Author Jory Sherman: A Sleeping Giant

By Steven Anderson Law

Originally published January 1999, ReadWest Online Magazine

 

Every writer who dreams of walking over the threshold into the publishing world would only hope to one day meet an established, well-known author who recognizes their talents and reaches out with enormous arms and becomes their mentor.  Back in the fall of 1996, I experienced this great fortune when I met Jory Sherman.  Only knowing him from his essay, PAINTING THE SCENE, published in an Ozark Creative Writers anthology, I walked up to him at the OCW conference and introduced myself.  We made conversation from my comments on his essay, and then ventured into other topics, such as the future of Western fiction.  He spoke with a calm, articulate voice, and offered bold, honest advice.  He had a sincere interest in my writing and I soon learned that he dedicated part of his time to helping new writers.

My experience with Jory that day is another story.  What I discovered was the existence of a true artist, with talents and experiences that range beyond anything that has ever been printed on the jacket of his books.  If a reader were to pick up a copy of THE BARON RANGE, his novel by Forge Books, they would read a blurb about "an ex-cowboy who once worked the rodeo circuit."  That may help sell the book, but the mini-biography misses the more important aspects and experiences of a fascinating author. 

Jory has written for just about every major publishing house, authored over two-hundred books, served the U.S. Navy as a communications expert in the Korean War, programs in several computer languages, speaks Spanish, Italian, French, Tagalog, majored in Latin, has studied the Sioux Indian language, and was raised on a ranch and worked with horses and cattle. He is a man of great depth, who often quotes mythology and can speak with an enormous vocabulary.  He admits to having a knack with language, which came at an early age, and has always enjoyed the magic of words.  He has become his own magician, and his performances have earned him a significant place in the literary world.  GRASS KINGDOM, the first novel of the Baron series by Forge Books, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.  He is a recipient of the Spur Award by the Western Writers of America, and continues to expose his talents with his own interactive website.  

His successes and experiences have not come without great costs.  A few years back Jory discovered he was going blind.  He has lost ninety percent of his vision and struggles to view anything without special lenses.  One could imagine the tremendous challenge blindness would create with any profession, and writing is no exception.  But Jory refuses to let this condition hold him back.  After spending a weekend with him at his home in Belton, Texas, I was inspired by his eagerness to keep going.  He has special magnifiers for his computer screen, and glasses to help when he drives a car, or a boat on his favorite fishing lake, or his motor scooter on the campground roads. His friends and family have learned not to worry about his blindness handicapping him, simply because Jory won't let it. 

You'd think that with all these challenges and two hundred plus novels under his belt he'd slow down.  But Jory has shown high expectations for his writing career.  Somewhere inside all that willpower and intelligence lurks the making of a best seller, a sleeping giant.  He is looking at writing in a different genre, with a goal of introducing his talents to a greater audience.  Can he do it?  He has a great amount of support from editors, agents, respected authors, friends, and family, who all believe he can.  And when you've read a book by Jory Sherman, you'll know he can.   

Learn more about Jory Sherman at http://www.jorysherman.com/.