Tim Myers, writer: Longer bio

   Tim Myers, though born in Oregon, grew up in a very Catholic family in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in the shadow of Pikes Peak. He's the oldest of eleven children. The Myers are mainly Irish and German by extraction, but the Irish side seems to have won out--suffice it to say that Tim is rarely shy or retiring.
   He started writing poetry in sixth grade, for reasons he still can't quite fathom. His first poem concerned the death of St. Stephen, the martyr with all the arrows stuck in him (Tim was a fairly cheerful youth, actually), which his teacher Sister Mary Boniface praised (though perhaps for non-literary reasons). Her encouragement led him to more poetry, and he's profoundly grateful to her. At about that same time, his mother Tedde bought the family an old upright piano, and after Tim weaseled out of taking lessons he began playing on his own and writing songs, which he still does today.
   In high school, Tim earned a number of honors as a football player, among them a High-School All-American plaque--for which he continually wants to thank the linemen of the then St. Mary's Pirates for the "heavy lifting" that allowed this to happen. Tim was more interested in basketball, however, but spent most of his time in that sport "riding the pine." He's made up for this by playing pick-up basketball every chance he gets, continuing with the game even as age and waning ability make his efforts problematic and, at times, humorous.
   While working as a grocery bagger before he went off to college, Tim fell in love with Priscilla Gehrung, who is not only the love of his life but, he hopes, for endless lifetimes beyond that. After two years at Creighton University in Omaha, he transferred back to Colorado College in his hometown, for both academic and romantic reasons. He and Priscilla were married his junior year (marriage at such a young age being something he recommends only in case of True Love).
   He then earned his masters in literature at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and he and Priscilla (already a superb teacher) got teaching jobs at an American School in Stavanger, Norway, and, following that, in London. Their son Seth was born at Hammersmith Hospital (where the toothpick-like model Twiggy also had her baby, which, though perhaps biologically surprising, is irrelevant here). Three weeks later they returned to the States. Their son Nick was born in Colorado Springs two years after. At this point Tim began telling stories to his sons and the neighborhood kids; he now tells professionally and whenever it might get him out of trouble. The family then moved to Tokyo, where Tim and Priscilla taught for three years at the American School in Japan.
   Tim continued to teach when they moved to Austin, Texas, while Priscilla earned her PhD ("Pretty Hard Degree") in education. Cassie was born in '91, Priscilla soon took a professorship in Bakersfield, California, and for the second time Tim got to be a stay-at-home dad. He's still quite proud of being the only adult male member of the then Bakersfield Moms and Munchkins. The family then lived for seven years in Plattsburgh, New York, a small, beautiful city just north of the Adirondacks and an hour south of Montreal. Priscilla and Tim taught in the education department of the SUNY campus there.
   All along Tim was writing whenever he could. He has nine children's books out and one on the way. September '07 saw If You Give a T-Rex a Bone (Dawn Publications; nominated as a "Booksense Bestseller") and The Outfoxed Fox from Marshall Cavendish. The Furry-Legged Teapot (Cavendish '07) got an excellent review from SLJ. Dark-Sparkle Tea (Wordsong '06) earned excellent reviews from Kirkus, Booklist, SLJ, and others. Good Babies (Candlewick '05) got excellent reviews from Kirkus, Booklist, childrenslit.com, and others. Basho and the River Stones (Cavendish '04), one of three finalists for a 2007 California Young Readers medal, is now offered by Scholastic Book Clubs, was a Junior Library Guild selection and an NCSS-CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Book, and got excellent reviews from The New York Times, Kirkus, Booklist, and a starred review in SLJ. Tanuki's Gift (Cavendish '03) got an excellent boxed review with art in The New York Times, won an Anne Izard Storyteller's Choice Award, and was a Nick Jr. Magazine "Best Book of the Year" and a Bank Street Honor Book, among other honors. Basho and the Fox (Cavendish '03) was read aloud on NPR by Daniel Pinkwater, made The New York Times bestsellers list for children's books, and was chosen as a Smithsonian Notable Children's Book, a CBC "Not Just for Children Anymore" selection, and a Bank Street Honor Book, among other honors. And Let's Call Him Lauwiliwili... (Bess Press, '93) recently came out in a new edition with accompanying CD. Tim's placed 18 pieces with Carus group magazines (one nominated for a Paul Wittey Short Story award) and others in Storyworks, AppleSeeds, Highlights, and Chicken Soup for the Kid's Soul. His short story "Brother Jubal in the Womb of Silence" won a prize in the 2001 Writers of the Future Contest for speculative fiction, which earned him a week-long writing workshop attended by luminaries like Tim Powers, Frederick Pohl, Hal Clement, and others. Tim's published over 100 poems, won a first place in a national poetry contest judged by John Updike, and has a chapbook out from Pecan Grove Press, That Mass at Which the Tongue Is Celebrant. He was recently nominated for a Pushcart for an essay. In 2002 he served as a picture-book judge for the SCBWI Golden Kite Award. He's also placed much other fiction and nonfiction for adults and children.
   Tim and Priscilla now live in Santa Clara, California, where they both teach at Santa Clara University and Cassie will soon attend the University of California at Berkeley. Nick has recently left a Coast Guard station on the wave-pounded Oregon coast for graduate school at the University of Montana, and Seth is working on his PhD in Rhetoric and Professional Communication at New Mexico State University.
   And Tim keeps writing and working, sometimes wondering if his lifetime will be enough for all the projects he has in his head.
   It's worth mentioning that he can whistle and hum at the same time, and does one of the world's greatest "can-opener" splash dives.