Paddy Kelly (writer)

Early life

Kelly was born on 6 February 1952 in New Ross, County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, to an Irish father and a Sicilian mother. In 1966 he emigrated to New York City where he worked pushing a hot dog cart, unloading barges, as well as doing a number of menial jobs. Eventually he fell into an apprenticeship as a sign writer. While there his mentor convinced him to finish secondary school and in 1971 he was offered an athletic scholarship in gymnastics to the City University of New York. It was here in New York City that he was first introduced to theatre and having a brief stint at acting became interested in writing. In 1972, through friends he had made in New York, he was offered a one year position as a coach for the Icelandic National Gymnastics Team. Following this he became a Hospital Corpsman in the US Navy and assisted, among other things, in the rescue efforts of Heimaey island, Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland following the volcanic eruption there, and later in the evacuation of Saigon in 1975 helping to resettle tens of thousands of Vietnamese refugees to the city of Westminster, Orange County. Near the end of his naval enlistment Kelly enlisted in the U.S. Army, became an engineer and translator, and having gone through the Marine Force Recon course in Coronado California, applied and was accepted into Army Special Forces training.

1976–1999

While working in southern California he was first introduced to the industry of film-making and, using his skills as a sign maker, found work as a set carpenter on such films as Dog Day Afternoon and Deer Hunter. In 1976 Paddy Kelly returned to university, this time in Ohio, where he immersed himself in writing and drama to act in over a dozen plays and it was at this time that he attempted his first novel, Politically Erect, a black comedy satire set during the evacuation of Saigon by the U.S. Army. Following graduation in 1982 he returned to California and was employed as a script editor and proceeded to enhance his skills as a writer. After California he returned to the east coast to focus on writing plays as well as directing them where his main interest became satirical and political comedy. He has since directed two dozen professional theatrical productions, written half a dozen feature film scripts and has acted as a regular contributor to various film industry publications.

2000s

With his novels Paddy Kelly has been focused mainly on historical fiction expanding further into the Roman à clef style of writing and in 2009, after two years of research, he published the factual based crime drama Operation Underworld. His follow-on novel The American Way in 2011 tells the story of the great 1912 Lawrence, Mass mill worker's strike, a major victory in the early violent and controversial years of the Industrial Workers of the World a labor union which President Wilson and others attempted to outlaw. In late 2011 he also wrote Don't Eat to Live, Live to Eat, a cookbook of recipes collected during his travels around the world. Later that year Kelly wrote and directed the cookery television programme pilot, Move Over Mum. His latest novel, is entitled Children of the Nuclear Gods and deals with the story of the 1983 Nuclear War Scare, (also known as Operation Able Archer 83) between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R., which is due to be published in the Summer of 2015. Additionally the sequel to Operation Underworld, The Wolves of Calabria dealing with the establishment of the International Drug Cartel is in progress and due out in 2015.

Novels

2009: Operation Underworld, Fiction4All

2011: The American Way, Fiction4All

2013: Children of the Nuclear Gods

2014: The Wolves of Calabria

2015: Politically Erect

2016: American Rhetoric, Fiction4All

2017: The Broad in the Kimono

2017: Luck & Fame Are Four Letter Words (novella)

2017: Dr. Lindsay’s Christmas (novella)

Plays

2001: Dr. Lindsay's Christmas

2001: The Commuter

2002: Livestock

2004: Three-Thirds

2004: The Agency

2005: The Office Party (Directed only)

2005: Love's Delusion

2005: The Communication Cord

2006: Plaza Suite(Directed only)

2008: Ghost Story

2009: Fevered Dream

2010: Birdbath (Directed only)

Screenplays

2004: Miss June

2004: Paradise Bay

2005: Rules of the Game

Television

2003: Sleep on It

2004: Trials of E.G. Flynn

2007: Move Over Mom!

Film Shorts

2002: Livestock

2004: Three-Thirds

2005: Text in the City