Author’s Planet is Fun to Visit

Author Paul McComas returns to Third Avenue Playhouse as part of a 20-city national book tour for his newly published, coming-of-age novel, Planet of the Dates. McComas will enact scenes, share back stories and give selected readings from his second novel on Saturday, March 8 at 7:30 pm.

Planet of the Dates follows the exploits of Phil Corcoran, a girl-crazed Milwaukee teen stumbling toward adulthood in the summer of 1980. His twofold quest – to find sex and true love – in no particular order. Phil’s personal transition coincides with a cultural shift: from Carter to Reagan; from disco to punk; from the last gasp of the Age of Aquarius to the era of "Greed is good." As the story unfolds, Phil – himself very much a product of the ’70s – winds up ushering in the new decade in some apt and telling ways.

“I waited to write my coming-of-age novel until I was in my forties,” says McComas, “and I’m glad I did because of the objectivity it gave me. Waiting until I was older allowed me to see the humor and the ridiculousness of that in-between time in a way I couldn’t have done in my twenties.”

Currently an instructor at Northwestern University and National-Louis University in Illinois, McComas was born and raised in Milwaukee.

A book signing will follow the performance.

Tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for seniors and students. Tickets are on sale at the theater box office, 239 N. Third Avenue, Sturgeon Bay, 920.743.1760. Box office hours are 10 am – 3 pm, Monday through Friday and one hour prior to performances. Tickets are also available at the Dancing Bear, 13 N. Third Avenue and on-line at http://www.ThirdAvenuePlayhouse.com.