About the Author

Jon Bunn grew up in and around the marshes and swamps that bordered Texas and Louisiana from about four years of age until he struck out on his own before his 16th birthday. The sanctuary of the bayous brought peace and solitude when he explored, hunted, fished, and trapped the rivers and backwaters. It was the place he felt most at home, and his fascination with the flora and fauna and people of the region have provided a touchstone throughout his life. The journey for this high school drop-out continued when Jon re-entered high school in Indiana and, though steered by counselors towards vocational classes, he went on to graduate from Indiana University, with a B.S. in Speech and Theatre and a minor in Folklore, and later earned his M.S. in Secondary Education. His experiences along the way were wide and varied- welder, machinist, carpenter, busboy, waiter, cook, dishwasher, recording technician, actor, stage hand, bartender, musician, teacher, recruiter, glass blower-and now, writer. Jon returned to Texas in the mid-70s, after hitchhiking around Europe and North Africa. He now lives in Houston with his lovely wife Donna. He has two daughters, Kandace and Chelsea, and a grandson, Ryland. Jon and Donna travel about the U.S. with their German Shorthaired Pointer rescue dog, Jenny, from mountain to shore. They are both avid freshwater and saltwater anglers. The West Bluff is Jon Bunn's first published book, but he has several more waiting in the wings: The Complete Tangiers to Cost Rica Grace Baptist Temple Broken-Down Blues Bus, a road trip adventure, and Pike's Peat and Worm Farm, a coloring book.

Reviews

The West Bluff grabs the reader from the beginning with plausible plot twists and realistic characters who live in harmony with the swamplands. The author succeeds in describing poignantly the challenges that catastrophic events as well as the passage of time have on the life of the story's central character. I lived in South Louisiana for many years and have now moved away. Jon Bunn brought me back! - Melva Haggar Dye, author of the novel, All That RemainsThe West Bluff is a rousing combination of harrowing adventure and bayou folklore that rings with authenticity. If Hemingway had spent his youth in the treacherous backwaters of East Texas, he would have written this book. Bunn's characters live a rough and tumble lifestyle that has all but disappeared from the American experience. What cowboys were to the Wild West, the men of The West Bluff are to the East Texas swamps. - Becky Wooley, author of the Grit and Grace clerical crime series There's a sweetness to The West Bluff--not syrupy sweetness--and it has at its heart Cajun history and culture in the years after World War II. It's kind of a man's book, but I liked it. - Laura Lynn Leffers, author of Dance on the Water, Portrait of a GhostWhat really struck me about the book it is that the descriptions are sooo real, you feel like you are really right there as it is happening. - Danny Fleener, Chief Petty Officer, (Retired) U.S. Navy, PensacolaIt is a good character study and highlights a neat local area that should spark some local interest. - Kathleen S. McAllister, DiBella, Geer, McAllister, and Best, PC, PittsburghFinished [Jon's] book. Liked it. In fact at times I couldn't put it down. My great grandfather owned Albert's next door to Farmer's Mercantile. Collier came about because [the teacher] misspelled his name from Cailler as Collier. It just stuck. The rest were Colliers. - Becky Rogers, Houston