Mike Miller has been a surfer, janitor, tennis bum, shoe salesman, bellhop, and newspaper journalist. He writes short stories, poems, and songs, and he’s penned a book about the local rock band Hootie & The Blowfish. He is the author of a collection of short stories titled, Lonesome Pines—Living and Dying in a Little Town, and almost eerily resembles Mickey Watson of the famed musical group The Cedar Creek Boys. But that’s not surprising. Mike knows his way around rock ‘n’ roll and the literature from which it sometimes emanates. He once bumped into John Prine in a bar in Galway, Ireland; ran into Tom waits at the airport in San Diego; and asked Pat Conroy for writing tips one morning after breakfast at the old Martin’s Restaurant on Devine Street. Despite these close encounters, MIke says, “very little real talent has rubbed off.” Yet Miller continues to trudge along, stringing words together in various forms of prose, banging away at the same old guitar chords, and trying to make just a little sense of the wacky world around him. Jasper is pleased to have Mike ply his trade for our little arts magazine. In addition to writing feature stories and tending to whatever tidbits of arts news that catch his eye, Mike will be crafting his own column in each issue of the magazine. Jasper likes Mike.

 mmiller@jaspercolumbia.com