Kenneth Atchity

Kenneth John Atchity aka "Kenneth Atchity" or "Ken Atchity" (1944– ) is an American producer and author, who has worked in the world of letters as a literary manager, editor, speaker, writing and career coach, columnist, book reviewer, brand consultant, and professor of comparative literature. At home among the many worlds of communications and storytelling, he was labeled a "story merchant" by a visiting ambassador to the United States. "I believe in the power of stories to change the world," he said in a keynote talk at a Houston writers conference, "and I've been privileged to spend a lifetime helping storytellers get their stories to the widest audiences in book, brand, and film."

He and his companies, The Story Merchant, Atchity Entertainment International, Inc. The Writers Lifeline, Inc., and The Louisiana Wave Studio, LLC, in Shreveport, Louisiana produce films and develop books for publication; and books, screenplays, and films for television and cinema, and consult with writers about their career strategies and tactics.

Atchity was born January 16, 1944 in Eunice, Louisiana, son of Fred J. and Myrza (née Aguillard) Atchity; he grew up between Louisiana and Kansas City, Missouri. He has two children, Rosemary and Vincent.

His son, Vincent Atchity, graduated from Georgetown College and his daughter, Rosemary Atchity, from Columbia University. Both Rosemary and Vincent have two children, Meggie and Teddy; and Vincent, Oliver and Eliot John.

Atchity is married to documentary filmmaker and NHK producer Kayoko Mitsumatsu, founder of yogagivesback.org for which he serves on the board of directors. He resides in Los Angeles, California, and New York City.

After receiving a Jesuit education from Rockhurst High School and Georgetown University, where he studied Greek and Latin, Atchity received his Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Yale. His dissertation, Homer's Iliad: The Shield of Memory, was awarded the John Addison Porter Prize. He went on to become a professor of literature and classics at Occidental College, where he served as the chairman of the comparative literature department, and as Fulbright Professor to the University of Bologna.

In 1976, Atchity founded L/A House, Inc., a consulting, translation, book, television, and film development and production company whose clients included the Getty Museum and the US Postal Service. L/A House began by extending Atchity's teaching of creative writing to doing manuscript consultation and soon moved on to publishing with the production of Follies, a magazine covering creativity, of which he was the editor. In the 1980s L/A House moved into television, with a syndicated television pilot of "BreakThrough!" of which Atchity was executive producer and co-author.

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