Remembering Tom Kakonis

I’ve just learned the sad news that author Tom Kakonis has passed away. I first met Tom at the 1994 Bouchercon in Seattle. I was a big fan of his work and was delighted when he invited me to sit and chat with him…and I was thrilled when he later blurbed my book MY GUN HAS BULLETS. It meant a lot to me that a writer I admired as much as Tom would endorse my work.

Two decades later, when author Joel Goldman and I launched Brash Books, I called Tom about publishing his out-of-print backlist. Not only did he say yes, but he surprised me by offering us an unpublished manuscript that had been sitting in his drawer for years. His dark-comic thriller TREASURE COAST was the first original novel that we released, so as long as Brash Books is in business, he will be an integral part of who we are as publishers, what we stand for, and what we aspire to achieve.

Tom was a great writer who didn’t get the recognition or wide readership that he deserved. I wish I’d been able to change that. Do yourself a favor and read MICHIGAN ROLL, his first and most acclaimed novel… I guarantee you’ll be hooked by this man’s talent and humor. He was a hell of a storyteller. 

10 thoughts on “Remembering Tom Kakonis”

  1. Mr. Kakonis was a true gentleman. I had been a fan of his for years and had accumulated many firsts of his novels. I wrote to him and asked him if he would sign his books for me if I sent them to him. He said “of couse, it’s good to know there is a fan out there!” I sent them and he inscribed each book with a personal note about each book. His books are the most treasured in my collection. This is the first I have heard of his passing. RIP

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  2. great writer. just finished “criss cross.” in fact, have read all his books, at least twice. damn, i’m gonna miss him.

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  3. I had the opportunity to attend a talk on writing that Tom Kakonis did for Peninsula Writers in Grand Rapids, MI, many years ago. He had a PhD in literature, but confessed he’d rather read Elmore Leonard than Charles Dickens, and he made the point that writers should write what they love to read. He certainly did justice to the genre he loved. I read all his books but the last, and I will read it. Not because I like crime novels, but because I like his way of characterization and scene setting. And I appreciate the Grand Rapids settings that crop up. But most of all, I liked the man: as another commented here, he was a gentleman– quiet, persistent, and honest.

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  4. I too have read & reread all of his earlier books, the Waverly ones 3 or 4 times. He was an amazing writer, noir that echoed reality, including more than just its psychopaths. Unlike Leonard, he cared for/about his characters, and that gave his books a depth rarely encountered in the genre. He is sorely missed.

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  5. Everybody sings the praises of Michigan Roll, but to me, he was just practicing for his second novel, Criss Cross, which I discovered as a teenager, and which burned itself into my brain. Dennis Cooper and Daniel Woodrell have lamented how Fat City and They Don’t Dance Much (respecitively) never got their due, but for me, that book is Criss Cross.

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  6. I met Dr Kakonis in 1983 – at that time he was an English prof at Ferris State University (then College) in Big Rapids, Michigan (about one hour north of Grand Rapids). I had him for English 2, and then quickly opted to take him for English 3 as well. He was an absolute true gentleman. A wonderful and caring English instructor, and very flexible with his deadlines for paper submittals (he’s smiling somewhere up there now). I’ll never forget Tom Kakonis – he made such a lasting mark on me. I read several of his novels about 10 years afterward, and just today he popped into my mind again. I will happily use this site to track down EVERYthing the man has written, and gobble all of it up. In lasting memory of a gentleman who has graced the world, one person at a time (I know – I’m proud to be one)!!! God Rest You, Tom.

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