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Fowler Portraits

Links to Monroe’s favorite charities:

Memory Rock Chicago

Steve Monroe is the author of five novels. ’57, Chicago and ’46, Chicago were published by Talk Miramax Books in the United States.  ’57, Chicago was also published in Germany and Japan.  ’46, Chicago was published in Italy.  ’57, Chicago was also optioned by Miramax Films and two screenplays were written but Steve currently owns the rights to the work.  His latest novel, Pursuit, is coming in August, while two previous novels, The Long Descent (the sequel to ’46, Chicago) and So Smooth sit in an electronic filing cabinet, waiting to be read.

Monroe, 53, grew up in Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska, before moving to Kansas City in 1976 and then Chicago, Illinois in 1992.  An insatiable reader, he had an early appetite for crime noir and mysteries.  Among his early favorite authors were O. Henry, Raymond Chandler, Dashielle Hammett, and Jim Thompson, before graduating to Joseph Wambaugh, Ken Follett and Robert Ludlum.  Monroe is a fan of James Ellroy, George Pelacanos, Elmore Leonard, Scott Turow, Robert Parker and Ted Lewis.  He also enjoys the work of Chicago writers Rick Telander and Richard Lindberg and considers Everybody Pays by Rick Kogan and Maurice Possley the best true crime book ever written.

Author Monroe is also heavily involved in charitable endeavors including volunteering at Smithwright Services in Lynnwood, WA.  He spent over 20 years volunteering for the Comcast SportsNet Sports Awards Dinner benefiting the March of Dimes and taught a literacy class at Anixter Center (for which he was honored in 2009 by the Secretary of State and State Librarian and Illinois Press Association with a Spotlight on Service Award for his work as a tutor) for nine years.  Monroe also created Memory Rock, an annual fundraising concert at Joe’s Sports Bar in Chicago benefiting the Alzheimer’s Association, Greater Illinois Chapter.  Memory Rock 2015 is set for October 22 at Joe’s Sports Bar an will mark the event’s eighth year.

Dubbed “Mr. Happy Go-Lucky of Chicago” by Chicago Sun-Times writer Mike Thomas, Monroe now splits his time between Chicago and a northern suburb of Seattle.  When in Chicago, he’s typically enjoying his season tickets to Cubs games, while in Seattle, he’s touring around in his SUV with his yellow Labrador Retriever, Maddie, in tow.