Biography of featured author
Gary Ludwig
as seen on amazon.com
info@hodgepodgeusa.com

      Writer/novelist Gary Ludwig was born May 24, 1944 in Pennsylvania, USA  into a family active in country music and motorsports. His mother was a country music singer, his father a steel guitarist, while other family members were competitors in championship automobile racing. In high school, because of his prominent voice and natural editing skills, he was selected to announce the school's daily morning activities on the state of the art public address system.
     After high school he left home to work on the county and state fair circuit meeting and working with carnies, roustabouts, clowns, and many other famous and not so famous entertainers and other type of workers. He befriended the aged and legendary strongman "The Mighty Atom", who taught him magic, feats of strength tricks and gave him lessons and advice about life in show business.
      Later during his military service he was assigned by the Army to activate and program a cable radio station that had been dormant for quite some time. With an Army civilian engineer occasionally and sporadically offering technical aide, he self- taught himself to operate a radio station and was hired to write, produce, and anchor syndicated sports segments that aired on affiliated radio station's news programs from northern Pennsylvania to New Jersey and Delaware. Also during this time he worked as a columnist for the weekly nationally circulated auto-racing tabloid Illustrated Speedway News based in New York. He then founded a small regional magazine serving central Pennsylvania featuring commentary and lifestyle articles.
      He wrote a series of magazine articles about a famous 19th century Pennsylvania murder. Six men conspired to insure and then murder an old mountain man. When it was noticed at their trial that all six defendants had blue eyes, they became known as The Blue Eyed Six.  Later the magazine articles were combined and published in booklet form that continues to be on sale. Ludwig also appears in the Kreider Brothers produced documentary film about the crime. 
     He has worked as an on-air disk jockey, and has produced sporting and entertainment events while working with nationally and internationally known personalities as well with numerous local and regional entertainers.   
     He has held sales management and media relations executive positions in a variety of entertainment and business venues and has marketed print and broadcast advertising.
     He has also performed on stage and in concerts, working as an emcee and has on occasion portrayed a costumed Pennsylvania Dutch comedy character on stage.
     He has written several books among them his gritty crime and romance novel Mexico Road published in 2006, followed by his fantasy novel The Angels and Demons of Hamlin in 2008. His best selling biography of an Indianapolis 500 auto-racing legend was published in 2009. Other work includes the true-life crime book, The Death of Dr. Gilmore's Wife published in 2012. He continues to write fiction and non-fiction.
     He is married (40 years) to the former Beth Miller of Lebanon, PA, and the father of daughter Christine M. Martin, a daughter Marcia A. (deceased) and son John Kevin (deceased) and two grandchildren Elijah Martin and Sadie Martin. He is a present or past member of the American Legion, the National Writers Union (AFL-CIO), the Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War, the Hershey (PA) Italian Lodge, and the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia.

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