Love Maine Radio #334: Joseph K. Loughlin and Kate Clark Flora + Nancy Thompson

Joseph K. Loughlin and Kate Clark Flora, co-authors of “Shots Fired”

Joseph K. Loughlin is the former assistant chief of police for the City of Portland. He served as the interim chief in 2008 and retired from service in January, 2010 after 30 years of police work. He has served in every sworn rank within the Portland Police Department. He is one of the original founders of the police peer support team and employee assistance network.  He also served as the commander of the Special Reaction Team and was a team member for over 20 years. He was a spokesperson for the department as the Detective Lieutenant in charge of the Criminal Investigation Division. He is the author of Finding Amy, a nonfiction account of the Amy St. Laurent homicide investigation in 2001, and Shots Fired, released in October 2017.He has authored editorials and magazine articles on the realities of police work. He currently consults for 3SI International Security Systems and functions as a regional coordinator of police trainings and special projects. He is also an entrepreneur and the creator of Loughlin’s Irish Steak Sauce. He currently resides in South Portland and continues to write and teach.

Kate Clark Flora worked in the Maine attorney general’s office for several years. After some years in private practice, she decided to give writing a serious try. Eighteen of her books have been published. She is a founding member of the New England Crime Bake, the region’s annual mystery conference, and the Maine Crime Wave. With two other crime writers, she started Level Best Books, where she worked as an editor and publisher for seven years. She served a term as international president of Sisters in Crime, an organization founded to promote awareness of women writers’ contributions to the mystery field. Currently she teaches writing and does manuscript critiques for GrubStreet in Boston.

Nancy Thompson

Nancy Thompson is an insurance agent who lives in Cape Elizabeth. She has been married to Tim Thompson for 36 years. In 2004, she lost her middle child, Timmy, to suicide at the age of 18. Timmy took his life as a result of depression. Since that time, both Nancy and Tim have spoken publicly about their loss in the hopes of saving lives. They urge those with emerging mental health issues to not take no for an answer and to push harder for services. They also urge people to not be afraid to speak about their illness so they may be able to have others help them. Nancy has also been an active member of the Junior League of Portland for 21 years and served as president in 2004. She also served for seven years on board of the Center for Grieving Children board and served as president of the board in 2012-2013.