I’m a writer and teacher living in New Mexico with my wife Jules and our toddler son, Sean Michael. For ten years I was a newspaper reporter in Chicago and Alaska, covering sports, courts, cops and other beats, while taking time between jobs to travel through Europe, Canada and the western U.S.
I’m also an avid hiker and scaler of short summits. Over the years I’ve seen so much incredible beauty in the mountains. One June evening I saw the sun set and rise behind Denali (Alaska’s 20,000-foot giant) during the same hour or so while camped atop a peak in Alaska’s Chugach Range. And in Ireland, I hiked up Croah Patrick, the holy mountain, with two local brothers who subsequently invited the American home for a fish dinner.
I’m very grateful for all the wonderful people I’ve met and places I’ve seen.
In the early 90s, I made a career change to teaching, but continued to freelance for Sail Magazine, Alaska Magazine, The Seattle Times and other publications. Looking for novel experiences, I subsequently taught in the Yupik Eskimo village of Gambell on St. Lawrence Island – where I actually could see Russia from my house — and the Athabascan village of Tetlin, near the Canadian border. These experiences led to my memoir, Tundra Teacher.
After moving to Washington in 2000, I wrote three realistic young adult novels: Hoops of Steel was based on my experiences as a high school basketball player; Running With the Wind was largely based on my experiences living aboard a sailboat on Puget Sound for a year; and A Mighty Wall was inspired by folks I met while hiking around Alaska and Washington.
In the summer of 2008, I received a grant to research a novel in the Arrigetch Peaks area of Alaska. These spire-like mountains are located above the Arctic Circle in a remote mosquito-infested area of the Brooks Range, and I can now honestly say I’ve suffered for my art. I subsequently completed the novel based in part on that experience, titled Death in the Wild, which I hope will be published soon.
Well, those are highlights. Along the way I’ve lost my trail a few times. I plan to continue writing, teaching, hiking, sailing, painting and otherwise enjoying and celebrating this beautiful world. And I wish you peace and joy on your own beautiful journey. –John Foley
Favorite Books
- The Razor’s Edge by Somerset Maugham
- Shibumi by Trevanian
- Miracle in the Andes by Nando Parrado
- Essays by E.B. White
- Free Fall in Crimson by John D. MacDonald
- Last Light Breaking by Nick Jans
- To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
- The Lords of Discipline by Pat Conroy
- Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett
- Sanibel Flats by Randy Wayne White
- Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer
- The Kill Artist by Daniel Silva
- The Shipping News by Annie Proulx
- Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson
- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
- Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
- The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico
- A Man in Full by Tom Wolfe
- Siddhartha by Herman Hess
- Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
- A River Runs Through It by Norman Mclean
- A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
- Mystics, Masters, Saints & Sages by Robert & Judyth Ullman
- Dune by Frank Herbert
- Semi-Tough by Dan Jenkins
- The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
- The Eagle has Landed by Jack Higgins
- From Here to Eternity by James Jones