Jim Lynch (born 1961) is an American author of four novels. His work has been compared to authors including John Steinbeck,

Ken Kesey Ken Elton Kesey (September 17, 1935 – November 10, 2001) was an American novelist, essayist and countercultural figure. He considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies of the 1960s. Kesey was born in ...

Tom Robbins Thomas Eugene Robbins (born July 22, 1932) is a best-selling and prolific American novelist. His most notable works are "seriocomedies" (also known as "comedy drama"), such as ''Even Cowgirls Get the Blues''. Tom Robbins has lived in La Conner ...

, and

Richard Russo Richard Russo (July 15, 1949) is an American novelist, short story writer, screenwriter, and teacher. Early life and education Russo was born in Johnstown, New York, and raised in nearby Gloversville. He earned a bachelor's degree, a Master o ...

. Lynch's first novel, ''The Highest Tide'', became a bestseller in the United Kingdom after the coming-of-age story was featured on the

Richard & Judy ''Richard & Judy'' (also known as ''Richard & Judy's New Position'') is a British television chat show presented by the married couple Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan. The show originally aired on Channel 4 from 26 November 2001 to 22 Augus ...

book club television show in England. It went on to receive the

Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award The Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award, also known as the Pacific Northwest Book Award (PNBA), is an annual award presented by the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association to recognize "excellence in writing" from the American Pacif ...

in 2006.Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association, 2006-01-06
- Retrieved on 2010-06-30 2006 PNBA Book Award Winners His second novel, ''Border Songs'', set along the rural western end of the Canada–United States border, won the

Washington State Book Award The Washington State Book Awards is a literary awards program presented annually in recognition of notable books written by Washington authors in the previous year. The program was established in 1967 as the Governor's Writers Awards. Each year, ...

for Fiction and was a finalist for the American Booksellers Association award for best fiction in 2009. ''Truth Like the Sun'', Lynch's third novel, (the title based on an

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

quote, "Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain't going away.”) was released in April 2012. Set in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, during the 1962

World's Fair A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...

, a time when Presley and other celebrities, including Vice President Lyndon Johnson visited it as well as in 2001, the story involves the investigation of a city legend by an ambitious reporter. Critics have likened the novel to movies about American power and corruption, such as '' Chinatown'', '' Citizen Kane'', and ''

All the President's Men ''All the President's Men'' is a 1974 non-fiction book by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, two of the journalists who investigated the June 1972 break-in at the Watergate Office Building and the resultant political scandal for ''The Washingto ...

''. His most recent novel, ''Before the Wind'', was released in April 2016. It stars a gifted and volatile family obsessed with sailing. Translation rights for the novel have been sold to publishers in France and Spain as well.

Career

Lynch grew up near Seattle, Washington. Graduating with English and Communications degrees from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...

, he subsequently reported for newspapers in

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

and

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, as well as ''

The Spokesman-Review ''The Spokesman-Review'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Spokane, Washington, the city's sole remaining daily publication. It has the third-highest readership among daily newspapers in the state, with most of its readership base in ...

'', ''

The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington ...

'' and ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 18 ...

''. Along the way his national honors included the 1995 Gerald Loeb Award for Small Newspapers for "Wasteland", the

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

Young Journalist Award for national reporting in 1996, and the

George Polk Award The George Polk Awards in Journalism are a series of American journalism awards presented annually by Long Island University in New York in the United States. A writer for Idea Lab, a group blog hosted on the website of PBS, described the awar ...

for environmental reporting with Karen Dorn Steele in 1995. Lynch now lives with his wife and daughter in

Olympia, Washington Olympia is the capital of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat and largest city of Thurston County. It is southwest of the state's most populous city, Seattle, and is a cultural center of the southern Puget Sound region. Europea ...

, on a bay near where a rare deep sea fish washed up on a beach, inspiring his first novel, ''The Highest Tide''.

Bibliography

*''The Highest Tide'' (2005) Bloomsbury USA *''Border Songs'' (2009) Alfred A. Knopf *''Truth Like the Sun'' (2012) Alfred A. Knopf *''Before the Wind'' (2016) Alfred A. Knopf

References

External links

*
Jim Lynch at Random House, Inc.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lynch, Jim 1961 births Living people 21st-century American novelists American male novelists University of Washington College of Arts and Sciences alumni Writers from Seattle 21st-century American male writers Novelists from Washington (state) Gerald Loeb Award winners for Small and Medium Newspapers Livingston Award winners for National Reporting