Tim Myers - Faculty          Biography  

             Tim Myers, though born in Oregon, grew up in a very Catholic family in Colorado Springs, Colorado, under the shadow of Pikes Peak.  He’s the oldest of eleven children.  The Myers are mainly Irish and German by extraction (though the Irish side seems to have won out—suffice it to say he isn’t exactly shy and retiring). 

            He started writing poetry in sixth grade, for a reason he still can’t quite fathom.  His first poem concerned the martyrdom of St. Stephen (Tim was a fairly cheerful youth, actually), which his teacher, Sister Boniface, praised, though probably for non-literary reasons.  Her encouragement led him to more poetry, and he’s profoundly grateful to her.  At about that time his mother Tedde bought the family an old upright piano, and after Tim weasled out of taking lessons he began to play on his own and write songs, which he continues to do even now.

            In high school Tim earned a number of honors as a football player, among them a High-School All-American plaque—for which he continually wants to thank the lineman of the then St. Mary’s Pirates, since they did all the “heavy lifting” that allowed this to happen.  Tim was much more interested in basketball, however, but spent most of his time in that sport “riding the pine.”  He’s made up for that by playing pick-up basketball every chance he gets, and continuing with the game even as his age and waning ability make that problematic.

            While working as a grocery bagger just before he went off to college, Tim fell in love with Priscilla Gehrung, who is not only the love of his life but, he hopes, for endless lifetimes beyond that.  After two years at Creighton University in Omaha, he transferred back to Colorado College in his hometown, for both academic and romantic reasons.  He and Priscilla were married his junior year (marriage at such an early age being something he only recommends in cases of True Love).

            He then earned his Masters in Literature at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and he and his wife got teaching jobs at an American school in Stavanger, Norway, and, following that, in London.  Their son Seth was born at Hammersmith Hospital (where Twiggy also had her baby—which, though perhaps biologically surprising, is irrelevant here).   Three weeks later they returned to the States.  Their son Nick was born two years after.  At this point Tim began storytelling, which he now does professionally.  The family then moved to Tokyo, where Tim and Priscilla both taught for three years at the American School in Japan.

            Tim continued to teach when they moved to Austin, Texas, while Priscilla earned her Ph.D. (“Pretty Hard Degree”) in education.  In the middle of her dissertation, Priscilla found out she was pregnant.  Cassie was born in ’91, Priscilla soon took a professorship in Bakersfield, California, and for the second time Tim found himself a stay-at-home dad.  He’s still quite proud of being the only male adult member of Bakersfield’s Moms and Munckins.  The family then lived for seven years in Plattsburgh, New York, a beautiful small city just north of the Adirondacks and an hour south of Montreal.

            All along Tim was writing.  He’s published over 80 poems, once won a poetry contest judged by John Updike, and recently had a chapbook accepted by Pecan Grove Press.  He’s just sold his fifth children’s book, this one to Candlewick; his Basho and the Fox made the New York Times bestseller list for children’s books, was read aloud on NPR, was a Smithsonian Magazine Notable Children’s Book for 2001, a Bank Street Irma Black Honor Book (kid-chosen), and a Children’s Book Council “Not Just for Children Anymore” selection.  Tim’s had numerous pieces in top children’s magazines.  His short story “Brother Jubal in the Womb of Silence” won a prize in the 2001 Writers of the Future Contest for speculative fiction, which earned him a week-long writing workshop attended by Tim Powers, Kevin Anderson, Frederick Pohl, Hal Clement, and others.  He’s also placed much other fiction and non-fiction for adults and children. 

            Tim and Priscilla now live in Santa Clara, California, where they both teach at Santa Clara University, and where Cassie has just started middle school.  And Tim keeps writing, sometimes wondering if his lifetime will be enough to finish all the projects he has planned.

            It’s worth mentioning that he can hum and sing at the same time, and does the world’s greatest “can-opener” splash-dive.