Deborah Brannigan

I was born in Glasgow, Scotland but grew up in a suburb of Detroit, Mi. where my love of writing began after winning a state competition at the age of 12.  A tumultuous life, however, demanded that I focus my energies elsewhere when I quit high school at age 16.  Thus began an unusual and circuitous route to a highly successful career as a design engineer in the automotive and aerospace industries for over 38 years.
 

The journey from high school drop-out to aerospace designer was not a solitary trek, and in 2019 I set an intention to say thank you to all the people who had helped me along my life’s many mile markers. The attorney portrayed in Squirrel Pie, John Burtch, was one of those people.  He was instrumental in helping me find my kidnapped daughter, but I had never thanked him for his generosity or told him how he had positively affected the direction of my life with his encouragement all those years ago.
 

I tracked him down and we reconnected after 30 years. He had never forgotten my case and encouraged me to  write a book about my experience .  A year later I got serious about it and started writing. Squirrel Pie was born from my year of gratitude, and once again, I owe my thanks to John Burtch.

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I produced a successful film competition that spotlighted small businesses making a difference in the community, earning a regional Emmy award in the process.  This project was an homage to the small business in Detroit that gave me a break when I desperately needed it so many years ago.

An avid mountaineer and traveler, I have summited numerous northwest peaks, lived and worked across North America and in Germany, and traveled in Central and South America, New Zealand, and throughout Europe.

 

The years described within the pages of Squirrel Pie are bleak and there were times I did not want to continue with my life.  If anybody had told me then that it was possible to have the beautiful life that I now live, I would not have believed it.  The chasm would have seemed to vast to comprehend it. 

 

It is my greatest wish that Squirrel Pie will give hope to the hopeless and strength to the underdog. 

I believe in you.
 

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