Whistling in the Dark (Kagen)

Author Bio
• Birth—1950 
• Where—Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA 
• Education—B.A., University of Wisconsin 
• Awards—Honor Book Award, Midwest Book Assn. 
• Currently—lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Lesley Kagen is a writer, actress, voice-over talent, and restaurateur. She owns  Restaurant Hama, one of Milwaukee's top restaurants. Her books include Whistling in the Dark (2007) and Land of a Hundred Wonders (2008). (From the publisher.)

Extras
Her own words:

I was born in Milwaukee and spent my early years in a great working class neighborhood, much like the one where Whistling in the Dark is set.

I attended Marquette University for one year, fell in love, and followed my boyfriend to New York City. I lasted about six months. I was so intimidated, I spent most of my time running from my apartment to the grocery store and back to my apartment, which was located above a 24 Hour Soul Record Store. Hence, I have the dubious ability to recite every lyric to every James Brown tune ever recorded.

After returning to Milwaukee, I enrolled in the University of Wisconsin where I majored in Radio and Television. I fell into a job as a morning drive DJ on one of the country's first alternative radio stations— WZMF. I got to interview lots of very cool rock n' rollers like Frank Zappa, Hendrix and John Lennon.

In 1976, I moved to Los Angeles, where I began a ten year career working for Licorice Pizza record chain where I produced, wrote and voiced thousands of commercials as Lesley from Licorice Pizza. When I set out to expand my career, I ended up doing on-camera commercials, a couple of Movies-Of-The-Week, and a Laverne and Shirley.

I met my husband, Peter aka Sushi Man, in Malibu, which is pretty funny considering he was from Milwaukee as well. While we both loved living in California, after the birth of our kids, Casey and Riley, we felt this overwhelming need to return to the roost, so we moved back home in 1990.

Ten years ago, we opened up Restaurant Hama. (Best sushi...bar none!)

Well, that's about it. Oh, wait. The writing. I adore it. I crave it. But it wasn't until Casey went off to college, and teenage Riley made it clear that any form of communication between us was to be restricted to—"With or without pepperoni"—that I found the opportunity to sit down and let 'er rip. I hope you love reading Whistling in the Dark and Land of a Hundred Wonders as much as I loved writing them. (Courtesy of the author's website.)