JOHN RONAN

Author of:
Damned If I Dotage: A Boomer Faces 50

John J. Ronan is a poet, teacher, and journalist, as well as an award-winning scriptwriter, children's author, and TV talk show host. His poems have appeared in many national magazines and reviews, including New England Review, Three Penny Review, Southern Poetry Review, The Hollins Critic, and others. Two books of poetry, The Catching Self and The Curable Corpse, were published in 1996 and 1999, respectively, by Folly Cove Books. A third book, John J. Ronan: Greatest Hits 1975-2000, was published by Pudding House Publications in 2001. Work is also included in a new anthology edited by poet Heather McHugh, Sad Little Breathings.

In 2000, John published a first book of humor: S*DM.

In 1999, Ronan was named a National Endowment for the Arts Fellow in Poetry.

As a journalist, Ronan has placed work in The Boston Globe, The Boston Phoenix, The Washington Post, The Christian Science Monitor, Dallas Morning News, and many other dailies. He is a former columnist for the Essex County Papers and a former feature writer for The Boston Phoenix. John has also scripted material for the Detrick Lawrence Film Company, often on science subjects.

John is listed in the Poets and Writers publication, A Directory of American Poets and Fiction Writers. He is also a member of the Poetry Society of America, the Academy of American Poets, and the National Writer's Union.

In addition, John is the producer and host of The Writer's Block with John Ronan, a television program featuring writers and other artists. The series began its twelfth season in September, on Adelphia Communication's Channel 12, in Gloucester, Massachusetts.

In another media connection, John is president of American Storyboard, Inc. a non-profit organization which makes documentary videos. The 501c3 corporation is now producing a documentary on the National Historic Landmark schooner Adventure.

John Ronan is also a professor at North Shore Community College, Danvers, MA, where he chairs the Cultural Arts Department. He lives in Gloucester, MA, with his wife Sandy and their adopted Wyoming dog, Cowboy.