Meet Gary Kidney, author

In addition to writing, Gary enjoys reading and traveling. When the three come together, magic happens. On a visit to Germany, he took along Erik Larson's In the Garden of Beasts, a non-fiction book about the family of the U.S. Ambassador during Hitler's rise to power. The title's garden refers to Berlin's Tiergarten. Gary wandered the park, sat on benches, and sprawled on the grass while reading chapters about that exact place. Instead of just reading about the lovers' trysts beneath the Goethe Monument, he felt like he watched as the ambassador's daughter danced in the moonlight. Inspired, he wrote a scene for The Eagle Scout Picture. Since then, he has traveled to every setting in his writings. The where is just as important as the who and the what.


Gary was born in Mt. Ayr, a small farming town in southern Iowa. He attended Mesa High School in Arizona. During that time, he discovered his love of writing, publishing three short stories in The Saints Herald. He decided to be a teacher and graduated with three degrees from Arizona State University (B.S. in Political Science, B.A in Education, and M.A in Education). He taught junior high school with the goal of getting boys reading and coached basketball for seven years. He discovered computers, pioneered teaching with technology, and completed a doctorate degree in instructional technology at the University of Houston.

He has worked for the Maricopa Community College District, Santa Monica College, University of Houston-Clear Lake, Univeristy of Maryland, and Rice University as a faculty member and as a director of academic technology. His last employment was as Associate Chief Information Officer at Yale University.

Looking for the next career, he returned to his love of writing and completed a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing from Albertus Magnus College in Connecticut.

Gary lives in Pearland, Texas, with his partner Mary Helen Lowry. He occupies himself with writing, reading, teaching, and technology consulting. He enjoys hanging out at the pool, community parties, and the drama club where he played Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof.

In addition, he's an avid historian.