John Coyne (born 1937) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

writer. He is the author of more than 25 nonfiction and fiction books, including a number of horror novels, and his short stories have been collected in "best of" anthologies such as ''Modern Masters of Horror'' and ''

The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror ''Year's Best Fantasy and Horror'' was a reprint anthology published annually by St. Martin's Press from 1987 to 2008. In addition to the short stories, supplemented by a list of honorable mentions, each edition included a number of retrospective ...

''. A former

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John F ...

volunteer and a lifelong lover of

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

, he has edited and written books dealing with both subjects, including ''The Caddie Who Knew Ben Hogan'', ''The Caddie Who Played With Hickory'', and ''The Caddie Who Won the Masters''. His most recent book is the love story ''Long Ago and Far Away''.

Life

Coyne was born in Chicago, Illinois. At age ten he began working as a caddie at Midlothian Country Club. Both his parents were from the west of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

; his father was from a remote area, and had spoken only the

Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

until he was about twelve. As a result, Coyne grew up with bedtime stories of Ireland, on which he would later draw for his ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TS ...

''-influenced novel ''

Hobgoblin A hobgoblin is a household spirit, typically appearing in folklore, once considered helpful, but which since the spread of Christianity has often been considered mischievous. Shakespeare identifies the character of Puck in his ''A Midsummer Nig ...

''. After graduating from Saint Louis University, he earned a master's in English at Western Michigan University, served in the Air Force, and served in the

from 1962 to 1964, teaching English at the Commercial School in

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

. He currently lives in

Pelham Manor, New York Pelham Manor is an affluent village located in Westchester County, New York. As of the 2020 census, the village had a total population of 5,752. It is located in the town of Pelham. History The Bolton Priory, Edgewood House, and Pelhamdale a ...

, with his wife and son, where he works in communications and edits PeaceCorpsWriters.org.

Writing career

Coyne became one of modern horror fiction's "brand name" writers with the publication of his first novel, ''The Piercing'', in 1979. He followed this with a number of other horror novels, including bestsellers such as ''

The Legacy The Legacy may refer to: * '' Le Legs'' or ''The Legacy'', a play by Pierre de Marivaux * The Legacy (professional wrestling), a former professional wrestling faction in World Wrestling Entertainment * ''The Legacy'' (album), an album by Testament ...

'' and ''

,'' before cutting back on genre writing in the mid-1980s. His short stories have been collected in a number of "best of" anthologies, including ''Modern Masters of Horror'' and ''

''. ''The Caddie Who Knew

Ben Hogan William Ben Hogan (August 13, 1912 – July 25, 1997) was an American professional golfer who is generally considered to be one of the greatest players in the history of the game. He is notable for his profound influence on golf swing theory an ...

,'' was published in 2006 and is a literary exploration of golf and everyday life.

Norman Rush Norman Rush (born October 24, 1933) is an American writer most of whose introspective novels and short stories are set in Botswana in the 1980s. He won the U.S. National Book Award and the 1992 ''Irish Times''/Aer Lingus International Fiction P ...

praised the novel, saying, "John Coyne has managed to employ golf as a lens through which aspects of Midwestern daily life in the 1940s, of thwarted love, of social class, are revealed with stark and unsettling clarity." Coyne is the author of two other golf novels: ''The Caddie Who Played With Hickory'', which is set in 1946 at the Midlothian Country Club, and ''The Caddie Who Won the Masters'', set at Augusta National. His most recent novel is ''Long Ago and Far Away'', a love story spanning forty years.

