Oftentimes, life gets in the way of things you’re passionate about because they seem unrealistic or unsensible. With that said, to be able to carry aspirations through life even when it gets difficult takes guts, and that is exactly what social studies teacher Kevin Minor has done.
Minor said he has loved comic books and drawing ever since he was a kid, and has always wanted to pursue making comic books. As he finished college, he was finally able to focus on his writing to make his dreams come true.
“I co-wrote the Viking comic book [“No Rest for the Wicked”] with my brother Matt and my brother Jake drew it,” Minor said. “It didn’t go anywhere. We kind of reracked and we tried something else.”
At the start of his writing career, he had to adapt to facing constant criticism and being shut down time and time again, but Minor said he persevered.
“I would meet with publishers, and they’d (say), ‘Yeah, no, thanks.’”Minor said. “Eventually, one took a shot on us, and that was the first one that I got published in.”
Although Minor has put a lot of time and commitment into his success as a writer, according to his student Andia Nazarko ’26, he keeps himself humble in the classroom.
“I didn’t know Mr. Minor was a writer at all,” Nazarko said. “He never really talked about writing or the topic at any time during his classes.”
Part of the reason for his students knowing little to none about his writing could be that Minor said he tries hard to schedule his work for outside of the school year, and works diligently in that time to get his writing done.
“(Writing) is kind of my summer side gig,” Minor said. “I line up projects to do when we’re off, so that’s when I do by far like the bulk of my stuff.”
Despite him not directly telling his students about his writing, they can still see aspects of his personality through his teaching that could translate into important qualities of an author. Brooklynn Marchetti ’26 said she found him and the way he structured his lessons entertaining.
“I think he was really opinionated but funny at the same time,” Marchetti said. “Which seems like he could write an interesting book that you wouldn’t get bored reading.”
Marchetti also said that Minor has a way with words and story telling to keep his students engaged, the same way an author intrigues their readers.
“He was able to continue a conversation really well and bring people into the discussion instead of just saying things,” Marchetti said.
With balancing a rigorous schedule of teaching and writing, Minor said he still manages to have fun with his writing, producing content that he takes pride in and feels inspired to write.
“We really just tried to make stuff that we thought would be cool, like what we want to do or what we would want to share with our kids,” Minor said.
