Stephen G. Eoannou
Author Interview - Stephen G. Eoannou
Author of Yesteryear
Yesteryear is based on the true story of Fran Striker, a struggling radio play scriptwriter who would eventually create The Lone Ranger. Set in Buffalo, New York during the early 1930s, Yesteryear explores the events and magical influences that led to the show’s debut. Populated by characters who lived during that time—former lightweight boxing champion Jimmy Slattery, radio actor John L. Barrett, Mafioso Stefano Magaddino, and president-elect Franklin Delano Roosevelt— it’s written in the same spirit as W.P. Kinsella’s Shoeless Joe, Bernard Malamud’s The Natural, and Daniel Wallace’s Big Fish.
Author Interview - Stephen G. Eoannou
Author I draw inspiration from: It's too hard to settle on one. John Irving, especially in his early work, inspired me to be a writer. I love how he could make me laugh until I realized how sad the situation was and then the laughter abruptly stop. Richard Russo still inspires me with his exquisite sense of place. William Kennedy's Albany Trilogy--Legs, Billy Phelan's Greatest Game, Ironweed--inspired me to infuse history with that sense of place and create something mythical, which I tried to do in my novel Yesteryear. I met Kennedy last summer at the Albany Book Festival and told him how he had inspired me. He asked if I became a writer. I answered yes and that my first novel, Rook, had just been published. He smiled and said, "Well, I guess I did my job then."
Author Interview - Stephen G. Eoannou | Author I Draw Inspiration From
Favorite place to read a book: For years, my favorite place to read a book was traveling for work. Airports, planes, hotel rooms, and the far end of the Marriott bar were some of my favorite places to read. I don't travel nearly as much now as I did pre-Covid, so for the first time in my life I actually have to carve out time for reading. I'd say I do most of my reading in bed now before I fall asleep, but my favorite to place to read would be on a warm beach where they bring you cold margaritas without asking. That's paradise.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with: I've been stuck in an elevator a couple of times. Once I was alone and the other time we were packed in there shoulder-to-shoulder. Neither was very much fun. So, if I'm going to be stuck in there I'll want to be in there with someone who can get me the hell out of there. I'll go back to my childhood and pick Joe and Frank Hardy from the Hardy Boys series written by FW Dixon. They were intrepid lads. They'd figure a way out. Or maybe Portnoy from Roth's "Portnoy's Complaint". At least he'd keep me laughing while we wait to get rescued.
Author Interview - Stephen G. Eoannou | Book Character I’d Like to be Stuck in an Elevator With
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author: When John Irving's "The Hotel New Hampshire" was published, it was serialized in Rolling Stone. My sister, Sue, and I would fight over who would read it first when it was delivered. That Christmas, she gave me the hardcopy as a gift. I remember finishing it, closing the cover, and wishing I wrote it. That's what started it. That's when I wanted to write a book that would make readers laugh until the sadness hit them.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook: Hardbacks or paperbacks are fine with me. I love to listen to audio books while I'm driving long distances but only the unabridged ones. I tried ebooks when I was traveling all the time and hated it. I didn't like holding it. I couldn't flip back pages easily. Looking at the screen felt like I was doing something for work rather than pleasure. It didn't feel or smell like a book because, well, it wasn't a book.Yeah, I tossed out that eReader pretty quickly.
The last book I read: Swann's War by Michael Oren. A murder mystery set during WW2? You know I'm taking that home from the bookstore.
Author Interview - Stephen G. Eoannou | The Last Book I Read
Pen & paper or computer: Oh my God, computer. I've never had very good penmanship and it has only gotten worse over time. I can't even read it anymore. It looks like an EKG of an unhealthy heart. Revision, copying and pasting, and searches are all so much easier on my Mac. Don't get me wrong. I still own three old typewriters. They look really good up on the shelf. Sometimes my kids ask me what they are...
Book character I think I’d be best friends with: Sully from Richard Russo's "Nobody Fool". I can see us on the front porch drinking and smoking cigars, making up stories and excuses. It would be a fun night. A lot of laughter. Somebody should record it because neither of us would remember a word of it the next morning. And where did that new snowblower in my garage come from??
