Lincoln Denali was born
in a far outpost of the Canadian brush. He was schooled in his
letters by parents for most of his early life, and did not begin
to write until he was 42 years old, and laid up for a year due
to an accident aboard an oil tanker between Zanzibar and The
Seychelles. Reading material was thrown at him in his recuperation
period. Slowly he developed a taste for the short story. His
attention span, both set and dictated by the form, led him to
seek the best he could find. The last six months in hospital
found him tossed among the masters of the short story. He reveled
in Crane and Poe and Hemingway for his eye-openers and lingered
sometimes for a change of pace with the pulp mystery writers
of the '30's and '40's.
Then, in a single volume of long-extolled short stories, traded
for a bottle of Ballantine Scotch, he found Sean O'Faolain,
Padraic O'Connor, Frank Connors, Patrick Kavanaugh and Mary
Lavin, among others
That short adventure made him want to write.
Banjo and Other Encounters is his first collection of short
stories.
He attended no college, studied with no tutor or mentor, but
has read at least two hours a day for the last twenty-five years.
Accomplished at sea, in the military, in the rigors of the out-door
life he often retreats to, wielder of chain saw and stubby pen,
still living alone by choice, he occasionally goes to the nearest
town to replenish his supply of books.