Bibliography

Novels

* ''The Piercing'', New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1979 * ''

'', NY: Berkeley, 1979 * ''The Searing'', NY: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1980 * ''

'', NY: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1981 * ''The Shroud'', NY: Berkley, 1983 * ''Brothers & Sisters'', NY: Dutton, 1986 * ''The Hunting Season'', NY: Macmillan, 1987 * ''Fury'', NY: Warner Books, 1989 * ''Child of Shadows'', NY: Warner Books, 1990 * ''The Caddie Who Knew Ben Hogan'', Thomas Dunne Books, 2006; paperback, St. Martin's Griffin, 2007 * ''The Caddie Who Played With Hickory'', Thomas Dunne Books, 2008; paperback, St. Martin's Griffin, 2009

Selected short stories

* "Cabin in the Woods", ''Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine'', July 1976. Reprinted in ''Modern Masters of Horror'' (1988). * "The Crazy Chinaman", published in ''The Dodd Mead Gallery of Horror'', ed. Charles L. Grant, 1983. Reprinted in ''Gallery of Horror'' by Stephen King, Charles L. Grant, 1997. * "Snow Man", published in ''Monsters in Our Midst'', ed. Robert Bloch, 1993. Reprinted in ''The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Seventh Annual Collection'' (1994). * "The Ecology of Reptiles", published in ''Predators'', ed. Ed Gorman & Martin H. Greenberg, 1993. reprinted in ''The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Seventh Annual Collection'' (1994).

Anthologies

* ''Ellery Queen's Crookbook'', Random House, 1974 (contributor)* Ellery Queen's Crookbook, Random House 1974 First John Coyne publication, per editor's note. Fiction anthology * ''Alfred Hitchcock's Tales to Take Your Breath Away'', NY: Dial Press, 1977 (contributor) * ''Hitchcock's Anthology'', 1977 (contributor) * ''The Berkley Showcase: New Writings in Science Fiction and Fantasy'', no date (contributor) * ''Modern Masters Of Horror'', Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, 1981 (contributor) * ''Dodd Mead Gallery Of Horror'', 1983 (contributor) * ''The Second Black Lizard Anthology of Crime Fiction'', 1988 (contributor) * ''Masques IV'',

Pulphouse Publishing Pulphouse Publishing was an American small press publisher based in Eugene, Oregon, and specializing in science fiction and fantasy. It was founded by Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch in 1988. The press was active until 1996. Over that ...

, 1993 (contributor) * ''Monsters in Our Midst'', Tor, 1993 (contributor) * ''Predators'', Roc, 1993 (contributor) * ''The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror'' (contributor), St. Martin's Press, 1994 * ''Gallery of Horror'' (contributor), Penguin Group, 1997. * ''Living on the Edge: Fiction by Peace Corps Writers'', editor and contributor, Curbstone Press, 1999

Selected Nonfiction

* ''Letters from the Peace Corps'' (contributor), Washington: Robert B. Luce, Inc., 1964 * ''Better Golf'', Follett, 1972 * ''This Way Out: A Guide to Alternatives to Traditional College Education in the United States, Europe and the Third World'', with Tom Hebert, NY: Dutton, 1972 (co-author) * ''Getting Skilled: A Guide to Private Trade and Technical Schools'', with Tom Hebert, NY: Dutton, 1972 (co-author) * ''New Golf For Women'', NY: Doubleday, 1973 * ''By Hand: A Guide to Schools and Careers in Crafts'', with Tom Hebert, NY: Dutton, 1974 (co-author) * Listing removed to "Anthologies" section above. See notes appended. Fiction anthology, first Coyne story publication (Anthology title corrected) * ''Playing with the Pros: Golf Instruction from the Senior Tour'', NY: Dutton, 1990 * ''Peace Corps Writers Talk About Their Craft: Talking with...'' (21 Interviews), Rochester, NY: RPCV Writers & Readers, 1992 (Editor) * ''Going Up Country, Travel Essays by Peace Corps Writers'', Scribner's, 1994 (editor) * ''To Touch the World: The Peace Corps Experience'', editor and contributor, Peace Corps/USGPO, DC, 1994, 1995 * ''At Home in the World: The Peace Corps Story'', editor and contributor, Peace Corps/USGPO, 1996 * ''Peace Corps: The Great Adventure'', editor and contributor, Peace Corps/USGPO, 1997, 1999

References

External links

*
Peace Corps Worldwide site
edited and published by John Coyne and Marian Haley Beil * {{DEFAULTSORT:Coyne, John 1937 births Living people American male writers American horror writers Writers from Chicago People from Pelham Manor, New York American expatriates in Ethiopia Date of birth missing (living people)