John Doll is a third-generation San Josean who grew up listening to family rumors, memories and confessions about the city. St. James Park is based on his Italian-American mother’s and grandmother’s tales of a once beautiful Santa Clara Valley, but also one gruesome 1933 night in downtown San Jose.

 

Witnessing the gradual destruction of the valley’s orchards, John has been intrigued about the causes of this transformation. He studied economic development at University of California, Santa Cruz and University of Wisconsin, Madison, receiving respective undergraduate and graduate degrees. These enabled him to launch an entire career creating revitalization projects throughout the Bay Area, including the restoration of a once prominent hotel in downtown San Jose.

 

John has always loved writing whether it was his series of jazz reviews, an Asian travel guide or a boatload of staff reports and business memoranda. St. James Park is his first novel to be published. A second novel, Escape If You Can, awaits its turn, while a third, What You Cannot Build, remains a work in progress.

 

Now semi-retired living in Bernal Heights, San Francisco with his wife Rachael and a pair of inquisitive cats. He loves it when his daughter Gemma, a Los Angeles cinematographer, visits. 

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