christy and Gold Medallion awards for outstanding contemporary fiction
in 2000.
A Common Life,
In This Mountain, and
Shepherd's Abiding have also
won Gold Medallion awards.
Out to Canaan was the first
Mitford novel to hit the New York Times bestseller list; subsequent
novels have debuted on the New York Times list, often landing the #1
spot.
Karon also published two Christmas-themed books based on the Mitford
series, The
Mitford Snowmen and
Esther's Gift, as well as
Jan Karon's Mitford Cookbook and Kitchen Reader.
Other Mitford books include
Patches of Godlight: Father Tim's Favorite Quotes,
a compilation of wit and wisdom, and
A Continual Feast: Words of Comfort and
Celebration, Collected by Father Tim. In addition,
Karon has written two children's books,
Miss Fannie's Hat and
Jeremy: The Tale of an Honest Bunny,
and an illustrated book for all ages,
The Trellis and the Seed.
Karon says here character-driven work seeks to give readers a large,
extended family they can call their own. Though Light From Heaven is
officially the final novel in the series, there's yet another Mitford
book from this prolific author. Karon urges her millions of ardent fans
to look for the
Mitford Bedside Companion,
released in the fall of 2006. "It has everything in it but the kitchen
sink," says Karon.
Karon's bestselling series of Mitford novels has concluded with 25
million copies sold to date, but to the relief of eager fans, she
introduced a new series featuring Father Tim.
Home to Holly Springs was
published October 30, 2007 and features the beloved Episcopal priest as
he returns to his childhood town of Holly Springs, Mississippi, where he
reconnects with old friends and battles some old demons. The novel is
thick with Father Tim's past, as Karon uses flashbacks to shed light on
his early adulthood, especially his transition to seminary. In Holly
Springs, his penchant for getting near strangers to open up to him
"and
his earnest, moving reflections on faith, prayer and the risks of love" are reassuringly present. His wife, Cynthia, is on stage far less
than he, but when she appears, she is charming and insightful, as usual.
Mitford fans will enjoy this newest visit with wise, winsome, lovable
Father Tim.
Click
here to see what Jan Karon titles are available at Escondido
Public Library.
