About Stona Fitch

Now • Praised by critics and readers, Stona Fitch’s novels are published widely throughout the world and have inspired other works, from graphic novels to films. The New York Times choose his latest novel, Death Watch (2023, Arrow Editions) as its top Summer Reading thriller. His crime novel, Dark Horse (2016, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), is the second novel in his Boston-based crime series – published under the pen name Rory Flynn. "Rory Flynn is a welcome addition to the Boston crime scene," says Dennis Lehane. The first novel in the series, Third Rail, has been optioned for television.

Give + Take (2011) crosses genres with a noir-inflected, hilarious road tale, that is well on its way to becoming a feature film. Printer’s Devil (2009) updates A Clockwork Orange to create a post-apocalyptic parable. Critics cite Senseless (2001) as a prescient novel that anticipated violent anti-globalization protests, online hostages, and use of fear as a political tool. It is often described as one of the most disturbing novels ever written. Senseless is now an independent feature film, a graphic novel, and a cult classic.

In 2008, Stona founded the Concord Free Press, a revolutionary publishing house that publishes and distributes original novels throughout the world, asking only that readers make a voluntary donation to a charity or person in need. The novels, short story collections, photo books, and essays published by the CFP have inspired more than $5.5 million in generosity.

Stona lives with his family in Concord, Massachusetts, where he is also a committed community activist. He and his family work with Gaining Ground, a non-profit farm.

Then• Born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1961, Stona Fitch grew up in the midwest and south. While an undergraduate at Princeton, he received the Creative Writing Program's Lannan Award for Fiction. He also served as chairman of The Daily Princetonian, and wrote for The Anchorage Daily News.

After graduation, Stona reported briefly for The Miami Herald before moving to Boston and joining its burgeoning underground music scene. In 1984, he joined the seminal Boston-based pop group Scruffy The Cat, playing electric banjo, mandolin, accordion, and organ—as well as writing songs. He recorded two albums—High-Octane Revival (a NY Times top release of 1986) and the highly regarded (and rare) Tiny Days—before leaving the band in 1987. During this time, he worked as a dishwasher and cook at the Hoodoo Barbeque, a notorious punk-rock hangout/crime scene in Kenmore Square. Sony Music has reissued all of Scruffy the Cat's music, while Omnivore records has released The Good Goodbye: Unreleased Recordings 1984-1990. 

On July 25, 2015, Scruffy the Cat played the last set ever at T.T. the Bear's, the legendary Cambridge, Mass nightclub. And in 2023, former Harvard film students unearthed Take Me Away, a brief Scruffy the Cat rockumentary.