Local LiteratureA quick look at a few of Inland Northwest’s

authors

•Frank Peretti•Patrick McManus•Chris Crutcher•Marty Becker•Marianne Love•Mark Fuhrman•Doris and Natalie Fuller •Sandy Compton •Pete Fromm•Jack Nisbetprepared by Pam Webb 2004

Frank Peretti

Frank Peretti• more than nine million novels in

print

• a natural storyteller who, as a youngster in Seattle, regularly gathered the neighborhood children for animated storytelling sessions. 

• Studied English and film at UCLA

Frank Peretti

• Helped father in pastoring a small church

• In 1983, he gave up pastoring and while working at a ski factory, began writing This Present Darkness, the book that was to catapult him into the public eye

Frank Peretti• This Present Darkness • Piercing the Darkness

(together have sold more than 3.5 million) 

• The Oath sold more than half a million copies within the first six months, awarded the 1996 Gold Medallion Award for best fiction 

• The Visitation (1999) has been on the CBA Fiction Bestseller list since its debut.

Frank Peretti• According to Time Magazine, Frank Peretti is nothing

short of a publishing phenomenon, dubbing him "the king of the Christian Fiction genre."

• Peretti has captured his share of the adult reading segment with hit sellers such as This Present Darkness, Piercing the Darkness, The Oath, The Prophet, and will release his new novel Monster in 2005

• His talents span the ages from his bible story video series for the young moving on to his Cooper Kids books for middle schoolers to Hangman's Curse, the first book in The Veritas Project series, released in 2001

Frank Perettimore on Hangman’s Curse

• The first in a teen thriller fiction series, Hangman's Curse explores the devastating effect of revenge, hatred and ridicule on teens at Rogers High

• The movie was filmed on location in Spokane

• Peretti played a cameo role as Algernon Wheeling, the eccentric professor

Frank Peretti

• Peretti and his wife live in the Inland Northwest area

• Peretti is an accomplished banjo player and has appeared at the Panida with his band

Patrick McManus

• born in an old farmhouse three miles north of Sandpoint, Idaho, August 25, 1933

• although the farm raised mostly stumps and a few weeds, MacManus considered it to be a wonderful place for a boy to grow up

Patrick McManus• mother was a country

schoolteacher, who taught all eight grades in little one-room schools

• his mother as his teacher flunked McManus for too many absences

• when his father died when McManus was six he and his mother and sister moved back to the farm and his mom taught math

at the junior high school in Sandpoint

• McManus admits to being only a mediocre student

• in high school spent his summers on the dams that were being built on the Clark Fork River

Patrick McManus• “I drove trucks, serviced heavy equipment,

assisted drillers, ran a jack hammer, and one year worked as a highscaler, a job which consisted of dangling from a rope over a steep cliff and clearing away loose rock. I loved it. Then one of the other highscalers got killed when rock fell on him, and I decided I didn't love highscaling anymore. I started thinking very seriously about going to college.”

Patrick McManus• Attended Washington State College (now

Washington State University)• every week McManus had to write an

essay for his Freshman English Comp teacher

• his first essays came back with F's• Became interested in writing as he spent

more time writing essays

Patrick McManus• “This diligence paid off with a major

breakthrough: I received a D! Then came a C, a B, an A, several A's and finally, on my last essay, an A-plus! There was also a note from the professor that he had recommended me for honors English the next semester. I was on my way to becoming a writer.”

Patrick McManus

Patrick McManus

• an avid outdoors man, McManus writes books, and contributes to Outdoor Life

Patrick McManus

"...laugh-packed shows reminiscent of

Mark Twain and Bill Cosby"!

Patrick McManusPatrick McManus’s stories have been brought to life through the one man show of Tim Behrens who says he has at least 10 hours of McManus material in his head at any given time.

Tim Behrens has over 400 shows to his name, and Sandpoint High School had the opportunity to see him perform in December of 2004 in the high school auditorium to a sold out audience. Tim commented how the SHS audience was one of the best ever high school audiences.

Chris Crutcher

Chris Crutcher• born in Cascade Idaho • earned a B.A. degree in sociology and

psychology from EWU• a distance runner and swimmer; athletics

appear throughout his works • taught in an alternative school in California,

returned to Spokane, Washington, where he worked as a child and family therapist

• he is now a full time writer who works with the Child Protection Team in Spokane

• Crutcher has never married and lives alone.

Chris Crutcherhis works are considered controversial by

many… AHS library takes book off shelves Committee to review Athletic Shorts

Is ATHLETIC SHORTS "racist?“ Middle school challenge based on two pages out of context.

