Editor’s Note: In this new series, the Herald profiles the lives of PHS graduates after high school.
Glen Carrington, 72, hasn’t lived in Peekskill for more than 40 years, but the city where he was born is close to his heart.
With his mom and sister still living here, the corporate executive turned murder-mystery-writer travels back from his home in Central Valley, Calif., annually. Interestingly, he is the proud great-nephew of the founders of the Bynum Taxi & Limo service, which started as the Bynum Bros. Taxi.
“I’m honored to be the Herald’s first person to be featured in the Where Are they Now? series,” the 1970 Peekskill High School graduate says with a smile. “I think Peekskill is a great place to live.”
“I’ve met influential people here. Growing up, I saw African Americans start their own businesses, and I had relatives who did well here,” he says, remembering his cousin, the late Earnest Alfonso Bates, a neurosurgeon, entrepreneur, and Peekskill High School graduate who lived in California. He also counts another cousin, W. Haywood Burns, as a family member with national recognition.
Carrington, who has written seven murder mysteries in his later years, moved to California for better weather in 1981, after receiving an MBA from the University of Rochester in Rochester, N.Y., after working in upstate New York and New England for a few years. The tennis and golf enthusiast, wine-maker, and novice futures-trader has had a rich career, working for Fortune 500-, mid-size, and start-up companies, and retiring as finance director for Central Valley, a city of 27,000 near Modesto.
After vacationing in California in his 30s, and job-interviewing there, he got a budget analyst job with Wells Fargo and left the Northeast for the California sunshine. “I really didn’t like the erratic weather in the Northeast,” he says.
His late father was born in Peekskill and worked as a mechanic for General Motors in Tarrytown for 30 years, while his mother, Gleanor, 94, an ex-corrections officer, still lives in the house his grandfather built in Peekskill. His sister, Linda, lives across the street, and a brother resides in North Carolina.
“I didn’t start writing until after 50 ,” says the author of seven murder mysteries. “Writing is an intellectual exercise for me and became my hobby at 50 years old.” He began writing by jotting down thoughts on current events, which evolved into creating novels about 12 years ago.
Carrington wrote his first book, “The Oakland Hills Vodou Murder” while still working full-time, finding free time at night and on weekends. His plots all include Detective Lincoln, a Vietnam War veteran who tries to solve the who-done-it.
“Writing is a form of self-discipline and allows me to create a story and go through the motions of putting it together on paper and publishing a book in a professional format,” he explains.
While Carrington has self-published his books through AuthorHouse, he is in the process of working with a book marketer to increase sales. “You don’t make any real money in self-publishing, and I’m trying to get my name out there.”
His latest book is “Murder at the Marsh Jones Family Reunion,” a fun spin on his mother’s maiden name, which is Jones. She was one of 10 children.
His third novel – “Murder in Peekskill” – is a story about a killing in Depew Park and depicts a park bench on the cover. As the warm weather started melting the snow, a city maintenance worker finds the body of the daughter of a prominent New York senator in a murky pond.
A self-proclaimed conversationalist, Carrington was attracted to writing, he says, because he missed having stimulating conversation. “Most people are nice people, but just not interested in the same things I am. When I read the newspaper, I spend about 10 minutes on the headlines, and then go to the editorial section to find out how people think about current topics.”
He credits Walter Mosley, African American author of the noted “Devil in a Blue Dress,” for inspiring his writing career. “This was the impetus that got me to write,” he says. “It wasn’t the book itself, but the fact that Mosley described himself as a burned-out computer-programmer, potter, and various other activities that had nothing to do with writing. I always thought you had to be an English major to be a writer.” With that in mind, Carrington began his detective Lincoln book series.
He hopes to someday write a non-fiction book on a current events topic, or even politics, another one of his interests.
In addition to writing, Carrington likes to give back. He is the treasurer of the local Men’s Group, and mentors African American students in vocational training. He also works with the NAACP, tutoring elementary school students in literacy. With an undergraduate degree in math, Carrington has also given African American kids math help. He also enjoys being Uncle Glen to his three nephews.
Carrington is ever grateful to his ninth grade English teacher at Peekskill High who taught him: “When you write a mystery, always know your ending before you start.” “That turned out to be excellent advice,” he says.
