Born in Abington, PA, J. J. Murray has lived in Missouri (St. Louis),
New York (Huntington), New Jersey (Plainfield), Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh), Indiana (West Lafayette and College Corners), and
Ohio (Marietta), and now makes his home in Virginia. After graduating Marietta College (OH) with a BA
in English, he settled in the Roanoke Valley of Virginia.
J. J. taught public high school English for twenty years to students who sometimes actually
spoke it. He is currently lead teacher in a wilderness residential school for at-risk young men.
J. J. met his wife, Amy Renee, at a high school football
game at Victory Stadium in Roanoke in the fall of 1989, and their four-year courtship forms the basis of his first novel,
Renee and Jay.
Amy,
Joshua Malik, Jontae Emmanuel, and J. J. live in Roanoke, Virginia, the setting for Renee and Jay, Something
Real, I'm Your Girl, Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Too Much of a Good Thing,
and much of the poetry contained in Calzone Street.
J. J. really enjoys
getting mail. Let him know what's on your mind!
