Author Stephen Kenney sets novel in Spring Lake – Star News Group

SPRING LAKE — A local author has created the first book in a four-book series that touches on faith and perseverance and incorporates the history and important places of Spring Lake.

“My wife and I bought a home down here for the season,” said author Stephen Kenney. “When we became empty nesters in 2015, we moved here full-time…We got ourselves immersed into the community and looking at the settings, it was beautiful.”

Mr. Kenney started his career on Wall Street before deciding to follow his passion and become a teacher at St. Joseph Regional High School, where he taught CCD for 30 years and coached lacrosse. After retiring from teaching and moving to Spring Lake full-time, he fell in love with the charm of the town and decided to use it as a background for his novel “In the Beginning: The Knights of Spring Lake.” 

“It is a coming-of-age story,” said Mr. Kenney. “It is really like Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, with an overlay of Catholic and Christian virtue.”

The story is about two eighth-grade boys that run into the mysterious Father Eli who deems the boys knights. The pair then go on a hunt for a missing chalice. Throughout their journey, the boys confront their own weakness, temptations and insecurities. The book takes them through Spring Lake and mentions many locales from the Spring Lake Golf Club and the Community House to St. Catharine’s Church. 

“I had been drawn to the idea of encouraging, teaching and leading young boys, after having three sons and a daughter,” said Mr. Kenney. “I was an English major in college and I put it aside, but when I sat here in Spring Lake I was struck by the beauty of the place.” 

This is an excerpt of the print article. For more on this story, read The Coast Star—on newsstands Thursday or online in our e-Edition.