Alexander, Kelly and Cynthia Harris  (District 4, Randolph)
Hometown Appetites; the Story of Clementine Paddleford, the Forgotten Food Writer Who Chronicled How America Ate.  NY: Gotham Books, 2008, xx1x, 318 pp., illus., hardcover, $27.50.
Clementine Haskin Paddleford (1898-1967) grew up to become one of the best culinary figures of her time. But the story of Paddleford's life nearly disappeared after her death until her papers were collected in New York and brought to Kansas State University's archives. They languished there in forgotten storage until discovered, organized and cataloged by the joint authors, who brought this forgotten native Kansan's great American food revolution to life. "At the height of her career, Clementine Paddleford was as popular as Julia Child and as respected as James Beard. Today, she's the most important food writer you've never heard of!" The State Library of Kansas chronicled Hometown Appetites as a Kansas Notable Book in 2009. Equal parts biography and cookbook, this book has been called "an enjoyable read" by Publishers Weekly and "rich, flavorable and spirited like its subject and the cuisine Paddleford chronicled." (Reviewed by quotation from blurb by D.S. Pady, July 2010)

Allain, Virginia Martin, compiler. (Non-member)
Clyde Owen Martin; Family Memories of His Life and Times. www. Blurb.com, 2009, 119 pp., illus., oblong hardbound.
Clyde Martin grew up in Greenwood County, Kansas, in the 1930s. A hard-working man, he started out farming like his father, but switched to oil field work to support his growing family. Roughneck, Driller, and Tool-pusher were some of his job titles during years in the El Dorado oil fields of south central Kansas. After retirement he had time for fishing, gardening, selling produce at the farmer's market, and many other activities. Clyde's wife, Gail Lee Martin, (District 5, El Dorado) researched and wrote most of the family history and profiles in an earlier book, My Flint Hills Childhood; Growing Up in 1930s Kansas. She presently serves as the assistant webmaster for Our Echo website. For ten years she was the State Archivist for the Kansas Authors Club. (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, October 2010)

Allen, Ralph H. (District 5, Wichita)
Flight of a Wandering Sparrow. Revised edition. Wichita, KS: New Creation Books, 1987.
In this revised edition of his first book, published in 1977, Ralph Allen tells of his experiences as a volunteer layman before becoming the first full-time chaplain at the county jail. He worked with offenders on the street and in Kansas jails. The prisoners' stories are true and give the reader a glimpse of what imprisonment can inflict on an already troubled soul. (Reviewed by Gail Martin, 2/2003)

Allen, Ralph H. (District 5, Wichita)
From the Sparrow's Nest; a Collection of Short Fiction and Poetry. Wichita, KS: New Creation Books, 2008, 270 pp., Paper-bound, $17.00
Ralph Allen, accountant, chaplain and acclaimed author, injects his life experiences as a sailor, corporate vice-president, twenty years as a jail and prison chaplain, and as a poet and prose writer. In this book, he "made attempts to share the intensity of a long mission to society's outcasts." He experienced "the lonely, impoverished, confidence-shattering life of the Great Depression's children in America." The author had a remarkable religious experience followed by nearly twenty years served as a full-time chaplain in a large detention facility. His fiction and poetry invite us to meet reasonable facsimiles of characters he came to know. (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, July 2011)

Allen, Ralph H. (District 5, Wichita)
The Heart of Matthew Jade, edited by Laurel Shunk (District 5). Wichita, KS: St. Kitts Press, 2001.
Ralph Allen's book is a mystery novel focused in the fictional Coffin County Jail and surrounding area. Juju the Crip, Lucy the addict, and Crazy Eddy Kelly inhabit this strange world where strong passions go unchecked. When three inmates of the jail suddenly die, everyone wonders who will be next. A thriller like no other I have read; "it grabs readers from the very beginning and never lets them go," writes Josh Primm, managing editor of The Lantern, Butler County Community College, 1 March 2001. Ralph Allen received the St. Kitts Award for published writings during the year from June 1, 2000 to May 31, 2001, at the Kansas Authors Club Convention in October 2001. (Reviewed by Gail Martin, 2/2003)

