Published: Sunday, December 13, 2009
Veteran, teacher, painter — and now, Mukilteo man is an author
Austin Dwyer’s life is rich with family, artistic talent, Irish heritage, chance and good fortune. A true Renaissance man, his own story could easily make compelling fiction.
In 1957, at age 19, Dwyer emigrated from his native Ireland and joined the U.S. Air Force. An Air Force buddy, Ron Peters, happened to be from Everett. When Dwyer’s military service ended in 1961, Peters invited the fellow from County Tipperary to come here to meet his family.
“I got to his place, and a year later I married his sister,” said Dwyer, 71, who now lives in Mukilteo.
Dwyer and his wife, Mig, raised their eight children in Everett.
In his youth, he had studied music in Dublin. Here, Dwyer cultivated visual art skills. By 1963, he had become a U.S. citizen and graduated from Seattle’s Burnley School for Professional Art. For 14 years, he taught illustration and design at the school that later became the Art Institute of Seattle. He co-founded the Cohen Dwyer Advertising and Marketing agency in Seattle.
Retired from that work, Dwyer is now an acclaimed painter. He’s listed among the Maritime Masters of America at the Mystic Seaport Maritime Gallery in Connecticut. His images of ships and other sea scenes hang in galleries on the East and West coasts, and his paintings illustrate Foss Maritime Co. calendars.
Now, Dwyer can add novelist to that long list of accomplishments. For the past 15 years — in whatever spare time his wife, children and grandchildren, career, travels and artistic endeavors have allowed — Dwyer has been writing “The Ring of the Piper’s Tune.”
In his advertising work, Dwyer was a writer — of 60-second commercials. With his 500-page saga, Dwyer had the luxury of spinning a long, complicated and romantic tale. The story takes fictional Irish heroine Kathleen Barrett from Dublin to Boston, and includes historical references to Dublin’s 1916 Easter rebellion and the gangland Chicago of U.S. Prohibition days.
At the book’s heart is a love story between Kathleen and an American, William Hamilton, and the fates of their twin sons, born out of wedlock. One son becomes a priest.
“I had to write what I know,” said Dwyer, a Roman Catholic who attended a Christian Brothers school in Ireland.
“They are mirror-image twins,” he said of the book’s brothers. “They look exactly alike but are so different. I wanted to write about the priesthood — about a good priest for a change, one who believes in God and is honest. The other twin is diabolical.
“It’s a character-driven book,” said Dwyer, adding that the dialogue came easily as he played each character in his mind.
The 15-year process included reading much Irish literature and history. Dwyer also culled expertise from friends. Among those credited at the end of the book for helping with medical, legal and financial plot details are Dr. Sanford Wright, an Everett neurosurgeon; the late Judge John Wilson, whose son Joe Wilson was recently elected to the Snohomish County Superior Court bench; and Everett’s William O’Neil, for his knowledge of the stock market.
Dwyer is indebted to his wife and family for their patience with his writing, much of it done in longhand. For years, Dwyer said, he wrote everywhere, even on sheets of paper he’d fold up and take to Mass.
“My wife kept me going,” he said. “We’d go for walks, and I’d tell her where I was going with the book. An artist is probably the most selfish person in the world,” said Dwyer, who continues to spend much of his time painting in his studio.
“I wrote a book because nobody told me I couldn’t. Writing was fun,” he said. “Everybody has a book in them. I don’t know what Irishman doesn’t.”
Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460, muhlstein@heraldnet.com.
Book signing
Austin Dwyer will sign copies of his novel, “The Ring of the Piper’s Tune,” from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at Olson’s Food Emporium, 13619 Mukilteo Speedway, Lynnwood.
For information about Dwyer, go to www.austindwyer.com.
“The Ring of the Piper’s Tune” is self-published through www.iuniverse.com and is available there and at www.amazon.com.
In 1957, at age 19, Dwyer emigrated from his native Ireland and joined the U.S. Air Force. An Air Force buddy, Ron Peters, happened to be from Everett. When Dwyer’s military service ended in 1961, Peters invited the fellow from County Tipperary to come here to meet his family.
“I got to his place, and a year later I married his sister,” said Dwyer, 71, who now lives in Mukilteo.
Dwyer and his wife, Mig, raised their eight children in Everett.
In his youth, he had studied music in Dublin. Here, Dwyer cultivated visual art skills. By 1963, he had become a U.S. citizen and graduated from Seattle’s Burnley School for Professional Art. For 14 years, he taught illustration and design at the school that later became the Art Institute of Seattle. He co-founded the Cohen Dwyer Advertising and Marketing agency in Seattle.
Retired from that work, Dwyer is now an acclaimed painter. He’s listed among the Maritime Masters of America at the Mystic Seaport Maritime Gallery in Connecticut. His images of ships and other sea scenes hang in galleries on the East and West coasts, and his paintings illustrate Foss Maritime Co. calendars.
Now, Dwyer can add novelist to that long list of accomplishments. For the past 15 years — in whatever spare time his wife, children and grandchildren, career, travels and artistic endeavors have allowed — Dwyer has been writing “The Ring of the Piper’s Tune.”
In his advertising work, Dwyer was a writer — of 60-second commercials. With his 500-page saga, Dwyer had the luxury of spinning a long, complicated and romantic tale. The story takes fictional Irish heroine Kathleen Barrett from Dublin to Boston, and includes historical references to Dublin’s 1916 Easter rebellion and the gangland Chicago of U.S. Prohibition days.
At the book’s heart is a love story between Kathleen and an American, William Hamilton, and the fates of their twin sons, born out of wedlock. One son becomes a priest.
“I had to write what I know,” said Dwyer, a Roman Catholic who attended a Christian Brothers school in Ireland.
“They are mirror-image twins,” he said of the book’s brothers. “They look exactly alike but are so different. I wanted to write about the priesthood — about a good priest for a change, one who believes in God and is honest. The other twin is diabolical.
“It’s a character-driven book,” said Dwyer, adding that the dialogue came easily as he played each character in his mind.
The 15-year process included reading much Irish literature and history. Dwyer also culled expertise from friends. Among those credited at the end of the book for helping with medical, legal and financial plot details are Dr. Sanford Wright, an Everett neurosurgeon; the late Judge John Wilson, whose son Joe Wilson was recently elected to the Snohomish County Superior Court bench; and Everett’s William O’Neil, for his knowledge of the stock market.
Dwyer is indebted to his wife and family for their patience with his writing, much of it done in longhand. For years, Dwyer said, he wrote everywhere, even on sheets of paper he’d fold up and take to Mass.
“My wife kept me going,” he said. “We’d go for walks, and I’d tell her where I was going with the book. An artist is probably the most selfish person in the world,” said Dwyer, who continues to spend much of his time painting in his studio.
“I wrote a book because nobody told me I couldn’t. Writing was fun,” he said. “Everybody has a book in them. I don’t know what Irishman doesn’t.”
Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460, muhlstein@heraldnet.com.
Book signing
Austin Dwyer will sign copies of his novel, “The Ring of the Piper’s Tune,” from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at Olson’s Food Emporium, 13619 Mukilteo Speedway, Lynnwood.
For information about Dwyer, go to www.austindwyer.com.
“The Ring of the Piper’s Tune” is self-published through www.iuniverse.com and is available there and at www.amazon.com.
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