Joseph Heywood: Buckular Dystrophy

Tuesday, August 22, 7:00pm

Presque Isle Community Library
8306 School Loop Road, Presque Isle, Wisconsin

Joe Heywood was born in Rhinebeck, NY, the son of a career USAF officer. He is a graduate of Rudyard High School in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Michigan State University, and Western Michigan University. He served as a USAF Instructor Navigator and is a Vietnam Veteran.

Heywood’s “Woods Cop” mysteries are based on the lives of Upper Peninsula conservation officers, and spends about one month a year on patrol with officers in all kinds of weather, all times of day and under sundry conditions. He’s worked in all 15 Upper Peninsula counties as well as in another 20 counties BTB (Below the Bridge).

Heywood always carries a ruck with emergency equipment, compass, etc. even for short sorties on foot in the U.P., saying “It’s too easy to get under cedars and old growth in an overcast and get hopelessly turned around. I don’t use a GPS. When it comes to lost in the woods there seem to be two categories of people: Them that have been and them that will be.”

The Upper Peninsula is not just a setting but serves as a character in many of Heywood’s novels. He takes readers to places and events in the U.P. they might not have occasion to visit or experience on their own.