John D. Lee Reviews

By Ginger Holt Porter
Summer, 1988. Deep in the mountain country of Texas, a haggard man stares intently at his personal computer as the clock nears the stroke of midnight. His head wreathed in cigarette smoke, and a trusty Doberman at his toes, the strategist concocts elaborate strategies of intrigue and treachery.

April, 1991. An professor leans back into his University of Memphis office, recounting the story of how he first became interested in writing suspense and adventure books.

“I was a World War II brat. I grew up during the war, and enjoyed to write about it, ''” stated John Lee, professor of humor. “I recall writing and demonstrating a four-color comic book during the war in which each of the figures ran around yelling, ‘AIEEEE! ’& &;#x2018;BANZAI! ’ I really did a lot of gory stuff once I was a kid. ”

While Lee’s newest novels are not as violent as his very first primitive literary attempts, his fascination with World War II remains evident. Released last year, Stalag Texas recounts the exploits of Nazi Nazi prisoners of war who aspire to destroy the world’s first nuclear bomb in a hidden lab in Los Alamos, New Mexico.

Another recent release is Lee’s Modern Mass Media, co-written with two other professors, which is the textbook for U of M’s “Institutes of Mass Communication” class, in addition to for journalism courses in other colleges and universities.
“It& ’s a few of the smoothest, gentlest writing you’ll ever find in a post,” wrote critic Douglas P. Starr.
Lee considers those words one of the best compliments which could be received.

“Many textbooks aren’t more fun to see, and if there's one that students neglect’t appear to mind reading, professors tend to recall this,” he explained. Feature Writing for Newspapers and Magazines, that was co-w

John D. Lee Quality Chart