Allen, Ralph H. (District 5, Wichita)
Inherit the Kingdom. Wichita, KS: New Creation Books, 2010, 200 pp., Paperbound.
This enlightening book is the third non-fiction account of the author's twenty years of ministry in jails and prisons, then official Chaplain and CEO of Christian Ministries to Offenders, Inc., at the Sedgwick County Adult Detention Facility in Wichita. As Dr. Roger L. Fredrikson, (Pastor of First Baptist Church in Wichita (1975-1987) said of Allen: "... this man who had dedicated himself to ministry among the men who filled that jail ... [showed] there was steel and toughness beneath his gentle exterior, and a quality of faithfulness and compassion that is sadly lacking in much that passes for Christian service." Ralph Allen urges "any man or woman reading this book ... to come inherit the Kingdom. How? It is revealed to us in Matthew 25: 31-40 (RSV), 'And the King will answer them, Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these, my brethren, you did it to me.' " (Reviewed by Don Pady, July 2011)

Allen, Ralph H. (District 5, Wichita)
Sparrow's Song. Wichita, KS: New Creation Books, 1982.
The author's own story as he works through struggles of faith as a chaplain helping the inmates in the Sedgwick County Jail and how God interacts in it all. In the prison men began to share stories with this man whom some called "the Sparrow." This book transports the reader to life behind prison bars, a life that most of us can scarcely imagine. (Reviewed by Gail Martin, 2/2003)

Allen, Ralph H. (District 5, Wichita)
Tattoo; a Collection of Short Fiction & Poetry. Wichita, KS: New Creation, 2010, 172 pp., Paperbound.
A rousing collection of stories and poems, alike, is the author's personal Tattoo— meaning it is last book. His writing days are over, he announces, "but my love of reading the creative works others will continue." The last stanza of his last poem, appropriately entitled "Tattoo," concludes, "In my soul I hear the bugle's clear command: / 'Ten minutes, then lights out,' is the order to the crew. / 'Go below now, your watch is over,' the call demands. / As the sea grows calm, and darkness falls, I hear Tattoo." (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, August 2011)

Amirault, Mary Jo Cowan (District 1, Topeka)
The Unshrinkable Violet Cowan and the Unshakable Mary Jo. (n.p.) 2006, 176pp., paper, $20.00.
Hard times, economic downturns and discrimination laws would normally "shrink" the best of us, but the ironic events in this autobiographical account will bring nostalgic memories. We are all "home-town folks," and the author uses some of James Joyce's "stream of consciousness" techniques and William Faulkner's "scattered thought" theories to show what happens when we lose hope. (Reviewed by DSP, Nov 2006)

Anderson, Carol Ann Lindgren. (District 1, Lawrence)
Images from a Small Town; Growing Up in Kansas. Lawrence, KS: Hill Song Press, 2007, 100pp., paper, illus., $12.95.
Published in the year of Carol's passing, this autobiography recounts memories of schools, churches, homes, farms, pets, and most of all, people. This gripping story reveals small-town adventures and big-time events. It portrays delightful portraits of bygone times in Kansas. It will delight you to take this journey with the author as she recreates what life was like, back then. (Reviewed by Don S. Pady, Feb 2008)

Anderson, Errol Wayne (District 1, Topeka)
Vivid Hues; Black, White and Sanguinary. Topeka, KS: Golden City Publishing, 2010, 266 pp., Paperbound, $16.95.
"A sadistic, Middle Eastern religious cult has entered America determined to convert its black citizens to their way of believing. As millions convert to the Nicolaian religion, it creates an unbelievable difficulty for law enforcement and citizens alike to distinguish between loyal Americans and homeland terrorists. Dr. William Bennett, a black minister, takes on a personal fight against these foreign interlopers while Rhett McDonough and Butch Gordon, a team of detectives, McDonough white and Gordon Black, work from the law's perspectives to discover who these Nicolaians are which have infiltrated the southern Unites States. The U.S.A., a nation which prides itself for being culturally diversified, is forced to take drastic measures in order to appease this malicious cancer within. What is the Achilles Heel of those foreign devils who have so hamstrung the United States?" (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, July 2010)

