About the Author
K. Partridge
“I grew up in upstate New York in the ’50s and ’60s and was a decent high school athlete but not a gifted one. I attended Cortland State University, mostly on the basis of their lacrosse program. But the program’s excellence proved a double-edged sword. Under Hall of Fame coach Jack Emmer, Cortland was a Top-10 team at that time. In 1972, we reached the NCAA semifinals, losing to eventual national champion Virginia. (In those days, there was a single tournament, no matter if you were Division I, II, or III.) I was not a Top-10 athlete and never made the varsity. To this day, I still dream at night about returning to Cortland and using my remaining years of athletic eligibility to make the team as a 50-year old. Some dreams just refuse to die.
After graduating, I attended the University of Minnesota, there receiving two Masters Degrees, and entered the technical writing field at a large computer company. For many years, career and family life
kept me from writing, and geography kept me from lacrosse. But eventually I surrendered to the siren's song and was lured, smiling and horrified, upon the literary shoals. It was not easy, and at times I considered giving up. Fortunately, the moral of my own novel was the beacon that kept me going. If you read the book, I hope you will take the moral to heart. It might just change your life.
I would like to acknowledge two influences:
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My alma mater, Cortland State University. I will always remember my time there as one of the two happiest of my life. To thank and honor her, I am donating 5% of the 2008 gross proceeds of "J.V." to the general scholarship fund.
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My daughter Emma, the light of my life. She is gentle and kind and buoyant and everything I am not. A student at Iowa State University, she serves as the photographic model for Babbling Brooke.”