Award-winning Author Jay Gilbert was raised on a farm in Duluth, MN. One of five boys, his father kept them out of trouble (mostly) with a host of daily chores caring for horses, cows, chickens and ducks. If it mooed, clucked or quacked, they had it. His parents owned and operated small family businesses ranging from a ship chandlery to a vacuum shop, a stereo store, and a motel. The family businesses took them from Minnesota to Illinois and finally Florida. Between farm life and family business, he has collected an eclectic inventory of experiences that are the basis for his stories in There’s a Pony in that Car.

Jay’s short-story “St. Paul’s Living Nativity” is featured in the anthology Stories Through The Ages: Baby Boomers Plus 2019. Nothing grabs your attention like a living nativity scene on a cold Christmas evening. A wonderful tale of one family’s night of fame in the living nativity.

Jay’s most recent book, a hilarious coming-of-age story based on life at The Florida Motel, a business his parents owned and operated in Gainesville, FL, home of the Gators, has earned the 2020 Royal Palm Literary Awards Silver Medal and the 2022 President’s Book Awards Silver Medal for Humor from the Florida Authors & Publishers Association (FAPA). Congratulations, Jay!