Meet Don Iannone of Ohio

Today we’d like to introduce you to Don Iannone.

Hi Don, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I grew up in eastern Ohio in the 1950s and 1960s, in a working-class family and a region shaped by steel, coal, immigration, and close-knit communities. That background gave me an enduring interest in people, places, and how communities change. After high school, I planned to study to become a Nazarene preacher. Instead, I hopped on a Greyhound bus in Wheeling and two and a half days later got off in Tucson, Arizona, where I studied at the University of Arizona. I was on my way to becoming an anthropologist. Instead, I moved to Cleveland, where I have lived ever since.

I spent more than thirty years working in economic development and public policy. I managed four economic development organizations, directed two university policy research centers, and through my own strategy and research consulting company, I advised communities and organizations in thirty-two states and internationally. After leaving Case Western Reserve University in 1976, I stumbled into economic development through an internship that became a full-time job.

The idea of helping bring broad-based prosperity to society drew me to economic development. Early in the field, I discovered that economic development organizations worked hardest to advance the interests of those with the greatest wealth and power. Deal-making and boosterism have undermined broad-based prosperity. My fourteen years at Cleveland State University as a strategist and policy researcher gave me the opportunity to shape state and local policies that favored the whole over its most privileged parts. I left Cleveland State in 2000. Honestly, the economic development field hasn’t changed much since then in terms of whose interests get advanced most. Without going into detail, the recent Browns’ decision to leave downtown Cleveland and move to a suburban high-tech dome stadium with an enormous public subsidy is a perfect example of what economic development should not do!

Writing was always part of my life, but after retiring from consulting, I gave it my full attention. Writing makes me feel free. Since then, I have published nonfiction, fiction, poetry, essays, and creative nonfiction. Much of my work explores memory, landscape, belonging, spirituality, humor, and the moral complexity of ordinary life. I believe moral complexity matters most. Today’s world of extremes flattens life’s true complexity. Despite the human desire for simplicity and certainty, uncertainty is reality’s true nature.

Since 2020, I have taught systems theory and the philosophy of business at Transcontinental University in Malta. All of my students are in Africa and the Middle East. My students bring anthropology back into my life. Today, I teach, write, and remain deeply involved in civic, literary, and cultural work. In many ways, my career has been one continuous journey: trying to understand how people and places become what they are, and finding the right language to tell their stories.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been a smooth road. As I said earlier, life is complex and uncertain. My career unfolded through several reinventions, and each required me to leave something familiar before I knew exactly what would come next. Building a consulting practice brought financial uncertainty, long hours, and the pressure of constantly proving the value of my work. It was also a wellspring of creativity and curiosity. I grew enormously from my consulting practice’s hills and valleys.

The transition to writing presented a different kind of struggle. Writing demands patience, humility, and a willingness to face rejection repeatedly. Success rarely arrives in a straight line, especially later in life. On average, only two or three out of ten pieces I submit for publication get accepted. Sometimes the piece simply wasn’t good enough, and sometimes I sent it to the wrong journal or magazine. The overarching reality is that the most respected publications accept only one to three percent of the submissions they receive.

There have also been personal losses, disappointments, and periods of doubt. But those experiences deepened my understanding of people and gave me much of the material, empathy, and perspective I now bring to my work.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Since 2017, I have worked as a writer, poet, and teacher. My work spans poetry, fiction, essays, creative nonfiction, and civic commentary.

I am the author of seven nonfiction books, two works of fiction, and twelve poetry collections. My writing has appeared or is forthcoming in publications including Ploughshares, New Ohio Review, Southern Poetry Review, Chicago Story Press Literary Journal, Painted Bride Quarterly, 3Elements Review, Emerging Civil War, The Cleveland Plain Dealer, Northern Appalachian Review, and GRIFFEL Literary Journal. I have also received first-place awards from the Ohio Poetry Association and various publications.

I feel very good about my forthcoming book, How Can We Live in a Changing World? Ten Questions for Thinking Clearly, Choosing Wisely, and Staying Human. It is my shortest book and perhaps my best. Rather than rules, the book offers ten questions to guide our daily lives. What deserves our attention? How do we know what is true? How do we see beyond labels? And more. An image of the book cover is found below. Shortly, the book will be available on Amazon and in other online bookstores.

What I am most proud of is building a serious writing life later in life. That background sets me apart. I bring a practitioner’s understanding of communities, institutions, economics, and human behavior to literary work that is also personal, reflective, and imaginative. I try to write with both a clear eye and an open heart.

So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
What matters most to me is living with purpose, remaining curious, and being fully present to the people I love. At this stage of life, I understand more clearly that achievement matters less than meaning.

Writing is part of that meaning. It allows me to preserve memory, explore difficult questions, and make something lasting from ordinary experience. I also care deeply about kindness, integrity, and helping others see their own lives and communities more clearly.

In the end, what matters is not simply what we accomplish, but how deeply we pay attention, how generously we live, and what we leave behind in the lives of others.

Pricing:

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Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.wisdomworkpress.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iannonedon/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/donaldiannone
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doniannone/
• Twitter: https://x.com/doniannone