Author Ron Rindo will be coming to Illinois Wesleyan on April 14, 2026, to discuss his new novel, “Life, and Death, and Giants.” The book was published in Sept. 2025 and has amassed many positive reviews. Ahead of his discussion and book signing, Rindo sat down with The Argus to discuss his process of writing “Life, and Death, and Giants” and his future work.
Rindo began thinking about writing what would become “Life, and Death, and Giants” when he happened upon a website that introduced him to the “remarkable” life of Robert Wadlow. Wadlow was known as the “Alton Giant” and was eight feet and eleven inches tall. Rindo wrote a prologue to test out his idea to write a novel about a “fictional giant living in twenty-first-century America” but said he “wasn’t even sure it was possible for someone to become a giant anymore, given modern medical interventions.”
But inspiration struck again a few years after he wrote the prologue. Rindo said that his mind wandered back to the prologue he had written when he first read about Robert Wadlow as he was trout fishing and an Amish buggy passed by. He realized at that moment his idea for a novel could be plausible if his character were born into an Amish community, as they often do not have access to medical intervention.
“Life, and Death, and Giants” is centered around Gabriel, as a child and a young man, who, similarly to the “Alton Giant,” is much taller than the average person. He is orphaned and adopted by his grandparents, who are Amish.
Rindo was inspired by the work of Emily Dickinson when he wrote his novel. He said her poem “The Brain–is wider than the Sky–” is an “anthem” and “a song of infinite possibility.” Rindo said he is inspired by Henry David Thoreau’s “Walden” and Frederick Douglass’ “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.”
Rindo said that aspiring writers should “write the kind of stories you love to read” and “include your passions—whatever they are—in your work.” In “Life, and Death, and Giants,” he explores his own passions in his novel by including the poetry of Emily Dickinson, trout fishing, football and nature.
Rindo offered a glimpse into what he is currently working on, a novel that he said is inspired by “our current, dystopian moment.” He said “the main character is an epileptic Catholic priest who gets high regularly, plays shredding guitar solos during Mass between verses of ‘Immaculate Mary,’ and follows what he believes to be the example of the historical Jesus.”
Rindo said he wants his novel to engage and entertain readers but also wants his story to have the power to emotionally touch readers. He said, “I hope ‘Giants’ also provides—among other things–a model of community we can strive for, a place where freedom means freedom for everyone, regardless of physical, social, or cultural differences.”
