Fenway 4: The Dedication

Dedicated to My Shakespeare Professor

Based on my time as a member of UC Santa Barbara’s American Shakespeare Company in the early 1990s, The Upstaged Coroner is deeply personal for me. The Shakespeare professor in the book is based on UCSB’s own brilliant (if maddening) Homer Swander—and yes, the guy was a pretty big deal. None other than Sir Patrick Stewart, an Olivier-winning actor with the Royal Shakespeare Company (oh yeah, he was on Star Trek: TNG and in a couple of the X-Men movies too) penned his obituary in The Guardian. 

I was lucky enough to be one of Professor Swander’s student-actors in the American Shakespeare Company’s 1993 production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I looked forward to performing in his production of The Merchant of Venice the next year, but he decided he couldn’t do the play without a live monkey. But that’s not a problem for Professor Swander’s döppelganger in The Upstaged Coroner!

Pre-Order The Upstaged Coroner today! The book (coming October 1) will debut at a special discounted price of $2.99 now through October 7, before returning to the regular price of $4.99.

Read More