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Photo by Richard Gwin

Author Kent Weatherby signs copies his book “The Frenchman Ate the Fresh Bread First” recently at Hastings Book Store at 23rd and Iowa streets in Lawrence.

Shawnee — At one time, Kent Weatherby was torn between becoming a man of letters or a man of law.

“I always had as much interest in literature, writing and reading, but the law was a nice way to make a living,” the Shawnee resident said. “I’m not sure you can make a living writing books unless you’re Dan Brown or Stephen King.”

But it turns out that 40 years in the legal profession provided plenty of fodder for Weatherby’s budding writing career, and now he has published his first book, “The Frenchman Ate the Fresh Bread First.”

Weatherby said his travels and experiences have helped form a strong basis for his writing.

“That’s one of the nice things about practicing law. … You travel all over the world, so you meet a lot of people in a lot of places and see a lot of things,” he said.

Weatherby served in the Army during the Vietnam War on a team investigating war crimes. He began his legal career with the Kansas Power and Light Company — now Westar Energy — working in Kansas City and Topeka while living in Tonganoxie. He also spent two years working for the U.S. Justice Department in the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. It was a time that would inspire his writing, especially “The Frenchman.”

“It was a fascinating time; lots of violence, lots of political intrigue, lots of allegations that half of us were involved in spying, which was untrue, but they wanted to believe it,” he said.

A Frenchman who sailed onto the island where Weatherby lived and then disappeared, his boat later found abandoned, was the inspiration for “The Frenchman.” The book is a fictionalized account of the incident, examining the story behind his disappearance.

Not long after largely retiring from law, Weatherby decided to revisit his love of literature by attending the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, a creative writing degree program.

“I began working there in the summers trying to develop the craft,” he said.

He worked on books based on two other cases from his time in Micronesia, rewriting the first one twice before turning to “The Frenchman.” When it was complete, he decided to try to get it published.

Weatherby got online to check into options for publishing, seeking companies that would take manuscripts from first-time authors. Not interested in self-publishing, he eschewed the so-called vanity publishers and eventually worked out a deal with Tate Publishing in Oklahoma City.

Now he has sent them his second book, which focuses on the biblical story of Lazarus, and will begin the editing process in November. He’s working on a third book, a murder-mystery set in the Kansas City area, with the working title “Death in the Rearview Mirror.”

He acknowledges the three books are completely different writing styles.

“I don’t know what genre I want to write in; I’m trying to find out,” he said.

But Weatherby notes he is largely inspired by author, playwright and literary critic Graham Greene.

“Just the breadth of material he produced, when you look at that … he didn’t tie himself down to always writing the same thing,” Weatherby said.

For now, he finds himself promoting “The Frenchman,” with a recent book signing at Hastings, 1900 W 23rd St., a planned signing Oct. 17 at the Oak Park Mall Barnes & Noble and a possible signing at Shawnee’s Borders Express. At the urging of his publisher, Weatherby is even writing a blog about his experiences as a new author.

“I don’t know that anyone reads it, but I write it,” he joked.