E.P. Garth

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About the Author

Author of Off the Air:  A Pat Cassidy Novel

E.P. Garth grew up in Ennis, Texas, a small town south of Dallas, and discovered at an early age that he loved sports.  He played little league baseball and grew up dreaming of being an Ennis Lion, and eventually played on the town's first state semifinal football team.  Garth was also a boxing fan and fought in the Golden Gloves as senior in high school.  He turned that passion for sports into a sportscasting career that lasted over four decades.

Garth's first experience with sportscasting began in the early 1970s when his boss, Richard Tuck, owner of KBEC radio in Waxahachie, Texas, told him he could broadcast any game he could sell out to advertisers.  Soon, because of his drive to broadcast as many games as possible, he turned into a 'cracker jack' sportscaster.  He would then take that talent to Brady, Texas, where he truly polished his act as an outstanding radio sportscaster.  Once he hit the Waco market in the 1980s, his talent harvested a windfall of awards including the United Press International National Radio Award for Best Documentary.

In the late 1980s, Garth reached a goal he had harbored since his early days in radio by becoming owner of KBAL radio in San Saba, Texas.  This allowed him to return to West Central Texas, an area he fell in love with during his days in Brady and Brownwood.

After spending almost twenty years in broadcasting, Garth took four and half years away from the business to fulfill another dream.  That dream came to fruition in 1996 when he graduated from Baylor University with a Bachelor of Science in Education.  His intentions were to begin teaching right away, however, his years in radio called him back into action as the general manager of a station in Waco.  Garth then started a sports production company that produced broadcasts for area college and high school teams.  Finally, in 1999 he began his education career with Midway I.S.D. teaching 8th Grade U.S. History.  At the same time he continued to operate his sportscasting business.  The Midway Panthers were his centerpiece of attention for most of those years between 1996 to 2005.

E.P. and his wife, Sue, moved to Toledo Bend Lake in 2005 and became Louisiana residents.  However, they can still see Texas from their deck across the lake.  They are now both teachers in Sabine Parish.  E.P. is a 5th and 6th Grade Special Education Inclusion Teacher, Sue a Pre-K Teacher, and they both teach at Zwolle Elementary School.

The book, Off the Air:  A Pat Cassidy Novel, came about as a way for Garth to pay tribute to his years mostly spent in Brady, Texas.  Brownwood was also a very important part of the story as well.  As far back as his high school days when his Ennis Lions football team competed for state rankings with the legendary Gordon Wood's Brownwood teams, he had a fascination with the community and spent a lot of time there.  The main character, Pat Cassidy, is a composite of many young men he knew during that era but it is difficult not to see the similarities in his own personal experiences.  He began writing the book in the late 1990s and wrote and re-wrote until he fine-tuned the story to the way he wanted it. 

Originally, Garth had never planned to publish the book.  He wrote the manuscript with the intention to put into words what it was like to be young during the 1970s.  Then, after moving to Toledo Bend Lake, he shared the book with good friends Travis and Summer Boyle.  Their interest in the book led him to believe it was worthy of publication.  Garth completed the manuscript and bypassed the long arduous process of trying to obtain a publisher and chose to self-publish the book.

Off the Air is the first in a series of novels chronicling the adventures of pulp fictions latest crime buster, Pat Cassidy.  The second novel to be released in October of 2010 is called Out of Touch.  The third Pat Cassidy novel will be called On the Range.

Member of the Writers League of Texas
Member of HOT Chapter and National Chapter of Sisters in Crime
Member of the Pioneer Club of Texas Association of Broadcasters

Blog with us at www.patcassidy.blogspot.com

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Contact me at this email address:  epandsue@wildblue.net