Anderson, Walter E. (District 5, Leon)
Scribbles at the Bottom of the Page, Book Two. Augusta, KS: Living Hope Press, 1995.
A collection of poetry, scriptures, meditations and humor. Graphics highlight some poems. My favorites were,"The Old front porch," "The Old cellar door," and "Song of the wren." They took me back to my childhood days. Anderson has published two other books. His first book, Must they walk alone? A caring ministry deals with disability. Scribbles at the bottom of the page, book one, was published in 1994. (Reviewed by Gail Martin, 2/2003)

Appelhanz, Fred C. (District 1, Holton)
Midnight Musings. (n.p.: Privately printed), 2007, 72 pp., paperbound.
These sixty-nine poems are fine examples of different verse systems—some examples are built up as blank verse to allow flexibility in transporting the poet's complex feelings; others have rhyming couplets which express a natural order to render a logical progression to the poet's conclusion. (Reviewed by DSP, December, 2008)

Appelhanz, F.C. (District 1, Holton)
Whispered Words. 2004, 64pp., paper.
This poetry describes soft sounds that touch the heart—searching, reaching for truth. Private moments and wishes display the power of love that withstands time. Hope for the future provides faith and the promise of unconditional joy. (Reviewed by DSP, Feb 2006)

August, Sandra. Pseudonym. (District 4, Concordia)
Chasing Alfie, (by Sandra Detrixhe) New York: Dorchester Publishing Co., 1999, 310 pp., Paperbound, $4.99.
The little girl sitting next to her on the train wasn't supposed to talk to strangers, and L.V. "Alfie" Foster knew better herself. But the handsome man across the car was eager to introduce himself, and the feisty reporter felt powerfully drawn to him. Brian Reed started talking about his job. He was a private eye, and he was going to Glitter Creek, Colorado, to investigate the same murders as she. Worse, even though is was 1872, the silly man still believed in ghosts! A human being had killed those miners, and L.V. had planned to get the scoop for The Denver Empire. But in this investigation she sensed something deeper than just a human-interest story. With a moonlit kiss and the help of the little girl from the train, L.V. pledged to unlock the secrets of a small-town—and the heart of a hero. (Reviewed by Don Pady, November 2008)

Austin, Cassandra. Pseudonym. (District 4, Concordia)
Heart and Home. (by Sandra Detrixhe) Toronto, Canada: Harlequin, 1999, 295 pp., paperbound, $4.99.
Jane Sparks had a business to run, and no citified with Wild West fantasies was going to distract her. Even one as warm and handsome as Dr. Adam Hart, the only man who ever tempted her into nightly dreams of love...! But Miss Sparks was aptly named. The busy brunette had certainly sparked Adam Hart's interest! He'd never known a woman as capable, caring and fresh-faced beautiful in his life. And, her happy mothering of a lonely little girl made her just what the doctor ordered. (Reviewed by Don Pady, December 2008)

Austin, Cassandra. Pseudonym. (District 4, Concordia)
The Unlikely Wife. (by Sandra Detrixhe) Toronto, Canada: Harlequin, 1999, 298 pp., paperbound, $4.99.
She'd grown up in frontier forts, so if she couldn't handle a harmless kiss with a soldier, who could? Rebecca Huntington blithely declared. But she hadn't planned on her heart being captured by the likes of officer Clark Forrester, a gentleman whose "casual" kisses were anything but! If Lieutenant Forrester wasn't careful, he would find himself marching down the aisle with Rebecca. And while a woman who could ride astride, beat him at chess and unnerve him just by deepening her dimples, was a fascinating pastime, wooing the boss's daughter and a court martial could go hand in hand. (Reviewed by Don Pady, November 2008)

