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CHRIS CRUTCHER Who is Chris Crutcher? He is a 57-year-old author and family therapist. Born on July 17, 1946 in Dayton, Ohio to a WWII bomber pilot and a homemaker, Crutcher grew up in Cascade, Idaho (a tiny logging town north of Boise). He graduated from Eastern Washington State College (now EWU) with a BA in psychology and sociology. He used his degree to wander the American interstates and to pour concrete in Texas. Once he earned his teaching certificate, also from EWU, Crutcher taught primary and secondary school in Washington and California. Offered the chance to direct a "last chance" alternative school in Oakland, CA, he respectfully served the at-risk K-12 students for a decade before returning to Spokane to write his first book, Running Loose for Greenwillow in 1982. Seven other novels—Stotan!, Chinese Handcuffs, The Crazy Horse Electric Game, The Deep End, Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, Ironman, and Whale Talk—as well as a collection of short stories—Athletic Shorts—followed the first. His tenth book, an autobiography called King of the Mild Frontier was released in April of 2003 by Greenwillow/HarperCollins. A new novel is scheduled for publication in fall of 2004. A second collection of short stories will be published soon after, and two other book projects are in development. Crutcher's fast-paced fiction—heavily influenced by his work as a therapist and child protection advocate—is known for its expert balance of comedy and tragedy, as well as its unflinching honesty and authentic voice. He has been honored with dozens of awards and honors including the ALA's 2000 Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award, the NCTE's 1998 National Intellectual Freedom Award and the ALAN Award. A popular columnist (Voices from the Midddle, iParenting.com) and public speaker, Crutcher lectures at universities, conferences, libraries, schools and bookstores across the United States, roughly 30 to 40 times a year to standing-room-only audiences. His home base is in Spokane, Washington in the Pacific Northwest. Scott Poole | Kurt Vonnegut | Jennifer Davis | Garrison Keillor | Sarah Vowell | Dave Barry | Lynda Barry | Christopher Howell | Chris Crutcher | Jonathan Johnson | Joseph Millar | Dorianne Laux | Paul Zimmer | Nance Van Winckel | Natalie Kusz | Terry Davis | Gregory Spatz | Joelean Copeland | John Keeble | William Kittrdge | Annick Smith | John Whalen | Tom I. Davis | Libby Wagner | Harvey Pekar | Phil Condon | Claire Davis | Pete Fromm | Linda Lawrence Hunt | Amanda Lumry | Teri Hein | Greg Delzer | Dan Morris | Fionn Meade | John Reischmann and the Jaybirds | Terry Bain | Jennifer Reid | Kit Seatons |
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