Author Interview - Stephen G. Eoannou | Book Character I’d be Best Friends With
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a: I've always wanted to be on radio, which is one of the reasons I was drawn to Fran Striker's story in Yesteryear. I did an internship at a local radio station when I was a senior in high school. I heard my voice on the air and was horrified. Looking back, I'm sure I just sounded like an untrained seventeen year-old, but it convinced me I wasn't cut out to be a broadcaster. For the last five years or so I've been volunteering at the Niagara Frontier Radio Reading Service. I read and record fiction on Sunday mornings for the visually impaired and those who can't physically hold a book. I've been known to read the news live on the air in a pinch. I enjoy it too much to listen to my voice on playback though. I hope I sound better than I did in high school.
Favorite decade in fashion history: I think this may be the only time anyone has asked my opinion on fashion. Ever. And I'm old. I'm pretty sure this will be the last time I'm asked about it as well. But I have an answer. I like men's fashions from the 1930's through the war years--starched white shirts, tailored suits, pinstripes, fedoras, homburgs, two-tone shoes, collar bars, handkerchiefs folded like fingers and tucked into jacket pockets. That's what I'm talking about.This was my father's' era and I love the old photographs of him and my uncles and their friends. And I'm sure all the movies from that period that I've watched and rewatched influenced this as well. Bogart? Cagney? Cary Grant? Edward G. Robinson? Those guys dressed to the nines. I enjoyed describing the way men dressed in After Pearl, my detective novel set in 1942 that will be published in 2025 by SFWP.
Place I’d most like to travel: I tell my kids, if you get a chance to travel, go. It doesn't matter where it is. Just go. Seeing new places, meeting new people, being exposed to new foods and cultures can only help you grow as a person. And I still feel that way. I hope I get a chance to go to France, Spain, and Germany at some point. My niece is getting married in Athens this summer so I get a chance to go back to Greece again. Before Covid, I was planning a trip to Belgium to visit the grave of the uncle I'm named after. He was killed in the Battle of The Bulge and is buried in a military cemetery. No family member has ever visited his grave. I need to get that trip back on the books.
My signature drink: I'm like the Declaration of Independence. I have many signatures. I like bourbon Old Fashioneds (muddled) a little too much. Summer is perfect for a cold Bud in a bottle or a margarita on the rocks with salt. If we're drinking wine, I'd order cabernet. So, so many signatures.
Favorite artist: I like Edward Hopper. I love the stories and styles from that era and, make no mistake, Hopper is a storyteller at heart. I like the urban scenes he captures and the solitude that borders on loneliness and isolation. I love the muted colors. There's a Hopper exhibition at The Whitney Museum in NYC that runs until early March. I hope they extend it so I can make it there.
Number one on my bucket list: It has to be visiting my uncle's grave in Belgium. I read somewhere that Belgian families would often adopt a soldier's military grave and visit it and leave flowers as a way of thanks. I like to think some family does that for my Uncle Steve. And if they do, I'd like to meet and thank them. I hope I read that somewhere and didn't just imagine it because I want it to be true.
Anything else you'd like to add: My novel, Yesteryear, imagines how Fran Striker came up with the idea and the tropes of The Lone Ranger. Its publication coincides with the 90th anniversary of The Ranger's radio debut on WEBR in Buffalo, New York.
Find more from the author:
Facebook: @stephengeoannou
Twitter: @StephenGEoannou
Author Bio: Stephen G. Eoannou is the author of the novels After Pearl (SFWP 2025), Yesteryear (SFWP 2023), Rook (Unsolicited Press 2022), and the short story collection Muscle Cars (SFWP 2015). He has been awarded an Honor Certificate from The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, the Best Short Screenplay Award at the 36th Starz Denver Film Festival, and the 2021 International Eyelands Award for Best Historical Novel. Eoannou holds an MFA from Queens University of Charlotte and an MA from Miami University. He lives and writes in his hometown of Buffalo, New York, the setting and inspiration for much of his work.
