“To make a living, or to make a life?” was the question burning through the mind of F. Mark Granato for years. As his lucrative, but demanding, career was taking off, sending him to emerging markets throughout the world, he realized there was something missing in his life, a void which needed to be filled, his dream of becoming a writer.
With his sixth book recently published, Granato has accomplished a large part of the dream, being who he was meant to be and finding happiness in it.
Mark Granato’s historic novels are inspired by conversations with his grandfather at a young age. Learning about important events of the 20th century, like the sinking of the Titanic (Titanic: The Final Voyage), Charles Lindburgh (Beneath His Wings: The Plot to Murder Lindbergh) and the 1938 Connecticut hurricane (Of Winds and Rage), gave Granato the foundation for his first three books. He then began to recall and research underreported or obscure events in New England history for the basis of his next three books which cover the story of a Vietnam Vet struggling with PTSD (Finding David), the crises and redemption of a family (The Barn Find), and the historic Hartford Hospital Fire (Out Of Reach: The Day Hartford Hospital Burned).
Shattered Lives Radio is proud to host Mark Granato for his first extended interview. Listeners will learn how he finds and determines which events, and how through research and interviews creates a fictional account adding personality and emotion to each story. The 1961 Hartford Hospital Fire is one story close to the heart of host Donna R. Gore. As a child she was a frequent visitor to the Hartford Hospital for several various surgeries, but, fortunately, was not there on the day of the fire.
Books by F. Mark Granato are available at online book sellers, or request from your local independent book store.
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F. Mark Granato
F. Mark Granato
Author F. Mark Granato grew up in Hartford CT, graduated from Providence College then worked several years as a journalist before joining United Technologies Corporation. He spent the next twenty-five years of his professional life in public relations and communications, ultimately as vice president for UTC and later the corporation’s Otis Elevator division. He also served as Executive Assistant to the UTC Chairman and CEO. His work required extensive international travel and the development of business relationships in emerging markets, particularly in Eastern Europe, China and Southeast Asia. He was one of the first American businessmen through the Brandenburg Gate when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, and ironically, participated in the first American joint venture established in Vietnam after the normalization of political relations.
Today he is retired from the corporate wars and is pursuing a life-long ambition to write fiction and especially to explore the “What if?” questions of history. He is the author of the acclaimed Vietnam-era novel, Finding David, which was nominated for a 2013 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, Of Winds and Rage, an historical fiction account of the Great New England Hurricane of 1938, Beneath His Wings: The Plot to Murder Lindbergh, Titanic: The Final Voyage, The Barn Find, and most recently, Out of Reach: The Day Hartford Hospital Burned. He writes from his home in Wethersfield, Connecticut.
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