About those characters -- 'Keep in Touch'

 

“The characters I'm most emotionally involved with are like friends you leave behind when you move away. You don't see them regularly anymore, but you still love them and keep in touch.” – Mary Doria Russell

 

Born in Elmhurst, IL on Aug. 19, 1950 Russell has earned acclaim in a couple of genres, including the 1998 Arthur C. Clarke Award for Best Science Fiction for her first book, The Sparrow, which also won her the John Campbell Award as Best New Writer.  

 

Russell, who also is a well-known and much sought after speaker, said she planned to be an anthropologist but got “sidetracked” into a writing career that has been lauded for its meticulous attention to detail and “fine prose.”  

One of the few people to have a high school English Honor Society Chapter (at Lombard, IL) named in her honor, she earned worldwide recognition for what became known as the “Sparrow” series.  Then, branching into historical fiction she wrote two of the best – Doc and Epitaph – about the notorious gunfighter, gambler and dentist John Henry “Doc” Holiday.  Her most recent book is The Women of the Copper Country a novel based on the first unionized strike (in the 19-teens) against the copper industry.

 “Maybe if I'd studied writing instead of anthropology,” she said, “I'd be more sensible. You know - pick a genre, follow the rules, stay in the box.  But let's face it, sensible people don't major in anthropology.”