I was lucky to get an interview with author Stephen Barry, who wrote In the Shadow of an Irish God.
Please, tell us a bit about yourself…
I am an 80-year-old recovering Catholic. I say “recovering” because I am still trying to exorcise the demons planted in me by my parochial school education. I grew up terrified of God, Sin, and Hell. The fear was intensified by the culture of my Irish-Catholic family. After high school, I entered an apprenticeship in the San Francisco shipyards, learning to build ships for the U.S. Navy. While there, I was mentored by several older Black men who had come of age in the Jim Crow South during the early 1900s. It is from my relationships with them that I created Samuel, a principal character in my story. During my eight years of shipbuilding, I fought my way through college, earned a degree in biology and physics, and subsequently spent forty years teaching science in minority high schools. Among other subjects, I taught ESL Science to new immigrants. More than 40 languages were spoken by the students in my school.
Why should I buy your book?
It is a heartfelt account of a sensitive child hammered by a vengeful God. The story brings the reader into San Francisco of the 1950s. Despite the theme of religious tyranny, the story is uplifting and ends in a way the reader will not expect. The themes of the story: racial injustice, ethnic identity, religious angst, first love, redemption, and a trove of boyhood adventures.
“Writing my story brought me back to my childhood and helped me realize how rich it was.”
Subgenre: Fiction. A coming of age story dealing with religion, love, and racial injustice.
Pages: 338
What got you into writing?
No non-Catholic has ever understood what I went through as a Catholic school child. Blank looks emerge when I try to speak the story. I wrote In the Shadow of an Irish God to help others understand my experience - also to get a load off my chest.
Why did you choose the fiction genre?
I didn’t choose to write a particular genre. I just wrote my story. I’ll let others decide its genre.
Which authors have had the greatest influence on you?
I love reading Octavia E. Butler. I was moved by reading The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabella Dickerson.
What’s the best thing about being a writer?
Writing my story brought me back to my childhood and helped me realize how rich it was.
What’s the hardest thing about being a writer?
Facing the truth of my past.
Do you have any tips or an author app, tool, or resource that you can really recommend we try?
Find books about writing to deepen character - create micro tension on every page - use backstory to strengthen the reader’s experience.
And now it's time to yank out your Palantir! Let’s talk about the future. What new projects are you working on?
A sequel. My main character, young Jack Maguire, gets kicked out of Catholic school for challenging dogma. He enrolls in a Class A public school program not based on indoctrination. Free from the fetters of his old school, he blossoms into a budding and vibrant intellectual.
Do you have any dreams you’d like to share?
I hope my grandchildren grow into inquiring adults who view every day as a learning opportunity.
Anything else you would like to say before we close?
I wrote In the Shadow of an Irish God to explore what might have happened to my spiritual life had I come under the influence of a thoughtful, intelligent mentor during a crucial time in my life. I created an elderly Black man, Samuel, to fill that void. He provides priceless help to Young Jack Maguire (me) at age 14.
Thank you for doing the interview Stephen Barry. I hope lots of readers find your book out there and follow Jack Maguire on his adventure.
