Random House sent me this copy of my bio for the paperback version of “Going Home” and I realized that four of my books are coming out in 2012 – my first E-Book Original, “The Story Of Rose,” in the Spring or Summer, the “Going Home” paperback in September, my first short-story collection, “Dancing Dogs,” out in late September, and “Lenore Finds A Friend”, my second children’s book also to be published this Fall. Henry Holt publishes the children’s books, the rest are from Random House.
I approved this bio, and sadly noted the deletion of Rose from the list of dogs on the farm. I thought I’d share it with you, as it startled me to read it.
“JON KATZ has written twenty-one books–eight novels, one collection of short stories, and twelve works of nonfiction–including Soul of a Dog, Izzy & Lenore, Dog Days, A Good Dog, and The Dogs of Bedlam Farm. He has written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Slate, Rolling Stone, and the AKC Gazette. He has worked for CBS News, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, and the Philadelphia Inquirer. Katz is also a photographer and the author of two children’s books, Meet the Dogs of Bedlam Farm and Lenore Finds a Friend. He lives on Bedlam Farm in upstate New York with his wife, the artist Maria Wulf; his dogs, Rose, Izzy, Lenore and Frieda; his donkeys, Simon, Lulu and Fanny; and his barn cats, Mother and Minnie.”
A bio is not really a life, I think, but a part of a life, the part that a writer or artist wants to present to the world. It made me wonder who I am, and who I think I am, something I don’t often consider. I am not a celebrity and do not think of myself that way. I think the bio is lovely, and I am very proud to have written all those books. People ask me all the time about writing, and the mind of a writer, and I think what I have learned – who I am – is that I am no different than anyone else, and I really think no differently.
The truer that is, I think, the better the writing. My mind is not different than a bus driver or bank teller. I worry about love, money, family, aging and death. I seek approval and satisfaction, and connection. I fear failure and loss. I am wary of telling struggle stories anymore because I learned late in life that my stories are no different than anyone else. That, I think, is the most interesting thing about them. I have learned that my life and beliefs are not the subject of argument, but choice, not exotic but mundane.
We have all suffered losses, sorrows, dashed hopes and failed dreams. We will likely see our parents die, and our dogs and cats as well. This is our universal experience.
We can seek happiness and love and meaning as well. If I am different from some people, it may be that my work as a writer and journalist has taught me to detach myself a bit from what I am seeing, to suppress emotion and consider it. I am a story-teller, but that is my work, not a magical application of genius and torment. We all have good stories to tell, it is just my good fortune to be able to tell them. At the core, you and are I the same thing, and I think that is what connects us here, that is when my writing works. That is what drives my work, my blog, my ambition. This is the part that works. I never thought I was different than you, I do not think so now.
Who am I? I am you.
I don’t want to be artificially modest. Reading the bio, I did swell up a bit with pride. I see my writing as work. I go to work every day like everybody else, and I work hard and I hope to do my work with diligence and professionalism. That, I think, is how and why I wrote 21 books. And plan on at least 21 more.