Averill, Thomas Fox. (District 1, Topeka)
Secrets of the Tsil Cafe; a Novel With Recipes. NY: Bluehen Books, 2001, 304 pp., hardback, $23.95.
"Weston Hingle's crib was in the kitchen of BuenAppeTito, his mother's catering service. There he learned to read while tasting the pleasing flavors of his mother's culinary alphabet. But before he was allowed to enter the Tsil cafe, he would have to pass his father's taste tests. Anchovies. Habanero chiles. Chipotle peppers. Food to purge body and soul. Food his loving but sometimes volatile father uses as a measure of family, friends, and enemies.
   Trapped between kitchens, one traditional and the other New World, Weston quickly learns that he's also trapped by his wayward parents' secret and complicated histories, as well as by the cafe customers and employees who are all to privy to his growing up. Although Weston chooses his escapes intuitively, he discovers that it isn't easy to get away.
   In this layered and savory novel, food is the reflection of life's shifting flavors—the way this singular, multicultural family communicates their deepest needs and their greatest expressions of love. When Thomas Fox Averill serves us the family's feasts of reconcilation, complete with recipes, readers everywhere will want to raise a toast." (Reviewed by Don Pady, May 2009)

Averill, Thomas Fox. (District 1, Topeka)
The Slow Air of Ewan MacPherson; a Novel. New York: Bluehen Books, 2003, 261 pp., paperbound, $13.00.
An accomplished bagpiper, himself, author Averill crafts "a full-bodied novel of love, family friendship, self-discovery—and single-malt Scotch. Glasgow, Kansas is not the motherland for Scotsman Rob MacPherson. But his efforts to make it so leave an indelible impression on his son, Ewan—especially the elder MacPherson's failed attempt to make a single malt Scotch... which leads to a whisky-still explosion...which leads to Ewan's suffering a terrible injury...which leads to his falling in love—at fourteen years of age—with Shirley Porter.
   There's no turning back for Ewan. From that moment on, his heart has set its course. Through adolescence and into adulthood, through becoming a high school teacher, bagpipe instructor, loyal son, and keeper of all Scottish traditions, Ewan has found his one true passion—much like his father's obsession with single-malt Scotch. A passion that—through trial and error—will teach him that love is an acquired taste." (Reviewed by Don Pady, April 2009)

B:

Bachman, Elda. (District 5, North Newton)
20 Years Too Soon. (n.p.: n.p.) 1994, 44 pp.
This is the story of Ernest Bachman, family man, farmer and fund-raiser. "I was born twenty years too soon" was an oft-repeated expression of Ernest Bachman, who was born in 1895 and always wished he was younger. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Bader, Robert Smith. (District 2, Berryton)
Hayseeds, Moralizers, and Methodists; the Twentieth-Century Image of Kansas. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 1988, 241 pp., Paperbound.
The tattered image of modern-day Kansas and how it got that way is the subject of this pioneering and wonderfully entertaining book. The author traces the rise and fall of the state's reputation from the turn of the century—when it was a national leader in the two most prominent sociopolitical movements of the era, Progressivism and prohibition—through the Jazz Age—when Kansas came to epitomize strait-laced, fundamental values. H.L. Mencken proclaimed Kansas the quintessential "cow state," chock-full of hayseeds, moralizers, and Methodists—to today's consensus view of Kansas as drab and boring. The book concludes with a marvelous survey of recent popular culture and with a call for reexamination of the state's historic strengths. (Reviewed by Don Pady, May 2009)

Baldwin, Bernell. (District 5, Wichita)
Ordination. (n.p.): Mennonite Press, 1999.
The story in this book takes place during the dustbowl era. It is fiction but is written from the author's memories of her life following her mother's ministry. Pictures round out the story of a family of dedicated women. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Baldwin, Bernell. (District 5, Wichita)
Preacher Bill's Bats in the Belfry. Wichita, KS: U and W Publishing Co., 2007, 219pp., paper, illus, $19.95.
When the author said, "Yes" to Preacher Bill, little did she know what adventures awaited! Even growing up in Kansas in the 1930s -- her father an ordained minister and, after his untimely death, her mother following in the ministry -- did not entirely prepare her for the exciting, rewarding and hair-raising twists and turns of life as the wife of Rev. William J. Baldwin. (Reviewed by Don S. Pady, Feb 2008)

Bascom, George B. (District 4, Manhattan)
Deep Creek; Collected Stories. Illustrated by Angie and Brett Prather. [Privately Printed] 1993, 255 pp.
Twelve short stories, centered around an area southeast of Manhattan, Kansas, tell fictional tales of characters who inhabit the Deep Creek region. The author might have invented his ludicrous tales around real people, but each is screamingly funny and sometimes downright satirical -- but always in plain-speak narrative. (Reviewed by D. S. Pady, December 2011)

