"I always wrote, but never thought of
becoming a professional writer until I spent time in the VA hospital at
Ft. Miley, San Francisco. I was a manic-depressive, and this was a
special ward with intensive therapy. My psychiatrist asked if he could
tape our sessions (3 times a week) and I said okay.I described complex feelings and thought
processes that I might do better if I skipped OT (Occupational Therapy)
and write. So, they gave me an office, typewriter and paper. I started
writing, with no purpose, no plan. There was a writer in our small
group. He and the staff flipped out over this raw material. The
consensus was that I had the makings of a poet. So, after I left the
hospital, I made a decision that I would just write and do any kind of
work to allow me this freedom. I studied and wrote, and what emerged was
poetry. I have never regretted this decision. I was about 22 or 23 at
the time I began writing poetry. " Jory stated several years back in an interview with the wonderful Western Fiction Review.And become a professional writer he did, penning more than 500 books and over the past decade he has been one of the biggest names in the western genre. Jory took to social media with a vengeance and although had had not unpdated his blog since 2011, due to illness, his Facebook page was updated on a regular basis.
Jory died last week after a long illness...our thoughts are with his family.
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