Ryan J. Murphy

Ryan J. Murphy loves a good story. After moving to Africa in 2005 with his wife and baby son, this typical American man found plenty of good ones to tell. His first book--All That You Can't Leave Behind: A Rookie Missionary's Life in Africa--chronicles the sometimes humorous and sometimes traumatic experiences of dealing with culture shock in a third world country. When his young family stayed in equatorial Kenya for the long haul, readers enjoyed more stories in the ironically titled Winter Spring Summer Fall: Living and Lasting in Missions. But stories come in all shapes and sizes. Even in a brown prolate spheroid. Murphy's third book (Ring The Bell: The Twenty-two Greatest Penn State Football Victories of Our Lives) tells stories of his hometown heroes through the past four decades. His wife and he still work as teachers in rural Africa with their three children.