SNYDER, Don J. 1950-

PERSONAL: Born August 11, 1950, in Lansdale, PA; son of Richard (a pastor) and Peggy (Schwartz) Snyder; married Colleen McQuinn, December 14, 1985; children: Erin, Nell, Jack, Cara. Education: Colby College, B.A., 1972; University of Iowa, M.F.A., 1986. Hobbies and other interests: Sailing.

ADDRESSES: Home—Scarborough, ME. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Doubleday, 1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10019.

CAREER: Freelance writer, 1972—. Colby College, Waterville, ME, writer-in-residence, 1986; Colgate University, Hamilton, NY, writer-in-residence, 1989-1993; Columbia College, New York, NY, visiting writer, 2004.

AWARDS, HONORS: James A. Michener fellowship, Copernicus Society of America and James A. Michener, 1986; teaching writing fellowship in fiction, Iowa Writers Workshop, 1986.

WRITINGS:

FICTION

Veterans Park, F. Watts (New York, NY), 1987.

From the Point, F. Watts (New York, NY), 1988.

Night Crossing, Knopf (New York, NY), 2001.

Fallen Angel (also see below), Pocket Books (New York, NY), 2001.

Winter Dreams, Doubleday (New York, NY), 2003.

Fallen Angel (screenplay), Columbia Broadcasting System, 2003.

NONFICTION

A Soldier's Disgrace, Yankee Books, 1987.

The Cliff Walk: A Memoir of a Job Lost and a Life Found, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1997.

Of Time and Memory: A Mother's Story, Knopf (New York, NY), 1999.

Contributor of articles and stories to periodicals including, Yankee, Boston Globe Sunday Magazine, Saturday Evening Post, NorthEast, and Reader's Digest.

ADAPTATIONS: The Cliff Walk: A Memoir of a Job Lost and a Life Found, has been adapted to audiocassette.

SIDELIGHTS: Don J. Snyder's book A Soldier's Disgrace is the story of Ronald Alley, a U.S. Army major who was captured in Korea in 1950. Alley survived three years as a prisoner of war, then returned to the United States, only to face court martial and be convicted of collaboration with the enemy. He became the only American military officer to be imprisoned for such a crime in this century, even though hundreds of other military personnel conducted themselves as he did, trading bits of noncrucial intelligence information for the lives of other prisoners. According to Patrick Reardon in the Chicago Tribune, Alley approached journalist Don Snyder for help in clearing his name of the charges but died of a heart attack before any action could be taken. "Almost against his will," reported Reardon, "Snyder took up the search for truth that, for four years, became the obsession of his life." With the assistance of Alley's widow, Snyder tried to have the major's conviction overturned; A Soldier's Disgrace describes Alley's ordeal as well as Snyder's efforts on his behalf.

After losing his job at Colgate College to downsizing, Synder was confident he would find another quickly. Settling for a job as an unskilled construction worker to support his family, Synder sat down and wrote The Cliff Walk: A Memoir of a Job Lost and a Life Found. Carol Stern, writing in Library Journal, described the audiocassette tape version of the book "an articulate memoir." And Duanne Veidelis, writing in Christian Science Monitor, commented that "the subtleties of each phase of his awakening are just that—subtle. But this makes his tale convincing." New York Times BookReview contributor Anne Matthews observed, "Over the last decade, millions of Americans pushed out of good jobs have largely left in stoic silence. But Mr. Snyder is a natural protester and contrarian. His testament of loss makes grim, instructive reading for upwardly mobile baby boomers, elected officials, academics on both sides of the tenure line and women tied to men whose employment is in jeopardy, or could be." "This honest, articulate memoir skillfully explores the psychological as well as the financial pain that comes with the loss of a statusy job and income," concluded a Publishers Weekly reviewer.

Another of Snyder's nonfiction works is Of Time and Memory: A Mother's Story. Library Journal critic Joyce Sparrow described the book as a "memoir, which reads like an intriguing love story, detail[ing] one man's attempt to find out the woman who dies sixteen days after giving birth to him and his twin brother in 1950." Through "exhaustive efforts" Snyder searches medical records, visits family friends, and locates personnel to discover what his mother had been like. GraceAnne A. DeCandido, writing in Booklist, observed, "in his search, [Snyder] re-creates the flesh-and-blood person who bore him and learns what it cost her." A reviewer for Publishers Weekly further stated that "Snyder's painstaking evocation of his emotional odyssey in search of a young woman with extraordinary courage will resonate with most readers."

Snyder once told CA: "My only aspiration as a writer is to drive a wedge against the world's greed and indifference. All of my novels and my nonfiction book[s] are about people who try to live decent lives, believe in good things, and then wake up one morning to discover that nothing is the way they thought it was. My only interests beyond my world of fiction are the Maine Charitable Foundation, my wife and daughters, and sailing. I want my books to provide me with a way to take care of people less fortunate than I."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, April 15, 1997, David Rouse, review of The Cliff Walk: A Memoir of a Job Lost and a Life Found, p. 1369; August, 1999, GraceAnne A. DeCandido, review of Of Time and Memory: A Mother's Story, p. 2013; April 15, 2001, Carie Bissey, review of Night Crossing, p. 1537.

Chicago Tribune, September 29, 1987.

Christian Science Monitor, September 8, 1997, Duanne Veidelis, "Finding Dignity in Pounding Nails," p. 13.

Library Journal, May 1, 1997, Bellinda Wise, review of The Cliff Walk, p. 116; August, 1999, Joyce Sparrow, review of Of Time and Memory, p. 106; September 15, 2000, Carol Stern, review of The Cliff Walk, p. 130; March 15, 2001, David W. Henderson, review of Night Crossing, p. 106.

Los Angeles Times Book Review, September 27, 1987.

New York Times Book Review, May 18, 1997, Anne Matthews, "Without a Parachute," p. 38.

People Weekly, October 6, 1997, Curtis Rist, "Handy Lesson: Sacked As a College Professor, Don Snyder Labored Manually to Learn Dignity," pp. 79-80.

Publishers Weekly, February 17, 1997, review of The Cliff Walk, p. 200; July 26, 1999, review of Of Time and Memory, p. 71; June 18, 2001, review of Night Crossing, p. 57; August 27, 2001, review of Fallen Angel, p. 47.