David Taylor Johannesen ’64 will be publishing a book through Simon & Schuster, NY, in December. His novel Falcons & Seagulls was begun in 1999 and has undergone four revisions. The story begins in 1959 when at age 13 and a student at Fessenden School the main character spends time with Hollywood mogul, Howard Hughes, also an alum of Fessenden, comparing notes on their school. Using family sources (the author is a 5th generation Mormon from Utah), Johannesen weaves together a story around the completion of Israel’s nuclear capability and its subsequent cover up thirty years later. The rest he says has been “the craft of fiction, creating and sustaining characters, romance and conspiracy within the framework of a thriller. One early review has described it so: ‘complex writing with a lyrical voice; erudite yet accessible.’”
Johannesen has also published a collection of short stories, Last One Close the Gate (2012) and a collection of poetry, Vespers East & West (2012), and is working on a book of new stories, Boston Casualty which will appear a year from now.
He states, “Tabor English teachers such as Mr. Smart and Weisshouse instilled my love of writing. Still on the shelf, I have two more novels, written in the 1970’s & 1980’s, which I’ll have to get to. From the first day I stepped onto a cranberry bog to play hockey to rousing expeditions and glee club with James Wickenden, Tabor saved me.”
