Early Years and Educational Journey

Chris Lynch emerged as the fifth child in a bustling family of seven, nurtured within the vibrant Jamaica Plains enclave of Boston. His father, Edward Lynch, navigated city streets as a bus driver, while his mother, Dorothy O'Brien Lynch, balanced her days as a receptionist. This neighborhood once held the legacy of being a historic Irish stronghold, yet by the time Chris entered the world in 1962, it had blossomed into a tapestry that wove together a significant Hispanic community as well. With the shadow of his father's passing when he was just five, Chris fondly remembers his mother's brave efforts to shield the family from hardship, recalling, "things were pretty lean back then."

Chris's educational path meandered through Catholic schools during his formative years. Although he wouldn't describe himself as "bookish," he found delight in a Dr. Seuss Book Club, thrilled by the arrival of personalized books. His early reading list was peppered with tales of military conquests and sports legends, leaving fiction to linger "not yet" at the edges of his curiosity. Grammar school brought pleasant memories, yet high school unfolded as a "football factory" devoid of artistic encouragement. Initially, sports captivated him, but the school's rigid athletic framework, infused with a "macho ethos," ultimately repelled him.

Discovering a Passion for Writing

Disillusionment with his high school's atmosphere led Chris to leave during his junior year. After fulfilling the academic requirements, he ventured to Boston University as a political science major. Discontent with the discipline, his spirit was ignited by a course in newswriting. This sparked his discovery of a true calling, prompting a transfer to Suffolk University where he delved into journalism, even exploring a novel writing class that nudged him closer to his true aspirations. Despite the societal norms that veiled the idea of an artistic career, Chris spent six years navigating various jobs, from painting houses to steering moving vans. A stint as a financial report proofreader proved monotonous, fueling his search for more. "There had to be something more out there," he mused, enrolling in a master's program in publishing and journalism at Emerson University in 1989. He admits that even then, he "hid" behind the role of editor, not revealing his writing pursuits to his mother until the release of his debut book, Shadow Boxer, in 1993.

The Birth of a Novel

Shadow Boxer emerged from an assignment in a children's writing class, where Chris was tasked with penning five pages inspired by a childhood memory. Reflecting on this with J. Sydney Jones, Chris shared:

I had a vague idea of writing some things my brother and I had done in our youth, but as soon as I sat down with it, I was off to the races. The stuff just poured out. Before this, all my adult fiction had been too stylized, what everybody else was doing. What I thought was expected of me. I had no emotional investment in my own work; and that makes all the difference. With this assignment, the very first words actually made it into the actual published book. I was fortunate to discover early in my career that one bit of writing magic—matching yourself and your material.

Chris crafted about sixty percent of the novel during class, completing it in 1992. The narrative, which draws roughly a fifth of its essence from autobiographical threads, chronicles two brothers dealing with the aftermath of their father's death, a devoted though moderately gifted professional prizefighter. The novel's episodic structure, which Chris found "incredibly liberating," reflects his view of life as a series of...