Author
A literary reading and Vine Street Brewing beer release event highlighting St. Louis boxer Henry Armstrong
Continue reading “Gloves and Glory: The Life of Triple Crown Champion Henry Armstrong and the Mystery of Henry Armstrong Beer”
Order the latest issue #16 of The New Territory or better yet, sign up for a subscription! This issue contains my Literary Landscapes essay about Miriam Davis Colt and the Vegetarian Settlement Company. The failed settlement of Octagon City once existed in Allen County, Kansas. Based on Colt’s travels and my own immigrant mother’s journey, I reflected on what we choose to carry and what to leave behind.
Continue reading “Now Available: The New Territory, Issue 16”
Summer book research in the Ozarks and Springfield invested life into the long quiet hours of writing a book once I returned home. Don’t get me wrong. I love being a research nerd, poking my nose into city records, biographical accounts, and newspaper articles more than a century old. Diving into the past shifts my perspective when I consider the present. Then and now, I observe how human nature resurrects its best aspirations and worst impulses.
Continue reading “Summer Book Research in the Ozarks and Springfield”
One chapter in my work-in-progress, Barons, Brewers, and Bootleggers: A Social History of Beer in Missouri (Fall 2025), briefly recounts the history of The Big Rip Brewing Company. Opened in May 2013, The Big Rip was the first of the modern wave of craft breweries that opened in Kansas City in the early 2010s. The chapter also introduces head brewer Bri Burrows, the only owner of The Big Rip who is queer.
Continue reading “The Big Rip Brewing Company, United and Welcomed”
Wrangling creative intent: How does preparation not get in the way of inspiration, instinct, and improvisation?
Talented and versatile musician Marco Pascolini observed how he and I have been working as creatives for quite some time. We only had a few minutes to chat between sips of beer. This afternoon Marco sat in and played steel guitar with the band Gullywasher at Stockyards Brewing’s Sunday Service. We spoke about the nature of producing and performing creative work so it feels fresh and inspired.
Continue reading “Catching the Spirit, Wrangling Intent”