After hopping a freight train from Missouri to a small Wyoming town, two eighth-grade dropouts, James and Alta Kelley, with their infant son in tow considered themselves lucky to have a place to stay. The non-insulated wooden garage with a dirt floor had no water, heat, or electricity but was the only option they had in a relative’s tiny one-bedroom house. It was the garage or nothing, and winters can be glacially frigid in Sheridan when you are barnyard educated and stone cold poor.
In a blink of an eye, JW Kelley grew up as an only child, not counting his dog Blackie, more brother than dog and his constant companion. While in elementary school, real life raised its ugly head in the form of his mother’s wrath and excess alcohol. She abandoned the family with nothing but a backward glance, delivering a devastating blow to the youngster, who bravely shouldered the weight of her actions. The young boy endured the harsh weather and the coldness of a mother long gone. Thinking that life could get no worse, the freezing snow of a Wyoming winter seemed to mirror his parents’ callousness, for when the temperature dropped once more, his father left as well.
JW was made a ward of the court and fortunately an aunt and uncle gained custody. The youngster was raised by his extended family and despite the hardships, he persevered. He graduated from high school at age 17 and with a newfound determination enlisted in the United States Air Force.
Following his term of service in the Air Force, JW went on to reinvent himself as a newspaper pressman, then a school teacher, then an anesthetist, before ultimately returning to the Air Force. His multi-faceted background strongly influenced his current chosen path as a writer. He has authored 43 novels of various genres, from military adventures to medical thrillers, science fiction, and mysteries, along with several books for children.
His life journey is a testament to resilience and resolve starting from his humble beginnings in a dirt floor garage to a professional career as a colonel, an anesthetist and an author. He has shown that with fortitude and perseverance, anything is possible.
JW Kelley is a proud University of Oregon alumnus. He currently lives in Colorado Springs with his wife, a retired physician, where he pens full time sharing his stories with the world.
