Jack Matthews, author of Etruscan’s The Gambler’s Nephew (2011), grew up in Columbus, Ohio, and served briefly in the U.S. Coast Guard during WWII.  He graduated in 1949 from Ohio State University with degrees in English Literature & Classical Greek.  He married Barbara Reese in 1947 and this September they will have been married 63 years (a fact that he refers to as “disgraceful for a writer, but nobody’s perfect”). To support his young and growing family, he worked at a variety of jobs, including 9 years as a post office clerk, during which time he began to publish short stories and eventually, in 1959, began to teach at Urbana (Ohio) College.

In 1964, they moved to Athens, where Matthews joined the English Department at Ohio University. They still live in the country near Athens.  He and Barbara have 3 grown children, 7 grown grandchildren, and 4 great-grandchildren, with another on the way.  During Spring 2010, he is teaching one course on his 2nd post-retirement contract, collecting old and rare books, and, of course, writing.

He takes great pleasure in despising the current generation, which he calls “an indulgence which has forever been the prerogative of old geezers.”  He continues, ”I also enjoy contemplating the Dumbing of America. Do you suppose we deserve it? Possibly; we’re a woefully imperfect species—which fact provides limitless material for a writer.”