ROCKVILLE —
A former small-town newspaperman who now spends most of his time writing novels, John Pesta, will give an informal talk about his first book at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 18 at the Rockville Public Library.
The book, “Safely Buried,” is a mystery set in Meridian County, a fictional place in south-central Indiana. The setting bears a strong resemblance to Jackson County, where he has lived since 1972.
His novel won a silver medal in the mystery/cozy/noir category of the 2012 Independent Publisher Book Awards. Pesta is now writing another mystery that unfolds in beautiful, bucolic, but not always peaceful Meridian County.
Born and raised in Allentown, Pa., Pesta has lived in Indiana most of his life.
After graduating from the University of Notre Dame in 1965, he earned a master’s degree in English literature at the University of Virginia and then spent a year as a Fulbright fellow at the University of London. He taught at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside for two years before deciding to give up the academic life in favor of journalism.
Pesta and his wife purchased The Brownstown Banner, a weekly paper, in 1972. A few years later they began putting the paper out twice a week, and a few years after that they built Banner Cablevision, the first cable-TV system in Brownstown. They sold their two businesses in the late 1980s so that they could pursue their creative interests.
“Giving up my academic career was a wrenching decision,” Pesta says, “but I have always felt that it was the right move for me. Working in the real world, among all kinds of people, helped me to become a better writer.” His short stories have appeared in numerous literary magazines, among them Sou’wester, The Florida Review, Farmer’s Market, Prairie Schooner and Indiannual. His wife, Maureen, is an artist whose pastel paintings have won many awards.
During the past quarter century, in addition to writing fiction, Pesta worked five years as senior writer at the Agency for Instructional Technology in Bloomington, where he helped produce the print components of multimedia educational programs.
From time to time he returned to the classroom to teach writing courses at IUPUI-Columbus and Ivy Tech in Seymour.
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Safely Buried, a mystery by John Pesta. (Submitted photo)
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Former newspaperman, mystery writer to speak at Rockville Library
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