Ben LeRoy lives in Madison, WI, but has friends and acquaintances in all 50 States and even a few international people he holds dear. There are few things he cares about more than meeting other people trying to make the world a better place and to better understand why we’re here and what we’re supposed to do about it.  

He was the founder and publisher of the critically acclaimed publishing companies Bleak House Books (2000-2009) and Tyrus Books (2009-2017) until the latter was sold to Simon & Schuster. He is also very sick of hearing himself mention these things because they are now far enough in the past that it feels embarrassing to continue to cite them as evidence of…he’s not exactly sure what. In addition to his time at Bleak House and Tyrus, he is the former executive director of the Independent Publishers Caucus and is currently a senior acquisitions editor at Crooked Lane Books.

Ben is also a co-founder of Collaborist–a business dedicated to helping people identify and tell the stories of their lives in an increasingly noisy public square. He believes in the importance of bearing witness to the struggle and triumph of others as they, too, navigate the space between the ditches. He, very much, believes in the power of art whether it be written, strummed, painted, photographed, invented, or elsewise.

In 2014, after the suicide death of a friend, Ben did volunteer work in all 50 states as part of the Be Local Everywhere project. He believes in helping where he can, when he can, but sometimes the world is too much. (You probably already knew that.)

Ben also experienced malignant melanoma and Mohs surgery and wrote about it here. Preemptively sending peace to anybody else dealing with it firsthand or in support of others.

He currently serves on the board of Common Wealth Development and Wrath-Bearing Tree. 

Get Up, Go Again,

Ben