Jack Bartley

     I spent nearly five years on Oʻahu serving as a U.S. Navy officer in the 1970s, including a WestPac/Vietnam deployment aboard a Knox-class destroyer escort. After completing my naval service, I returned to the East Coast and earned a Ph.D. in ecology, followed by several years as a high school educator. I later became an associate professor at the University of Delaware. Now retired, I focus my time on writing and music.

     I wrote the monthly column “Educational Perspectives” for the Newark Post for ten years. My novels include the romantic comedy Public Ed – A Novel (2005), based on my public high school teaching experience; the adult Navy novel Smoke on the Water, published by Koehler Books in April 2025; and Hilo Dome, the first book in a Hawaiian young adult series released by Histria Books (Simon & Schuster) in May 2025. Additional works include the forthcoming titles The Seekers, The World Awakens, the children’s chapter book Dinsdale, and the completed adult novel Incoming about a missile attack threatening Oʻahu in 2018 while I was there with my students during a domestic study abroad program.

    I have released two CDs of Celtic folk music with my former band, So’s Your Mom, and recently completed a double CD of Americana music with my duo, Whiskey Creek. I am also an instructor for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute and a docent at the James Farm Ecological Preserve in Ocean View, Delaware, where I live with my wife, Susan, and Clementine the Cat.

Latest News:

Smoke on the Water was released on April 15th, 2025. It won a Silver Medal from the Military Writers Society of America.
Hilo Dome was released on May 27, 2025. It has received a 5-Star Award from Readers’ Favorites. The Seekers, Book II of the Hilo Dome series, is scheduled for release May 5, 2026, and has received a 5-Star Award from Readers’ Favorites. The World Awakens – Hilo Dome Book III is scheduled for a summer 2027 release.