David Ewbank, a retired English professor from Kent State, is having a book signing at 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on November 13 at Logos bookstore on Kent Road.

“A Distant Summer” takes place in the small town of Towner’s Grove, and is about the investigation of a woman’s murder shortly after the end of World War II and how it affects two friends’ lives through their investigation.

A press release from Ewbank’s publisher Strategic Book Group described “A Distant Summer” as a “beautifully written novel that evokes old memories and shows that the past is never really past.”

“I think it was really my boyhood in Lyons, Colo.,” said Ewbank, as he described his inspiration for writing the book. “There wasn’t any murder, so I made that up, but I wanted to give a sense of two boys growing up in a small town as I did, and I think that’s the basic inspiration”.

“A Distant Summer” was released October 5th and can be found at Logos bookstore as well as Amazon.com.

“I’ve always been interested in writing and literature, but you have to spend an awful lot of time preparing for classes,” Ewbank said, “so it wasn’t until I retired that I was able to give full time to this and actually finish it.”

He said it took him eight years to finish the book.

Ewbank said he taught in the English department at Kent State for 32 years. His specialty was 19th century literature.

Ewbank, originally from Colorado, said he is happily retired now residing in the city of Kent with his wife.

He said his advice to students wanting to be authors someday is, “You should just keep at it. Persistence is what really counts.”

“I think that authors will write no matter what. They are just determined to do it because that’s their calling,” Ewbank said. “I have that feeling about myself. It’s what I like to do, so I do it.”

Contact Amanda Crumm at [email protected].