Author of North End Boy
Born and raised in the North End of Elizabeth, New Jersey, Kevin P. Brady personally experienced the demise of the city’s factories, the birth of new transportation routes, and the devastating impacts both had on the lives and livelihoods of those who lived in this neighborhood during the 1970s. In his debut novel, North End Boy, Kevin tells the story of seven friends in their early 20s coming of age over the course of two days in the summer of 1978 in the wake of a tragic accident. The memoir is a reflection on urban America as seen through the eyes of a young man with immigrant sensibilities and working-class roots. Kevin not only poignantly unfolds the evolution of a group of friends from advanced adolescence to adulthood, he engagingly interweaves references to the rich, deep history of his hometown and how transformational events and an underground culture impacted its residents.
Kevin is the son of Irish immigrants. His parents, Patrick and Bridget, were raised on subsistence farms in Ireland without electricity or running water. They immigrated to the United States after World War II and started their lives as Americans in the North End of Elizabeth. Patrick found work in the factories of northern New Jersey. He and his wife raised three children, putting all of them through college, with their son Kevin pursuing a career in the technology space.
Kevin never ventured too far from Elizabeth. He has always lived within five miles of his birthplace and his wife of 40 years, Maureen, has always lived within ten miles of her birthplace in nearby Newark, New Jersey. Both grew up across the street from housing projects in Newark. Throughout the years, Kevin and Maureen have seen plenty of changes to their hometowns – good and bad – which are the subject of North End Boy.
After a career in technology start-ups, Kevin retired in 2019, and wrote North End Boy. He and his wife have been blessed with two daughters and six grandchildren. Kevin now spends most of his time writing and watching his grandchildren grow – a different kind of start-up.
