P. A. Kane

Growing up in a three-bed/one-bath house with nine siblings in Buffalo, New York, it was a just-the-facts, assembly-line type of childhood. However, one day during my tumultuous teen years in the late seventies, that all changed when my exhausted mom uncharacteristically asked several probing questions about how I was doing, what I wanted of life, and how I would get there—totally confounding me. She was supposed to dish out commands and make declarative statements—take out the trash, don't come home unless you're bleeding, every time you masturbate, it's a hundred years in purgatory. She wasn't supposed to ask me to articulate inward-looking questions. Self-examination and contemplation were light years beyond my transactional existence.

Eventually, though, due to a certain amount of aimlessness and failure, I did come to consider my mom's questions along with others about people, place, and heritage—topics that have become the basis of three novels: Written In The Stars: The Book Of Molly (2016); Leaving Jackson Wolf (2018); and Larry Plumb Is Still Here (2024). There’s a book of essays called The Last Playlist: A Sonic Epitaph (2020). On the silly side I ask more questions at my satire website: BuffaloMud. com.

Larry Plumb Is Still Here is my latest long form work and is a heartfelt, and often humorous story of a blue collar Highway Commissioner who wrestles with family tensions, changing societal roles, and his own relevance in a world that's moving too fast. From backyard chicken coops to work dilemmas, Larry Plumb Is Still Here is a touching exploration of resilience, identity, and the courage to keep showing up

I live in West Seneca, New York, with my wife and son (who is taking his good ole time completing his master's degree). I like quiet black mornings, walking my dog Kaya Francis Bean, trade paperbacks, and The Ramones.