Joseph Monninger, author of more than 30 books and a former English professor, died January 1 at age 71. Monninger's books include many novels for adults and young readers and three works of nonfiction. His most recent title, Goodbye to Clocks Ticking: How We Live While Dying, published by Steerforth Press in 2023, is an elegant, meditative account of how in 2021 he received a diagnosis of inoperable lung cancer and a life expectancy of four months, but, because of an unusual gene mutation, was able to take a drug that gave him a new lease on life. (See our review here.)
Monninger's writing appeared in many publications, including American Heritage, Scientific American, the Boston Globe, Glamour, Playboy, Sports Illustrated, and Ellery Queen. He received two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts as well as a fellowship from the New Hampshire Council for the Arts. He was also a longtime English professor at Plymouth State University in Plymouth, N.H., and an avid fly fisherman.
Steerforth Press senior editor Chip Fleischer said, "When Steerforth published just one of Joe's many books back in 2006, we became friends and stayed friends. When I received a brief e-mail from him in the fall of 2021 asking if I'd consider his latest project for Steerforth, I was delighted. When I opened the attached file and read--'I'm dying.'--my heart sank. But as I continued to read, my spirit soared. Joe would go on to produce a book-length contemplation of how to live well that eschews the platitudes, pablum, and sentimentality that so often find their way into works about death and loss. Joe was all about doing, and since writers write, he was also about telling. Goodbye to Clocks Ticking drove home for me the simple fact that we are all dying, every minute of every day, in ways that have enriched my existence immeasurably. I will be forever grateful for his example, and for his friendship."
In October, Steerforth will publish a new edition of his 2006 book, Two Ton, about a heavyweight boxing match between Joe Louis and Tony Galento, under the new title Fight Night 1939: The Champ, the Challenger, and a Portrait of America on the Brink.
