My Father Twomey biography has been officially Kickstarted!
A view from the (home) office
Cross-posted (and slightly adapted) from my Kickstarter page:
I'm grateful to report that my Kickstarter funds have now arrived in my bank account. Thanks to my Kickstarter backers, as well as the paid subscribers of Matters Twomey, I now have the enormous relief—and great joy—of knowing that my living expenses are covered as I write my biography of Father Louis J. Twomey, S.J.
So, how's the writing going?
Thank you for asking! It's going normally, which is to say that it's off to a slow start. This is my eighth time writing a book (if you count both editions of The Thrill of the Chaste, which I do),* and slow starts are par for the course. The first chapter seems to take forever to write. But after that, the chapters flow more quickly. This is especially true with biographies, as chapter 1 covers my subject's early years, for which very little source material exists, so much more digging is required than with later chapters.
The good news is that, since the articles I wrote last month for the Vital Center Journal  and Black Catholic Messenger contain more than 4,000 words that will go into a later chapter, I have more than 12,000 words of the book completed thus far. In that sense, I'm more than ten percent done. Realistically speaking, if my pace doubles once chapter 1 is finished, as it usually does, then I'm only about one month behind schedule, which is common for authors (especially for academic presses).** Thankfully I still have enough funds to complete the writing according to that timeline.
My research continues to bring exciting surprises. Yesterday, as I went through copies of the Hoya newspaper (thank you, Digital Georgetown) to research Father Twomey's college years, I discovered something remarkable. While Twomey was at Georgetown, he got to know not one but two young Jesuits who would become great labor priests: Dennis Comey,S.J., and Richard McKeon, S.J. This article by Paul Lubienecki gives an outline of both men's accomplishments.
Comey and McKeon each maintained their friendship with Twomey beyond their Georgetown days, particularly McKeon. Upon Twomey's death, McKeon wrote in his column for the Diocese of Syracuse's Catholic Sun that he "hoped that some priest or layman who knew him intimately might write at length about his life and many accomplishments." He felt that a biography of Twomey "would inspire others to engage in social action."
Father Twomey died October 8, 1969—fifty-five years ago next Tuesday. And tomorrow, as I write, will be the 119th anniversary of his birth on October 5, 1905. Please pray for me as I write his life, and know that I am praying for you. Thank you and God bless you.
*My other books are The Thrill of the Chaste (Thomas Nelson, 2006), My Peace I Give You: Healing Sexual Wounds with the Help of the Saints (Ave Maria Press, 2012), The Thrill of the Chaste: Catholic Edition (Ave Maria Press, 2015), Remembering God's Mercy (Ave Maria Press, 2016), Sunday Will Never Be the Same (Catholic Answers, 2019), Father Ed: The Story of Bill W.'s Spiritual Sponsor (Orbis Books, 2022), and The Sacred Heart: A Love for All Times (Loyola Press, forthcoming).
**In case the folks from the University of Notre Dame Press are reading, I'm not at all certain that I'm that far behind schedule. But if it's still looking that way by the beginning of next month, I'll let you know.
Sounds like a wonderful beginning!