From: Larry Andrews:

 While I was at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, either as a faculty member or an administrator, I wrote nothing but expository prose for 40 years. When I retired in 2008, I knew I would need to reinvent myself: I became a novelist, writing narrative prose for the first time in my life.

 My first novel:  SONGS OF SADNESS, SONGS OF LOVE.  Here's a reader review from amazon.com

“This is a heart-warming story of a young boy growing up. Not only does he have the usual fears of adolescence, but a physical disability that causes him great concerns of being rejected by his peers. Follow this young man as he goes through middle school, high school, and the University to reach the heights that most of us would have not dreamed of obtaining. This is also a love story that many will be able to relate to. A great read!”

 I began my University of Nebraska-Lincoln career one week after I received my PhD at Missouri in 1969. I was tenured and promoted to full Professor in just six years, then served in a number of administrative capacities for 10 years. Afterwards, back to the faculty for my first loves: teaching, reading and writing.

  I have published numerous journal articles and four university-level textbooks. One textbook has been translated for university use in South Korea. In addition to my regular appointments, I have also been a Visiting Professor at the University of London. 

More information is at http.//larryandrews-writerauthor.blogspot.com or at amazon.com/larry-andrews I’m including an article from my hometown newspaper, the Columbia (MO) Daily Tribune.

The most inexpensive copies of  Songs of Sadness, Songs of Love can be ordered from http://authorhouse.com/bookstore.

Reach me at any of these if you’d like to visit:

402-488-5977 (Home)
402-617-4317 (Cell)
laruandrews@yahoo.com
 

 This story a page turner
By BILL CLARK
Late in the spring of 1958, Ol’ Clark was the Columbia distribution manager for The Kansas City Star. His office was across Seventh Street east of Hickman High School, and it was there Larry Andrews, a Hickman senior, came with the lament his team had been denied entry in the Looper League, Columbia’s unique organization of “good ol’ boys” and pitches that had to go at least 10 feet over the hitter’s head.
The team needed sponsorship. So it became The Kansas City Star team and proceeded to have a perfect season — it didn’t win a single game!
Fast-forward 52½ years.
An e-mail to the Tribune found its way to me in September. It was from Lincoln, Neb., and closed with: “I’d appreciate a plug from Ol’ Clark. I think he’ll remember me.” It was signed by Larry Andrews.
How could I forget him after our perfect record?
Larry, who graduated from HHS in 1958 and from the University of Missouri with a doctorate in English in 1969, spent 40 years as a professor and administrator at the University of Nebraska, teaching English, retiring in 2008.
Since then, he’s become a busy novelist and has published his first novel, “Songs of Sadness, Songs of Love.”
I must admit I haven’t read the book, but I’m convinced it will be a good read — all about a young boy growing up in the fictional town of Columbus. Here’s why:
Larry has published four university-level textbooks, including one translated into Korean. He has been a consultant to Imo University in Nigeria and a visiting professor at the University of London.
But, more important, Larry is a success story with a rough beginning. The older of two sons of Senator and Betty Andrews, he celebrated his 70th birthday on 10/10/10. When he was 5, he became the first child in Boone County to contract polio. He was left with an arm without muscles — there, but of little use.
Larry adjusted and hardly missed a beat. He helped in his family’s carpet business, attended Ridgeway School for six years and, as a seventh-grader at Jefferson Junior High School, began a three-year run as a Tribune paperboy. Later, he would drive the truck delivering bundles of Tribunes to the carriers. He even worked part time on the sports desk.
At Hickman, he spent two years as the football team manager, sharing duties with Ed Stevens, picking up after George Hulett, Paley Mills, Tom Stewart, Ron Cox, et al.
After Hickman and his perfect season sharing the Looper League losses with the likes of Bob Pugh, Arlen Creasy, Dick Winner and Doug Fowler, Larry moved on to MU, graduated with a degree in English in 1962, taught school for three years in Iowa high schools, then returned to complete his master’s and doctorate under the guidance of Steryl Artley in 1969.
A day after he received his Ph.D., he was on the job in Lincoln.
Larry played tennis for more than 20 years and finally gave up coed slow-pitch softball at age 50. He was an avid fisherman — a catch-and-release guy — until five years ago, when pneumonia plunged him into a two-week coma. He’s fine now, except for nagging post-polio syndrome, has finished a second novel — now en route to the printer — about the theft of intellectual property, and even has five chapters done on a third novel.
So how does a born MU Tiger handle the land of the “Big Red?”
“It is easy to become a fan of a team that wins national championships.”
But, Larry adds, “I have marvelous memories of growing up in Columbia, and when I return to Boone County, I feel like I’m one step closer to heaven.”
Don’t forget, the name of the book is “Songs of Sadness, Songs of Love.”
*****
Bill Clark’s columns appear Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Reach him at 402- 474-4510.This article was published on page A2 of the Friday, October 15, 2010 edition of The Columbia (MO) Daily Tribune.