Kenn Grimes

Kenn Grimes' connection with Kentucky can be traced back to around 1800, when his great, great, great, great grandfather, Owen McGlone, moved his family from Virginia to what later became McGlone Creek in Carter County, Kentucky. Approximately a hundred years and four generations later, Kenn's grandmother, Ethel Weaver McGlone, left Kentucky to move to Ohio and marry Kenn's grandfather, George. The family settled in Springfield, where Kenn was born in 1938.

After two years of college followed by four years in the U.S. Navy and a series of jobs in banks, retail stores, and manufacturing, Kenn returned to school in 1972 to complete his education, graduating in 1973 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business from Wittenberg University. He continued his studies at Hamma School of Theology, from which he received his Master of Divinity Degree in 1976.

Kenn served several parishes from 1976 to 1984, and in that latter year reestablished the family line in Kentucky when he moved to Louisville to serve as the pastor of St. Mark Lutheran Church. Today, Kenn's two sons and their families still call Kentucky home, while he divides his time between there and Lower Northern Michigan, where he and his wife, Judy, also a minister, are retired but keep busy officiating weddings.

Besides Louisville, Kenn also served churches in Indiana, Missouri and Milton, Kentucky. From 1992 to 2000, while Judy served a church in Maui, Hawaii, Kenn owned and operated the largest wedding business on the island, during which time he personally officiated over 3,600 ceremonies. In 2000 the business, Simply Married, was recognized as the second fastest growing small business of any type in the whole state. Kenn sold the business later that year, retired and moved to Michigan, where Judy had taken a pastoral position in a Unity church.

Four of Kenn's passions in life are Scrabble, horse racing (betting, not riding), University of Louisville Athletics and hunting morel mushrooms in the spring (April in Kentucky, May in Michigan). Kenn says two of his biggest regrets are that he didn't start writing seriously earlier in his life; and that he wasn't born in Kentucky.

The Other Side of Yesterday is Kenn's second published book. The story is set during the years 1912, 1918-1919, 1923-1927, and 1863-64. But no story exists in a vacuum: other events were happening in the world, in Kentucky, and in Louisville during those time periods. Follow Kenn's weekly blog at http://kenngrimes.com as he takes a look at those events, some significant, others more mundane--but nonetheless interesting.

To contact Kenn Grimes email him at deerlakepress@aol.com. To see where Kenn will be appearing or to book him to speak see his website at http://Kenngrimes.com.