38 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY NOVEMBER 21-27, 2024 www.montereycountynow.com LIT John Straley moved to Carmel already a recognized author. A former Writer Laureate of Alaska, he had drawn upon experience as a private investigator to inform his fiction. But the most recent of his 13 books—Big Breath In, published in November and inspired by Straley’s time in Seattle—is a standalone when compared to the adventure crime he has pursued to date. There’s a sweet history behind the new book. In it, Straley pays homage to his wife Janice Straley, a prominent marine biologist. In Alaska, they were working to fund her research on whales in the north Pacific. Decades later, they moved together to Carmel. “I started to think about extraordinary women,” Straley says. So he decided to write about the extraordinary woman whom he has been observing for decades. He got Janice’s blessing, and she chose the name of the main character. The protagonist of Big Breath In, Delphine, is a retired marine biologist with terminal cancer whose amateur sleuthing skills, field research instincts and immense knowledge of the behaviors of sperm whales help her investigate a child trafficking ring and Aryan biker gang in Washington state after a fateful encounter. Part crime drama, scientific inquiry, and metafictional love letter, Big Breath In features a courageous, motorcycle-ripping heroine inspired by the grit and determination of the brilliant scientist the author has spent his life with. “We are seeing a resurgence of a certain type of masculinity,” Straley says. “There is antagonism against feminism.” The story is certainly a departure from Straley’s series books (the Cecil Younger Investigations and the Cold Storage novels, which take place in Alaska). Yet Straley still threads this latest novel with his signature wit, heart and poignant contemplation of life, all on top of an intense investigation. The most famous of Straley works is The Woman Who Married a Bear, published in 1991. He has also written five volumes of poetry and some nonfiction. Before he moved to Carmel, during their 50 years in Sitka, the Straleys were in touch with Nancy Ricketts, Ed Ricketts’ daughter. Straley wrote a book on Ricketts and edited a collection of essays inspired by his thoughts. To find John Straley’s books visit johnstraley.com. JAN STRALEY Thinking Big In his latest novel, John Straley draws on marine science and an ‘extraordinary’ woman to craft a crime drama. By Agata Pop˛eda Novelist John Straley is a Californian, but he spent most of his adult life in Sitka, Alaska. It was his wife and her interests that brought the family to Monterey County. Open Tue-Sun 11am-9pm and Mon 4-9pm Or order to-go,and take it home 2149 N. Fremont St. • Monterey • 831-642-9900 MontereyCookHouse.com What s Cooking Authentic Italian Am ican Cuisine
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