Fahy, Christopher 1937-

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Fahy, Christopher 1937-

PERSONAL:

Surname is pronounced "Fay"; born November 15, 1937, in Philadelphia, PA; son of William J. (a teacher) and Dorothy (a teacher) Fahy; married Davene Sernoff (a public school system special education director), January 25, 1960; children: Gregory, Benjamin. Education: Temple University, B.A., 1959, M.A., 1962. Hobbies and other interests: Gardening, home renovation, travel.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Thomaston, ME. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Writer, educator. Speech therapist in public schools in New Jersey, 1959-62; Bancroft School, Haddonfield, NJ, speech therapist, 1962-65, director of speech clinic and coordinator of clinical services, 1967-72; freelance writer, 1972—. Maine state vocational rehabilitation counselor for the blind and visually impaired, 1985-97; coordinator of Supplemental Security Income Disabled Children's Program, Knox and Lincoln Counties, ME, 1979-81. Member of literature advisory panel, Maine Arts Commission, 1983-87; board member, Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance, 1989-92; member, Plunkett Maine Poetry Festival Committee, 2002-07.

MEMBER:

Authors Guild, Authors League of America, Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Maine Arts Commission Fiction Competition Award, 1987, for One Day in the Short Happy Life of Anna Banana; International Poetry Grand Prize winner, Atlanta Review, 1999, for poem "Halloween Riding Eastward"; Distinguished Achievement award, University of Maine at Augusta, 2006.

WRITINGS:

NOVELS

The Compost Heap, Outerbridge & Dienstfrey (New York, NY), 1970.

Nightflyer, Jove (New York, NY), 1982.

Dream House, Zebra Books (New York, NY), 1987.

Eternal Bliss, Zebra Books (New York, NY), 1988.

The Lyssa Syndrome, Zebra Books (New York, NY), 1990.

The Fly Must Die, Washington Institute for Creative Activity, 1993.

Fever 42, Overlook Connection Press (Hiram, GA), 2002.

Breaking Point, Limerock Books (Thomaston, ME), 2004.

Chasing the Sun, Puckerbrush Press (Orono, ME), 2005.

OTHER

Home Remedies (on home repair), Scribner (New York, NY), 1975.

Greengroundtown (short stories), Puckerbrush Press (Orono, ME), 1978.

The End Beginning (poetry), Red Earth (St. Louis, MO), 1978.

One Day in the Short Happy Life of Anna Banana (short stories), Coastwise Press (Rockland, ME), 1988.

Limerock: Maine Stories, Coastwise Press (Rockland, ME), 1999.

Matinee at the Flame (stories), Overlook Connection Press (Hiram, GA), 2006.

Contributor of short stories to anthologies, including Cat Crimes, Predators, Santa Clues, and The King Is Dead: Tales of Elvis Postmortem. Contributor of stories, poems, and articles to periodicals, including Beloit Poetry Journal, Twilight Zone Magazine, Fiction Review, Hjemmet, and Down East Magazine.

SIDELIGHTS:

Christopher Fahy is the author of poetry, short story collections—including the award-winning One Day in the Short Happy Life of Anna Banana and the 2006 title Matinee at the Flame—and numerous novels, including the 2004 Breaking Point, which features a man driven to desperate measures when his wife is diagnosed with cancer and is prescribed treatment which the couple can not afford. Whitney Scott, writing in Booklist, termed this an "engrossing page-turner, which flays the world's wealthiest nation for failing to guarantee necessary care for all its citizens." In his collection of twenty-two stories in Matinee at the Flame, Fahy presents a medley of horror tales offering "pretty marvelous entertainment," according to Booklist contributor Ray Olson, who further noted: "No matter how gruesome the ending, each story (with one exception) evokes a satisfied smile."

Fahy once told CA: "Cultural changes in Maine inspire much of my writing. I have had a lifelong interest in fantasy and suspense, and have written numerous stories and novels in that vein. I am also intrigued by contemporary issues."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, July, 1988, review of One Day in the Short Happy Life of Anna Banana, p. 1783; August 1, 2004, Whitney Scott, review of Breaking Point, p. 1898; September 15, 2006, Ray Olson, review of Matinee at the Flame, p. 33.

Kirkus Reviews, July 1, 1970, review of The Compost Heap, p. 700; April 1, 1975, review of Home Remedies, p. 417.

Library Journal, October 1, 1993, A.M.B. Amantia, review of The Fly Must Die, p. 126.

Publishers Weekly, July 20, 1970, review of The Compost Heap, p. 69; July 2, 1982, review of Nightflyer, p. 52; June 17, 1988, review of One Day in the Short Happy Life of Anna Banana, p. 66.