About William Yukikazu Fellenberg
“Can’t help falling in love with this coming-of-age tale beginning with the wily, smarty-pants, Japanese American, wannabe cowboy. Vibrantly written and worthy of a movie, Fellenberg shares deep insights into the world of adolescent boys with his laugh out loud, and yet, ramshackle reach toward adulthood. The transformation and survival of character kept me wishing for more. Sayonara Cowboy is one book you will not want to say goodbye to!”
—RAMONA JAN, executive director and founder, Yarnslingers; author, Meet the OOAKS, Bon Jovi, Runway Superstars
Born in Yokohama, Japan, Bill immigrated to America when he was four. He resided in New Jersey most of his life. After enjoying a career in marketing and communications, primarily in the arts and in higher education, Bill pursued his long-held dream to write full-time. Sayonara Cowboy is his memoir about his childhood in Post-War Japan and transition to life in the USA.
Bill frequently presents his work with Yarnslingers, the writers cooperative of memoirists in the Upper Delaware River Valley. He has also been featured at readings with the Hudson River Poets of Upstate New York. His poems and short stories have appeared in Clementine Unbound, The Tower Journal, The Narrowsburg Literary Gazette, and other literary magazines.
He retired as vice president of university advancement at New Jersey City University in 2014, where he headed a division responsible for fundraising, alumni relations, marketing and advertising, and public relations. Before joining NJCU, Bill was executive director of the International Institute of New Jersey, a service and advocacy organization for refugees and immigrants. His career in the arts and cultural institutions was highlighted by appointments as director of membership at the Museum of Modern Art; deputy director of The Montclair Art Museum; and director of communications at the American Society of Interior Designers. He has an MBA from Rutgers University and a BA in English from Montclair State College.
Bill lives in Pennsylvania—near a lake, deep in the woods—under the collective spell of his wife, Donna, a retired psychoanalyst, and his two tuxedo cats, Bella and Carmine. When he hears music in those woods, it comes from his son Miles, and daughter-in-law Alice, playing four hands on the piano—the music of Ravel and many other magicians.