ATHLETIC SHORTS CHALLENGED IN TEXAS 

WHALE TALK CHALLENGED IN MISSOURI, 2002 

Chris Crutcher

Chris Crutcher

• A popular columnist and public speaker, Crutcher lectures at universities, conferences, libraries, schools and bookstores across the United States, roughly 30 to 40 times a year to standing-room-only audiences. His home base is in Spokane, Washington

                                                                                   

                                                                                       

Chris CrutcherAWARDS AND HONORSIronman Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers 1996, (ALA)Best Books for Young Adults 1996 (ALA) Staying Fat for Sarah Brynes Best Books for Young Adults Best Book of the Year. (School Library Journal)Athletic Shorts Best Books for Young Adult Readers 1992 (ALA)Best of the Best in Young Adult Literature (School Library Journal)Chinese Handcuffs Best Books for Young Adult Readers 1990. (ALA)Crazy Horse Electric Game Best Books for Young Adult Readers 1987. (ALA)

Chris CrutcherStotan! Best Books for Young Adult Readers 1986. (ALA)Best of the Best in Young Adult Literature (School Library Journal)

Running Loose Best Books for Young Adult Readers 1983. (ALA)

The Deep End Best Book for Young Adult Readers (ALA)

Jack Nisbet• grew up in N.Carolina• graduated from Stanford

University• moved to Washington in

1971• has taught creative writing

and natural history in public schools, colleges, and elderhostel programs in several states

• lives in Spokane with wife and children

Jack Nisbet

• Sources of the River (won Murray Morgan History prize)

• Singing Grass, Burning Sage (silver medal winner in Foreword Magazine book awards)

• Visible Bones: Journeys Across Time in Columbia River Country

Jack Nisbet

DownRiver! A musical about David Thompson premiered

in Newport, WA in July of 2004 with a CREATE grant

Marty Becker

• "Taken together, the evidence is overwhelming:Pets are good for our hearts, bodies and souls..."

Marty Becker

• Veterinarian resident of Bonner’s Ferry• popular veterinary contributor to ABC-TV’s, Good

Morning America • also appears in segments for Walt Disney Television’s

series Petsburgh • contributing editor for Dog Fancy and Cat Fancy • weekly newspaper column “The Bond” has estimated

readership of over 15 million readedrs• Chief Veterinary Correspondent for Amazon.com with

“Pet-Pourri column• frequent guest on many national network and cable TV and

radio shows.

Marty Becker

Marty becker• He believes in how pets can make

and keep people happy and in the strength of the human/animal bond to human health.

Marty becker

• Besides his passion for pets, Dr. Becker devotes his life to his family: Teresa, his wife, daughter Mikkel, and son Lex, along with their “other kids”:

• · A registered wire‑haired fox terrier, Scooter· A rescued Labrador retriever, Sirloin · A real Heinz 57, Lucky Boo · Three cats: Tommy, Colby and Krissi · Five quarter horses: Chex, Gabriel, Glo Lopin, Pegasus and Sugar Babe

Marianne Love

Marianne Love

• Former SHS teacher• Lifelong Sandpoint resident• Sister of the Tibbs sisters (SHS &

Farmin/Stidwell)• Book author• Sandpoint Magazine columnist

Marianne Love

Ever seen a pocket girdle?Ever received a postcard from

Potato(e) Land?

Marianne Love

• Sandpoint Magazine columnist

• Recently interviewed Viggo Mortensen

Sandy Compton• Writes the column “The Scenic Route” for The

River Journal• Wrote the script for the Sandpoint movie• Author of Jason’s Passage under pen name of M.

R. Compton

Mark Fuhrman

• born 1952• known as the LAPD

detective who found the bloody glove that linked OJ Simpson to the murder of Simpson’s ex-wife Nicole Brown

• during the trial Fuhrman accused of using a racist remark, which he denied

• later pled no contest to perjury charge and was sentenced to probation and fined $200.

Mark Fuhrman

• relocated to Sandpoint after trial• settled into North Idaho life • author of several crime

investigative books• Spokane radio show host

Mark Fuhrman

Spokane radio show host

visited Ms Daniels class to discuss investigative journalism

Mark Fuhrman

Doris and Natalie Fuller

Natalie Fuller

• 2003 SHS graduate• started writing

Promise…Freak Out when she was sixteen

• presently attending college, and would like to be a psychobiologist and work with animals

Natalie’s senior picture

Natalie Fuller

Growing up, her bedroom was next to her mom’s office, and she would fall asleep every night to the sound of her mother’s fingers typing at the keyboard. She thinks that’s why she still finds writing comforting and putting her thoughts onto paper natural.

Doris Fuller• became a full-time writer in

her mid-twenties and wrote for The Los Angeles Times

• left full-time journalism when her son Greg was a toddler to write from home

• has written for numerous magazine and professional journals, co-authored The Woman’s Guide to a Simpler Life (Harmony, 1996), and is expecting a book to be published in early 2006 by G.P. Putnam & Sons

• Lives in Sandpoint, and is married to Ken Sanger, has two cats, and both children are now out of the houseDoris’s senior picture

Greg Fuller

• Contributed the big brother perspective to book

• Like his mom and sister Greg also likes to write

• currently a TEFL teacher (English as a foreign language), and has traveled and taught all over the world

Greg’s senior picture

Pete Fromm

Pete Fromm

• Raised in Wisconsin• Enrolled at University of Montana after high school• Took a creative writing course in order to get minimum

credits to graduate• Took winter off to guard salmon eggs and wrote Indian

Creek Chronicles out of experience• Worked for National Parks Service at Grand Teton and

Big Bend National Parks• Used wildlife biology degree to write about outdoors• 1990 began writing full time• lives in Great Falls, Montana with wife and two sons

Pete Fromm

Four time winner of Pacific Northwest Association Book Award

Author websites

• www. christianteens.about.com/library/blperetti.htm• www.aboutcrutcher.com• www.petefromm.com• www.mariannelove.com• www.fuller3.com• www.drmartybecker.com• www.annonline.com/interviews/970418/biography• www.sandycomptom.com• www.mcmanus.books.com• www.pendoreilleartists.org/nisbet