Joe Plut and Gretchen Hassler discuss "Simon’s Night" (a novel by John Hassler)

“Nobody makes storytelling look easier than the late, great Jon Hassler. Simon's Night is a lovely case in point.”--Richard Russo, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Empire Falls

Simon's Night was first published in 1979. In this classic novel by the late Jon Hassler, Simon Shea, a retired professor of English at a small Minnesota college, has begun to forget things and also experiences a few dangerous lapses in judgment. He commits himself to a private rest home where his encounters with other residents are variously strange, comical, and disquieting.

Simon’s Night is available again in a new edition which includes Hassler's piece "My Simon's Night Journal." The essay, annotated by Joe Plut, offers insights into the author's thought processes during the novel's long gestation. Plut will be joined in conversation by John Hassler’s widow Gretchen.

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Jon Hassler, author, educator, playwright, and painter, began his writing career at the age of thirty-seven, completing fifteen works of fiction and two works of nonfiction. His novels include Staggerford, A Green Journey, Dear James, and North of Hope. Jon taught English in high school and college for forty-one years, ending his academic career as Regents Professor Emeritus at Saint John's University of Minnesota. He died in 2008 after a long illness, though he continued to write novels until the end.