Bascom, George B. (District 4, Manhattan)
Late Asters. [Privately published} 1982, 96 pp., paperbound.
Poems by this Harvard-trained physician in Manhattan, Kansas, take on scientific and medical aspects toward sickness, recovery and death. How patients deal with these problems, and how the physicians and surgeons treat the patients, create quandaries sometimes best answered by questions put forward in poetry. (Reviewed by Don Pady, January 2009)

Bascom, George B. (District 4, Manhattan)
Medicine Circle. Manhattan, KS: Sunflower University Press, 1993. 118 pp., paperbound.
According to medical theories, about twenty-one general classes of ailments can affect humans' bodily and mental parts. When disease strikes an irresistable blow to suffering patients, or offers joy both gratuitous or intense, Dr. Bascom finds an answer inside the craft of poetry of medicine and surgery to provide an adequate response. (Reviewed by Don Pady, April 2009)

Bateman, Debra (Brock). (District 1, Leavenworth)
Awakening of the Human Spirit; A Bbook of Poetry. Baltimore, MD: PublishAmerica, 2006, 105pp., paper, $14.95.
This is a book of poetry, made up from the inspirations of life, some serious, others fanciful—the poet's way of healing and sharing thoughts and feelings. Subjects span a myriad of topics: flowers, small-town charm, triumphs, tragedy, death, the sheer joy of living, and many fancies. Friends have described her poetry as relaxing, enjoyable, and having an innocent and joyful outlook on life. (Reviewed by Don S. Pady, Feb 2008)

Bateman, Debra (Brock). (District 1, Leavenworth)
A Renaissance of the Heart: A Book of Poetry. Baltimore, MD: PublishAmerica, 2005, 70pp., paper.
This book of rhyming couplets and free-verse recalls memories of growing up in Texas and Kansas. The poems reflect an innocent and joyful outlook on events beginning in 1959 to the present—covering such topics as love, favorite things, small town charm, heroes, death, and the sheer joy of living, (Reviewed by DSP, Apr 2006)

Bates, Wanda M. (District 4, Manhattan)
Three Years in a Teacherage. (n.p., n.p.): 1998.
These memories are based on the author's experiences in her first teaching job in northeastern Ohio in 1934. Starting with a family trip back in time she includes all the ups and downs she remembers in coping with living away from home, earning $57.50 a month and ten of that went to pay for her living space in the teacherage. These stories could be in almost any state during these years. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Beason, Ada Loomis. (District 3, Membership unknown)
Early Kansas Days and Other Short Stories. (n.p., n.p.: n.d.)
Memories of a grandfather who came to southeastern Kansas in 1869. [This book donated by Mrs. Don Beason of Elk City, KS]. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Beattie, Robert (District 5, Wichita)
Nightmare in Wichita; the Hunt for the BTK Strangler. NY: New American Library, 2005, 333pp., paper, $14.00.
Lawyer Robert Beattie tracked the BTK ("Bind, Torture, Kill") killer during the thirty-year search for the Wichita strangler, Dennis Rader. Here he shares his inside knowledge of the case—from its terrifying beginnings to the riveting account of Rader's capture. (Reviewed by DSP, Nov 2006)

Bell-Pearson. Edna. (District 7, Meade)
Fragile Hopes, Transient Dreams, and Other Stories. NY: iuniverse, 2006,369pp., paper, $21.95.
Containing short stories covering 1889-1999, there are essays preceding each tale in the voice of Eva Roth who brings us her thoughts, as well as backg- round information pertaining to the and the intensely-absorbing story of her forebears. Thus begins a tale of intrigue and adventures of John and Laura Roth and their descendants; their hopes and dreams, trials and tribulations through 1 10 years on the sweeping Kansas prairie. Even the land, located on the western fringe of "The Heartland" -- one of the richest wheat and gas-producing regions in the world -- is a significant feature in this southwest Kansas saga. (Reviewed by Don S. Pady, Feb 2008)

