…author of the humorous memoir, There’s A Pony In That Car! …And Other Crazy Stories and award-winning author of The Florida Motel, a humorous coming-of-age story.     

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 several 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 businesses, Jay has collected an eclectic inventory of experiences that are the basis for his stories. In There’s A Pony In That Car!, Jay’s stories span the years between ages six and twelve, when everything was an adventure. He keeps the reader laughing at the pony riding in the back seat, the fiasco at the living Nativity, and other equally entertaining stories. 

 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. It’s a wonderful tale of one family’s night of fame in the living nativity.

The Florida Motel is a work of fiction, a hilarious coming-of-age story based on the actual motel Jay’s parents owned and operated. Keep in mind that any resemblance to actual persons or actual events is purely coincidental. His main character Helgi feels trapped while working for his parents in the Florida Motel in Gainesville. He desperately craves a normal life and attends the University of Florida, where scantily clad coeds, a raucous Halloween Ball and the hidden “Stacks” of the old stone library provide much-needed distractions. There he meets the girl of his dreams and bumbles his way through his first real love. For a truly fun read, pick up a copy of this book! 

The Florida Motel won Silver Medal in the 2020 Royal Palm Literary Awards and the 2022 President’s Book Awards Silver Medal for Humor from the Florida Authors & Publishers Association! Congratulations, Jay Gilbert!

Learn more about Jay Gilbert in his interview in Quill Tips.