Robert Flynn (author)

Robert Flynn (né Robert Lopez Flynn; born 12 April 1932, in Chillicothe, Texas) is an author and professor emeritus at Trinity University.

Robert Flynn
Flynn in 2008
Born	Robert Lopez Flynn (1932-04-12) April 12, 1932 (age 93) Chillicothe, Texas, U.S.
Occupation	Novelist
Alma mater	Baylor University
Genre	Texas literature, Western fiction, satire
Subject	Texas, war, religion
Notable works	North To Yesterday
Website
robert-flynn.net

Early life and education

Flynn joined the Marines and served for two years during the Korea War era. In 1954, he received a drama degree from Baylor University. In 1970, during the Vietnam War, Flynn embedded with Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines as a civilian war correspondent for two months.^[1][2]

Styles and themes

Flynn gained early recognition with his novel North to Yesterday, a national bestseller. Literary critics have noted that the book both satirizes and pays tribute to traditional cowboy mythology in Western literature. Flynn's later novels address themes such as rural life, war, religion in contemporary society, and the tension between traditional values and popular culture.^{[citation needed]}

Novels like In the House of the Lord explored more religious/spiritual themes. Wanderer Springs adopted the gently satirical tone of his earlier works while also examining the interconnectedness between people and families in a small Texas town. The Last Klick touches upon themes of his service in the Vietnam War. (In his latest novel Tie-Fast Country, Flynn returns to earlier themes, depicting a grandmother rancher with a checkered past who is out of sync with contemporary life. (The narrator is a TV news producer who has to confront her).

Critics have described Flynn’s short stories as exploring complex subjects with a more lyrical tone compared to his novels.^{[citation needed]}

In 2010 and 2011, Flynn published two novels through JoSara MeDia, Jade:Outlaw and its sequel, Jade: the Law. Both novels portray the grim realities of living in west Texas in the late 19th century where settlers/Indians/Mexicans frequently clash. Jade, the protagonist, is hired as an escort for cattle, guarding property and chasing after rustlers. He quickly discovers that just to do his job means getting involved in brutal situations that trouble his conscience. Jade ends up falling in love with Crow Poison, an Indian woman whose husband he had killed. Eventually he realizes that both sides have culpability. His outrage translates into a desire to fight for the sake of justice (even if it results in tragedy). At the end of the novel, Jade (with the support of his wife) agrees to serve as sheriff for his town (which becomes the basis for the sequel, Jade: The Law). According to San Antonio Express-News reviewer Ed Conroy, “Flynn brilliantly employs a directly simple, subtle and at times sardonic narrative voice...Flynn brilliantly employs a directly simple, subtle and at times sardonic narrative voice to tell this tale.^[3] It is alternately tough and tender, succinct and sweet, cadenced to the clip-clop of a horse trotting down Main Street, the hullabaloo of a steam locomotive triumphantly making its way into town amid a jubilant crowd's hoopla, and, of course, to the shots of guns of many kinds fired in self-defense, anger, treachery and haste. In the same review, Conroy suggests that Flynn’s narrative critiques the long-term effects of historical injustices—such as violence against Indigenous peoples and women—portraying them as contributing to deep societal trauma.

Flynn was inducted into the Texas Literary Hall of Fame in October 2012.^[4]

Flynn taught writing to college students over four decades. In a 2007 audio interview,^[5] he said, "You can read any book on writing fiction for example, and they will tell you the same thing. Someone may say it in a different way that gives you better insight, but there are no secrets in writing; it's just a matter of doing it."

Bibliography

Novels

• North To Yesterday
• In the House of the Lord
• The Sounds of Rescue, The Signs of Hope
• Wanderer Springs
• The Last Klick
• The Devil's Tiger, with Dan Klepper
• Tie-Fast Country
• Jade: The Outlaw (ebook + pb) JoSara MeDia (September 1, 2010)
• Jade: The Law (ebook + pb) JoSara MeDia (October 2011)

Vietnam Memoir

• A Personal War In Vietnam

Short story collections

• Living with the Hyenas
• Seasonal Rain
• Slouching towards Zion

Essays

• When I was Just Your Age, oral histories, edited with Susan Russell
• Growing Up a Sullen Baptist
• Paul Baker and the Integration of Abilities

Religious/social essays

• The Most Famous Christian of the 20th century?
• For the love of Agape