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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, now live
in Jasper, Texas where they both teach.
E.P. is a history teacher, and
Sue is a 4th grade language arts teacher with the Jasper
Independent School District.
Garth's books, OFF THE AIR and OUT
OF TOUCH: Pat Cassidy Novels, came about as a way for him to pay
tribute to his early years spent growing up in Ennis and the
five years he lived in Brady. The main reason the story
takes place in Fort Worth and Brownwood, is because he wanted the
story to take place in larger towns.
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 first book, OFF THE AIR. 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.
The sequel, OUT OF TOUCH, was an
easy sequel, as the characters were already established and the
story flowed out of the story established in the first novel.
OFF THE AIR was the first in
a series of novels chronicling the adventures of pulp fictions
latest crime buster, Pat Cassidy. The second novel, OUT OF
TOUCH, now available at his book signings and through Garth's
website,
www.epgarthlearn.com, continues the Pat Cassidy series.
ON THE RANGE, the third novel, will be available in December of
2012. |