Louis Bayard

Louis Bayard has been a reader favorite for many years for both the variety and high quality of his novels. Bayard’s mix of history and crime is the characteristic of some of his best work. He has also put real historical figures at the center of his stories and in the case of ‘Mr. Timothy’ he used Charles Dickens’ creation Tiny Tim as the inspiration for one of his own best novels. The 2007 novel ‘The Pale Blue Eye’ takes us back to the life of Edgar Allen Poe when he was a cadet at West Point. In the story, Poe becomes the assistant to the detective investigating a gruesome crime at the Academy. Bayard’s latest book ‘Jackie & Me’ shows us Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis through the eyes of John Kennedy’s closeted gay friend Lem Billings. Unlike many of our previous guests who have talked about having their books optioned to death by Hollywood without any films ever being made, last year ‘The Pale Blue Eye’ was made into a major motion picture starring Cristian Bale, Gillian Anderson and Robert Duvall. It’s a real pleasure for me and Ryan to welcome Louis to the podcast.