Cary J. Griffith
Cary J. Griffith is no stranger to Cook County. He has spent vast amounts of time here researching information for his well-written book Gunflint Burning, a detailed account of the 2007 Ham Lake fire.
Cary stopped by the Cook County News-Herald to be interviewed a couple of Sundays ago as he was heading back to his home in Rosemount, Minnesota. Here is the interview with one of Minnesota’s best authors.
I know you say you recently retired. What was your day job during your 33½-year career?
I was hired to startup and manage a law library for Control Data Corporation. I finished as a Senior Marketing Manager. In-between I did quite a few different things, but always for the one company, Control Data which eventually became Ceridian.
What motivated you to start writing?
When I was a sophomore in college I took an Introduction to Literature class (required) and one evening in March read an assignment, the Hemingway short story “Big Two-Hearted River.” I was thunderstruck. I thought, ‘man, if I could tell a story like that one, full of fly fishing and camping in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula?’ There was, of course, a lot more going on in that story. But the feeling of it was mesmerizing. I’ve been trying to write one good story (or book) ever since.
I know you talked about writing a sequel to Gunflint Burning, but do you have plans to write fiction? What genre do you like to read and who are you favorite authors?
I love to write fiction and non-fiction and I am always working on at least one book in each genre. My first two thrillers – Wolves, and Savage Minnesota – feature USFW Special Agent Sam Rivers. I am working on a third Sam Rivers’s novel. And yes, I’m also working on a sequel to Gunflint Burning, tentatively entitled Gunflint Rising…about recovering and rebuilding (or not) in the aftermath of fire.
I love to read in both genres. For non-fiction I’m currently reading Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, by Angela Duckworth. Though I more often read non-fiction books on outdoors topics by excellent authors like Jon Krakauer. For fiction I love Hemingway but also lots of other authors.
More contemporaneously, I love the work of Peter Geye, John Sandford, Kent Krueger, Sarah Stonich, Lousie Erdrich … it’s a long list because we have an excellent culture of reading and writing in Minnesota. We are blessed by excellent authors and wonderful bookstores.
What does your wife do (or did) for work? Any children?
My wife Anna is a practicing psychologist. She has the most interesting job; listening to people and helping them sort out their issues. I guess that makes me her longest client. We have three children, two sons and a daughter. We also have three grandchildren, all very young and wonderful.
Concerning Gunflint Burning, what was your overall feeling/sense about the place before and after it burned, and the people who live there.
The week after the fire was extinguished my wife and I hiked the Magnetic Lake Trail, up the Gunflint Trail. I was dumbstruck by how post-apocalyptic the place looked! I felt terrible for everyone impacted by the fire, thinking their property values had plummeted and now the place looked terrible.
But in 11 years I have been struck by how the forest has returned, and by those who decided to rebuild and flourish along with it. Now the forest is different, but beautiful again. That’s a story I would like to tell…
Do you write in the morning? Afternoon? Midnight? Do you have a favorite place to go and do your work? Do you type or write long hand? Do you start with a cup of coffee or a walk to begin your writing day? Bless the four winds with tobacco? Listen to music, etc.?
I wake up every morning and begin writing, always with a mug of coffee, almost always in my home office – though throughout the day I will also go to local coffee shops, the dining room table, etc.
The writing and coffee continue, interrupted by some good exercise, but all in all, throughout the day. I try and work at writing for at least 4 hours, and writing related activities, such as answering your questions 😉 1-2 hours per day. I also try and work at least an hour or more of solid reading into the mix.
I’m lucky; after 34 years working in the corporate cube I can now do much more of what I like. I wrote my first five books while working full-time. I’m hoping to be more productive and more quality-driven, now that I have the time to pursue it.
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