Beverly Author Bob Allen Embraces Printers Row Lit Fest in its 40th Year This Saturday, Sunday 10 to 6p

Beverly attorney -- turned author -- Robert Allen likes to size things up before jumping right in.

Scope it out, so to speak, like undercover work.

A turn late in life from Robert Allen Law to writing books has resulted in three literary pieces under the byline Bob Allen.

So last year, Allen made the rounds at the Printers Row Lit Fest, did a podcast interview upon request, but, mostly solicited other authors' opinions on the festival and its impact on sales and networking.

Like a sleuth or “gumshoe on the case” in one of his own books, Allen got the answers he was looking for, though there were no murders, not even a crime to report.

Allen will participate in the 40th annual Printers Row Lit Fest, the free two-day event presented by the Near South Planning Board (NSPB) Saturday, Sept. 6, and Sunday, Sept. 7, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in Chicago’s Printers Row Historic District.

“The Backdoor to Heaven” author, who has been busy with book signings locally and on the road, is enjoying “a very proud moment” participating in his first Lit Fest, in which he will be located at tent booth #178.

Printers Row Lit Fest is the largest literary festival in the Midwest and one of longest running in the country. The complete program listing, including the time and day of each Pulitzer Prize winner’s appearance, along with details about the more than 70 literary programs featuring more than 200 authors and presenters, including children’s storytellers, poets, NY Times best-selling authors, and more than 150 book sellers and exhibitors can be found at website: PrintersRowLitFest.org

Allen's most recent work - “The Backdoor to Heaven” - will be on display and -- as much as the author relishes selling books -- meeting new people is the "real juice", especially people from his hometown of Chicago.

"I'm excited to be on the other end of the conversation this year, talking about my book but also hearing from others whose perspectives enlighten me and even lead to new characters - and I mean 'character' in every sense of the word," said Allen.

With a mind’s eye full of reflections from yesteryear, Allen carves out passages full of Chicago intrigue and chock full of images that make up the Windy City, where the best way to get the word out is still to tell a secret.

In “The Back Door to Heaven” the Hawk - and its frigid February winds - blow fiercely against the story’s protagonist as he does the devil’s work, going door to door to get the local alderman into what will be his final term, given the boss’ aged state and an uncertain election outcome in a racially charged ward with a shifting demographic.

The central character’s estranged son is pegged as “Public Enemy No. 1” when his troubled wife is slaughtered in her basement along with a sketchy, small-time drug dealer from the neighborhood.

A practicing attorney for more than three decades, Allen is realizing success in his long-time ambition to write fiction, with his love of Chicago as a backdrop. Allen’s own walk through life is integral to bringing readers along for the ride. Allen earned his writing chops penning short stories and comedy entries years ago.

From his childhood days in the St. Justin Martyr Parish in Englewood, bordering Little Flower Parish, to the halls and five flights of stairs at Leo Catholic High School on 79th Street, Allen invites readers to a world just over his shoulder and a now-so-distant past.

“I carried this thing (script) around for the past two decades in my briefcase, in the form of notes and outlines on yellow legal pads,” said Allen. “When I finally sat down and started writing, it just came out, especially the dialogue. I guess I’ve developed an ear for Chicagoese.”

Like many a Southsider, Allen grew up patching together jobs to contribute where he could in a Catholic family adjusting to a changing neighborhood. Heading into his adult life Allen remained nimble and resourceful as he headed toward law school by tending bar, making eyeglasses, loading airplanes, and performing as a stand-up comedian “among other things,” he says.

Reader response to his first book “Let It Be At That” spurred Allen to shape his current storyline. In his initial launch, two Southside, unruly Irish Catholic boys separated by 16 years, but from same parish, converge. The older of the two, Tommy Mallon returns in 1970 as a priest and finds answers for questions that he did not know he was asking. Meanwhile, 14-year-old Gary “Weezer” O’Donnell, experiences his own set of questions regarding life, religion and American Nazis skulking around Marquette Park. Their stories are weaved together in fateful ways neither can knowingly control.

Bob Allen is a long-time resident of Chicago’s Beverly community, where he and his wife Laura raised their two daughters, Lucy and Grace.

Printers Row visitors can find author Bob Allen underneath the shaded tent at booth #178. The Leo High School graduate will be proudly sporting Leo gear.

Printers Row Lit Fest is located on historic Printers Row (once the bookmaking hub of Chicago!), on and around the area of Dearborn Street, from Polk Street to the newly renamed Ida B. Wells Drive (formerly Congress Parkway) in Chicago. Metra Rock Island train lines are a short walking distance from the fest.

Admission is free. For more information, visit PrintersRowLitFest.org