Here’s the unedited version of my interview in FAR with Finnish American author, Tim Jollymore.
MM:
Kiitos for doing this, Tim. Let’s start with your surname. Jollymore certainly doesn’t seem to be Finnish and yet, we run into each other at all these Finn Fests and events! Give the readers of FAR a brief explanation of your heritage and how Finnishness fits into your upbringing.
TJ: Both my first and most recent novel (Listener in the Snow and The Nothing That Is Not There, respectively) investigate this conundrum of identity: How can a fellow named Jollymore be Finnish?
The short answer, and one very incomplete, is that once in America, my grandmother Ruth Martin of Kokkola, Finland, married the immigrant Andrew Lumppio. My mother, born in Cloquet, 1915 then, was as Finnish as her mother and father were.
Had Elsie Elizabeth, my mother, met and married a Finn, I would have fully identified as the same, but then entered the handsome, half-Irish, French Huguenot and German John Jollymore, my father, who was as proud of his own heritage as he was unfamiliar with mom’s. The result was that the Jollymore in me was raised up and the Lumppio in me was suppressed, although never extinguished.
Being Finnsh, then, was more an aspiration, more a search, more a mystery to me than it was a belonging, a surrounding of culture, or familiarity with practices and foods that were Finnish at their root. It was not until adulthood that I tasted (and made) pulla, had enjoyed a wood-fired sauna, spent a summer at the cabin, or had spoken even a word of the language.
In a sense, the search for identity that Tatty Langille, my hero in the books cited above, is represented in my own life: a choosing among things Finnish over the things of the wider European tradition.
MM:
You’re a writer and a playwright who’s written a number of novels. What writers have influenced your work? Who do you consider to be your mentors? Are any of the works distinctly Finnish in culture, history, plot, or character?
TJ:
I grew up an English major, so, of course, I’ve read the cannon that was current, say, in 1968, but I seldom now think of or mention anyone but Fitzgerald and George Orwell. Writers creating work since then have more meaning for me now: Sigred Nunez (The Last of Her Kind), Paul Auster (Leviathan and The New York Trilogy), Cormac McCarthy, and the Scandinavians: Knut Hamsun, Laxness, Petterson, Gaarder and Knausgard.
I single out Diego Maroni’s New Finnish Grammar (a novel) which takes up Finnish identity in a most fascinating and surprising story of engaging and learning culture from an absolutely blank slate, something my own Finnish identity lives within.
MM:
You’re presently located in California. Could you give the readers of FAR a history of your education, employment, and background as to how you ended up on the West Coast?
TJ:
I grew up in my dad’s town, Proctor, and my mother’s town, Cloquet, then spent thirteen years in Duluth, half of that in college at UMD. I earned my MA degree at Duluth. I never intended to leave the area and have always and do now love the town. But Honeywell, Inc. had plans for me in Minneapolis and San Francisco. The company so well respected in Minnesota, was just another pretty face on the coast and our relationship did not last. Finally, I found and rededicated myself to teaching, Advanced Placement English. Teaching writing proved an easy step into professional writing. Since 2014 I’ve published seven books of fiction as well as publishing the fiction and poetry of others.
MM:
Finns Way is your publishing enterprise. Could you explain the origination of Finns Way, the ins and outs of self-publishing, and what are the benefits and/or downsides to being your own publisher. What advice would you give to would-be writers who are thinking about going the route of self-publication.
TJ:
I publish my own work and the work of two other authors, one’s a poet. Using my own imprint allows my work to be read. Had I insisted on finding an agent or other publisher, my words would likely have been less widely distributed. A cursory glance on-line tells us that of five million titles published annually nearly four million are self-publications. The main difference will be that the self-published works sell fewer copies each (mainly because of lack of promotional funding) but in aggregate own 30-40% of the market. Traditional publishers are certainly better at promoting new titles than a new self-published author can ever hope to be. Self-publication, though, opens more door to a variety of voices.
MM:
Have you visited Finland? If so, what were your impressions of the country, its people, its history and geography? If not, any plans to do so in the future?
TJ:
I have spent time in Helsinki, Truro, and Kokkola. “Progressive” and proud, but not in an overweening or obnoxious way, is how I’d characterize Finland and the Finnish. Left to their own devices the Finns are ingenious and highly creative folk. Unfortunately, the history of the country and people is replete with interference (Swedish, Russian, and German) from outside. I most admire the Finnish dedication to excellence in education and support of the newborn citizens of their republic. I was able to participate in this last by sending a “baby box” to my son before the birth of my grandson. He’s an honorary Finn and 12%-er.
MM:
Your novel, Listener in the Snow, draws from Native American mysticism and religion. Do you have indigenous heritage? If not, what are the drawbacks to a non-Native utilizing Native American characters in a fictional work? If so, what from that heritage to you draw upon to formulate the plot and characters of the book?
TJ:
Any author works both within and outside of their zone of comfort. Far from gender or cultural appropriation, the active author must strive to characterize and authentically portray characters of another sex, age, culture, or set of interests. As long as same-gender authors and writers working within their cultural milieu are promoted, there is less danger in a majority imposing its understanding of gender and culture on others. Leave the judgment to quality and depth of the character and narrative.
MM:
What are you currently working on? Is there a snippet of your work-in-progress, maybe a short scene or exchange of dialogue, you’d be willing to share with our readers? When do you expect the work to be published? Where can the new book, and all your other books, be purchased by readers?
TJ: In the last few years, I took a turn at something very different: The Final Confession of Saint Augustine, an historical novel set in the north African 5th century. It is a scholarly work with dynamite plot and character twists. My challenge, beside historical accuracy, was to portray the characters both from the historical contemporaneous standpoint, that is to show Augustine, for instance, as a Catholic church father, a flesh and blood man, and as an interior character with the usual blindsides, fears, and weaknesses. That work has been warmly received.
Last year, while touring with The Final Confession of Saint Augustine, a classmate of mine from Cloquet High asked, “Tim, why haven’t you written a sequel to Listener in the Snow? We all wonder what happened to those people.” After thinking about it a day or two, I committed myself to give it a try. Within nine months, The Nothing That Is Not There was ready for publication. Lovers of Listener will be pleased.
MM:
Last question. What’s on your reading and signing calendar for the coming days? Any appearances back home in Minnesota?
TJ:
I appeared at Finn Fest 2023 in July. Coming up are events at Hakensack, MN, The Art and Book Festival, August 12, at North Country Booksellers in White Bear Lake, MN on August 19, Chapter 2 Books in Hudson, Wisconsin, August 26, a CHS class party, August 19, Ely’s Harvest Moon Festival, September 8-10, and events at The Coffee Landing, International Falls, the Thunderbird Lodge, Rainy Lake, MN, and Nelson’s Resort, Crane Lake, MN. I leave for California in September. Finn Fest 2024 is a likelihood.
