Sallie Showalter

Sallie Showalter is the author of a novel, NEXT TRAIN OUT, and the co-editor of THE LAST RESORT: JOURNAL OF A SALT RIVER CAMP 1942-43, a collection of John C. Goodlett's personal writings. Both projects evolved from curiosity about family members she never got to know: her father, who died when she was seven years old; and her maternal grandfather, who disappeared days after her mother was born.

As is often the case, these quests to learn more about missing family members resulted in the author learning more about herself. The projects were in turn satisfying, frightening, revealing, surprising, and confirming. Most importantly, they presented opportunities to renew connections to people who had played outsized roles in her early life and to meet people who had their own associations with her family members.

After receiving a master's degree in comparative literature from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Showalter survived 30 years as a writer and editor in higher education, state government, and industry and technology. She currently lives in central Kentucky.