Paul McCusker (born October 3, 1958) is an American writer and producer. He is best known for his work on ''

Adventures in Odyssey ''Adventures in Odyssey'' (AIO), or simply ''Odyssey'', is an Evangelical Christian radio drama and comedy series created and produced by Focus on the Family. Aimed at families with children age 12 and younger, the series first aired in 1987 as ...

'', a nationally syndicated radio drama, and for his work with

Focus on the Family Focus on the Family (FOTF or FotF) is a fundamentalist Protestant organization founded in 1977 in Southern California by James Dobson, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The group is one of a number of evangelical parachurch organizations t ...

's Radio Theatre. He has written over 50 books, 21 plays and 4 musicals. His best known works are the play "Catacombs", the novels ''The Mill House'' and ''Epiphany'', and his audio adaptations of

C.S. Lewis CS, C-S, C.S., Cs, cs, or cs. may refer to: Job titles * Chief Secretary (Hong Kong) * Chief superintendent, a rank in the British and several other police forces * Company secretary, a senior position in a private sector company or public s ...

's works.

Career

McCusker grew up in

Bowie, Maryland Bowie () is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 58,329. Bowie has grown from a small railroad stop to the largest municipality in Prince George's County, and the fifth most populous ...

. He graduated from college with a degree in journalism and spent several years writing copy for a local publisher. From the late 1970s, he began writing sketches and plays for his church, Grace Baptist, many of which were published and are still in print. Among his most popular plays are "Catacombs" and "First Church of Pete's Garage". In 1985, McCusker moved to California to write for Continental Singers and their touring drama group The Jeremiah People. In 1987, he was invited by

to help develop a radio show for kids, which later became ''

''. He still consults on the show's scripts and writes them on occasion. He has also written 18 tie-in novels, including the " Passages" series. In the late 1990s, McCusker developed

's Radio Theatre. He has also dramatized

's ''

The Chronicles of Narnia ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' is a series of seven high fantasy novels by British author C. S. Lewis. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes and originally published between 1950 and 1956, ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' has been adapted for radio, tel ...

'' and '' The Screwtape Letters'', as well as ''

A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. ''A Christmas Ca ...

'', ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its origin ...

'', ''Amazing Grace'', and the ''Father Gilbert Mysteries''. He won a

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...

in 1997 for his work on '' Bonhoeffer: The Cost of Freedom''. Paul also writes novels, ''The Mill House'' and ''Epiphany'' being perhaps the best-known, and ''TSI: The Gabon Virus'' (2009) his most recent, which was co-written with Dr. Walt Larimore. Paul has continued his audio drama efforts with the Augustine Institute, writing and directing ''Brother Francis,'' ''The Trials of Saint Patrick,'' and ''Ode to Saint Cecilia''

Personal life

Paul McCusker now lives in

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

with his wife Elizabeth and two children; Thomas and Eleanor. In 2007, he converted to

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

References

Sources

Works of McCusker
at

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical ...

"'Radio Theatre': Tales With a Message" - Radio World

"Marjorie tops magical ton" - Star News

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110904171552/http://www.audiotheatrecentral.com/2011/02/atc-episode-6-father-gilbert-soul-in.html Interview with Paul McCusker regarding Adventures in Odyssey & Focus on the Family Radio Theatre - 2/28/2011]
Screenwriter for Beyond The Mask

External links

*
''Adventures in Odyssey''

From Faith, Media & Culture column at Beliefnet.com. {{DEFAULTSORT:McCusker, Paul 1958 births Living people 21st-century American novelists American male novelists American radio writers American male radio actors Adventures in Odyssey Converts to Roman Catholicism Novelists from Maryland People from Bowie, Maryland 21st-century American male writers