Jan Karon

Author profile

born

January 01, 1937 in Lenoir, North Carolina, The United States

gender

female

website

http://www.mitfordbooks.com/

About this author

edit data

Born Janice Meredith Wilson in 1937, Jan Karon was raised on a farm near Lenoir, North Carolina. Karon knew at a very early age that she wanted to be a writer. She penned her first novel when she was 10 years old, the same year she won a short-story contest organized by the local high school. Karon married as a teenager and had a daughter, Candace.

At 18, Karon began working as a receptionist for a Charlotte, N.C. advertising agency. She advanced in the company after leaving samples of her writing on the desk of her boss, who eventually noticed her talent. Karon went on to have a highly successful career in the field, winning awards for ad agencies from Charlotte to San Francisco. In time, she became a creative vice president at the high-pr...more Born Janice Meredith Wilson in 1937, Jan Karon was raised on a farm near Lenoir, North Carolina. Karon knew at a very early age that she wanted to be a writer. She penned her first novel when she was 10 years old, the same year she won a short-story contest organized by the local high school. Karon married as a teenager and had a daughter, Candace.

At 18, Karon began working as a receptionist for a Charlotte, N.C. advertising agency. She advanced in the company after leaving samples of her writing on the desk of her boss, who eventually noticed her talent. Karon went on to have a highly successful career in the field, winning awards for ad agencies from Charlotte to San Francisco. In time, she became a creative vice president at the high-profile McKinney & Silver, in Raleigh. While there, she won the prestigious Stephen Kelly Award, with which the Magazine Publishers of America honor the year's best print campaign.

During her years in advertising, Karon kept alive her childhood ambition to be an author. At the age of 50, she left her career in advertising and moved to Blowing Rock, North Carolina, to pursue that dream. After struggling—and failing—to get a novel underway, Karon awoke one night with a mental image of an Episcopal priest walking down a village street. She grew curious about him, and started writing. Soon, Karon was publishing weekly installments about Father Tim in her local newspaper, The Blowing Rocket, which saw its circulation double as a result. "It certainly worked for Mr. Dickens", says Karon.

The Father Tim stories became Karon's first Mitford novel, At Home in Mitford. That book has since been nominated three times (1996, 1997, and 1998) for an ABBY (American Booksellers Book of the Year Award), which honors titles that bookstore owners most enjoy recommending to customers, and the only book ever nominated for three consecutive years. The fourth Mitford novel, A New Song, won both the Christy and Gold Medallion awards for outstanding contemporary fiction in 2000. A Common Life, In This Mountain, and Shepherd's Abiding have also won Gold Medallion awards. Out to Canaan was the first Mitford novel to hit the New York Times bestseller list; subsequent novels have debuted on the New York Times list, often landing the #1 spot.

Karon has also published two Christmas-themed books based on the Mitford series, The Mitford Snowmen and Esther's Gift, as well as Jan Karon's Mitford Cookbook and Kitchen Reader. Other Mitford books include Patches of Godlight: Father Tim's Favorite Quotes, a compilation of wit and wisdom, and A Continual Feast: Words of Comfort and Celebration, Collected by Father Tim. In addition, Karon has written two children's books, Miss Fannie's Hat and Jeremy: The Tale of an Honest Bunny, and an illustrated book for all ages, The Trellis and the Seed.

Karon says her character-driven work seeks to give readers a large, extended family they can call their own. Though Light From Heaven is officially the final novel in the series, there's yet another Mitford book in this prolific author. Karon urges her millions of ardent fans to look for the Mitford Bedside Companion, releasing in the Fall of 2006. "It has everything in it but the kitchen sink", says Karon. (less)

combine editions
Books by Jan Karon

Average rating: 4.08 · 67,123 ratings · 4,597 reviews · 40 distinct works

	At Home in Mitford (Mitford Years, #1) 3.97 avg rating — 13,152 ratings — published 1994 — 28 editions	My rating:
	A Light in the Window (Mitford Years, #2) 4.11 avg rating — 7,119 ratings — published 1995 — 19 editions	My rating:
	These High, Green Hills (Mitford Years #3) 4.15 avg rating — 6,425 ratings — published 1996 — 22 editions	My rating:
	A New Song (Mitford Years, #5) 4.17 avg rating — 5,995 ratings — 17 editions	My rating:
	Out to Canaan (Mitford Years, #4) 4.16 avg rating — 5,475 ratings — published 1997 — 14 editions	My rating:
	A Common Life: The Wedding Story (Mitford Years, #6) 4.07 avg rating — 4,569 ratings — 12 editions	My rating:
	In This Mountain (Mitford Years, #7) 4.22 avg rating — 4,580 ratings — 18 editions	My rating:
	Shepherds Abiding (Mitford Years, #8) 4.15 avg rating — 4,366 ratings — 13 editions	My rating:
	Light from Heaven (Mitford Years, #9) 4.22 avg rating — 4,011 ratings — published 2004 — 17 editions	My rating:
	Home to Holly Springs (Father Tim, #1) 3.99 avg rating — 3,471 ratings — 14 editions	My rating:

More books by Jan Karon…

Series by Jan Karon

Mitford Years (9 books)
by Jan Karon

4.11 avg rating — 55,643 ratings

Father Tim (2 books)
by Jan Karon

3.86 avg rating — 5,207 ratings

Upcoming Events

No scheduled events. Add an event.

Quotes by Jan Karon

“As long as you have any floor space at all, you have room for books! Just make two stacks of books the same height, place them three or four feet apart, lay a board across them, and repeat. Viola! Bookshelves!”
― Jan Karon

tags: book-lover , books , literacy , reading

115 people liked it

“I'd like you to know that I have forgiven him. Again and again. Once done, course, back comes the Enemy to persecute and persecute, and I must ante up to God and forgive yet again.”
― Jan Karon, Home to Holly Springs

tags: inspirational

44 people liked it

“One of the things that makes a dead leaf fall to the ground is the bud of the new leaf that pushes it off the limb.”
― Jan Karon

tags: life

35 people liked it

See all Jan Karon's quotes »

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
M/T Reading Friends: Ann's May-2009 Books	7	43	Jun 05, 2009 09:32pm
Novel Ladies: Jan's Reading Log - 2009	13	22	Jul 11, 2009 07:05am
Novel Ladies: Karin's Reading Log for 2010	21	23	Sep 22, 2009 05:46pm
75 Books: Bookreadera's 75 in 2009	32	162	Oct 11, 2009 01:20pm
Romance Readers R...: October Monthly Challenge: Participants' Lists Thread	274	270	Nov 01, 2009 11:55pm

More…

Is this you? Let us know. If not, help out and invite Jan to Goodreads.

Jan's Fans (269)