Michael Ryan

Michael entered St. Joseph’s in 1973, at the age of nine, and he would remain at the orphanage for seven years. “I began reading at a very early age, kindergarten and even before. I would sit on my father’s lap and he’d read to me, and that’s how I learned. It has been an integral part of my life ever since.” When Michael got out of the orphanage, he joined the navy. After the institutionalization of St. Joseph’s and the abusive behaviors of authority figures there, he found that the military was “not a good fit.” “My travels have brought me from coast to coast, from the Mojave Desert to the infamous grapevines on the West Coast, to seeing the Statue of Liberty from the cab of my truck! I’ve been snow-blind in blizzards so heavy I could barely see the taillights of the truck in front of me, in fog so deep coming off Afton mountain in Virginia I could not continue. “I was a commercial fisherman in Alaska. I sold flooring in Virginia, and I was a cross-country truck driver for many years. Wherever I was, you could always find me with a book in my hand. The Prophet is one of my favorites. Then, of course, there’s Sonnets from the Portuguese. I’ve chosen these examples because they’re both about love and the possibilities of love. I’ve always written a little bit here and there, but the S.J.O.R.I. writers’ group is the first series of workshops I’ve ever taken. The only thing I enjoy more than writing is reading. I know how a story is supposed to go together, because I’ve read enough stories.” Michael lives with his wife, Laura, in Buckingham, Virginia. In his spare time, he likes to cook and compete in cook-offs. Chili is his specialty. He’s been in the top five regionally on two separate occasions.