Judy McCarty Kuhn

For thirty years, Judy McCarty Kuhn taught high school English, history, and journalism. After she retired, Mrs. Kuhn began a new career as a writer. The Other UC and Me: Editing the Sixties, a memoir of Judy's days editing the University of Cincinnati News Record during the Vietnam Conflict, was her first book. Magic Nation Tales, a six book series for children, soon followed. Recently, Judy published two books of historical fiction for readers of all ages: The Dallas Documents and The Sixth Raven.

The Dallas Documents, set in 1963-64, follows six characters who stood on the Grassy Knoll on November 22, 1963. Four witnesses fill in the gaps of "the longest year in American history." That year, for each, was a year of vulnerability, deceit, and fear. "The theme of the novel relates to the 'Credibility Gap' that changed America. That 'gap' began with the release of the Warren Report and grew deeper during the Vietnam Conflict. For me, the somewhat unknown CIA scandal in 1967 made the gap become a canyon," Judy says. Although the title mentions Dallas, the majority of the action is set in the Cincinnati tri-state. Visit the University of Cincinnati, the Carew Tower, the Downtown YMCA, Cincinnati's iconic Italian restaurant, and the fictitious Arbor Hills Golf Club, Falls College, and Aristotle University. In 1963-64, college women lived in dorms and sorority houses headed by adult dorm "mothers." Mrs. Abbot, the Falls College dorm mother in The Dallas Documents, is a tribute to two amazing dorm mothers Judy knew at the University of Cincinnati.

The Sixth Raven, Judy's first adult novel, combines history and reality with science fiction and fantasy. Dialogue, blogs, and photographs create the effect of "digital postcards." The mystery engulfing a Tower Raven affects a family of Americans, a team of archaeologists, and an ambitious reporter. The novel reveals Judy's favorite topics of communication, imagination, paradox, attitude, and heroism. Although The Sixth Raven is set primarily in England, it is filled with historical oddities, jargon, and local color associated with southwest Ohio and southeast Indiana. Judy lives a few miles from the archaeological dig visited by Robert in this novel and frequently visits family in "Falls City."

Falls City (in both novels) is fictitious, but local readers will recognize its resemblance to the small college town just north of Cincinnati. In the summer of 2022, while Judy was finishing The Sixth Raven, one young family member worked at the city's day camp. Similar to Mrs. Wright's camp in this novel, the actual camp convenes in the center of a large, family-friendly city park. The volunteer programs in Falls City reflect those of this real town where turkeys are gifted at Thanksgiving; toys are donated at Christmas; elementary school gardens are planted in the spring; and tutoring is a year-round activity.