Benton Grade School. (District 5, Benton)
Family & Friends. Benton, KS: Benton Grade School PTO, 2003, 29 pp.
This book contains the winning entries in the 2003 Writers in the Schools project at the Benton Elementary School, Benton, Kansas. It includes categories of poetry, prose, and art through six grades. (Reviewed by Karen L. Kolavalli, Children's Librarian, Bradford Memorial Library, El Dorado, KS)

Benton Grade School. (District 5, Benton)
First Annual Benton Grade School Writing Contest. (n.p., n.p.) 2001.
This book contains the winning entries in the 2001 Writers in the Schools project at the Benton Elementary School, Benton, Kansas, led by Iris Cox-Pearce. These thirty-five young poetry and prose writers have the pleasure of seeing their work published. Small biographies give the authors' ages as well as the names of their proud parents. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Benton Grade School (District 5, Benton)
Space. The Fourth Annual Benton Grade School Writing Contest, sponsored by the Benton PTO and Kansas Authors Club District 5, Benton, KS: Benton Grade School, 2004, 61pp., paper, $10.00.
Poetry, prose, and artwork by Benton grade-schoolers explore the theme of space. Some entries considered outer space while others described a favorite place on earth. This cooperative effort marked a successful school-wide contest organized by Iris Cox-Pearce and Christie Breault.. (Reviewed by DSP, Jan 2006)

Black, Elizabeth D. (District 2, Lawrence)
Spring Valley School, Heritage of the Great Plains, 43(1): 23-31, Summer 2010.
Located ten miles southwest of Ulysses in Grant County, Kansas, the red-brick Spring Valley School now lies in tornadic ruins. But this one-room country school "was once the anchor of the rural community," as described by alumna author Elizabeth (Kliewer) Black. Many details of her rural school life between 1952 and 1960 have been encapsulated through her prodigious memory of school things past. Simultaneous activities in the classroom meant that the teacher had to instruct different grade levels at different times of the day. The students helped each other, too! Many creative ideas were implemented by both teacher and students by "decorating the schoolroom, drawing pictures, making things, repairing other things, coming up with spectacular 'science projects,' and making a papier mache relief map of the Rocky Mountain states." The author's accounts of the dust storm fifties propel her rollicking memories of crazy stunts around the school's outhouses—and the challenges of "buffalo hunting" of fast-rolling tumbleweeds. (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, June 2010)

Boeve, Eunice (District 6, Phillipsburg)
Maggie Rose and Sass. Baltimore, MD: PublishAmerica, 2005, 144pp., paper, $19.95. A 2006 Kansas Notable Book—State Library of Kansas.
This young adult novel explores the differences between two races and cultures, set in a fictional 1888 town similar to Nicodemus, Kansas—a town settled eleven years earlier by ex-slaves from Kentucky. Orphaned Maggie Rose moves from Georgia to Solomon Town, whose citizens are almost all black. Sass has lived there all of her life. Raised in such totally different cultures, the two girls are about to clash. (Reviewed by DSP, Nov 2006)

Boeve, Eunice. (District 6, Phillipsburg)
A Window to the World. Baltimore, MD: PublishAmerica, 2004.
This book examines the hardships a family faced in the 1850s when father leaves the family to go to California during the gold rush. It is not an easy time for the mother and her children. This book portrays the time period in a realistic manner and shows how the family overcomes a variety of problems to make a better life for themselves. This story is an interesting one that older children will enjoy reading. (Reviewed by Ruth Godfrey, Children's Librarian, Morgantown Public Library, Morgantown, WV)

Boeve, Eunice. (District 6, Phillipsburg)
Ride a Shadowed Trail. Baltimore, MD: PublishAmerica, 2008, 246 pp., Paperbound.
In the fictional town of Indianola, on the Texas coast, eight-year-old Joshua Ryder's mother, a Mexican prostitute, is murdered. Pete Waters, an old ex-cowboy, takes him to raise and teaches him the cowboy trade. After Pete's death, Josh is hired to help drive a herd of longhorns to the cattle markets in Kansas. Totally enamored of Belle, the widowed ranch-owner's beautiful daughter, Josh is surprised and pleased that Ms. Rawlins and her daughters are to accompany the herd. On the drive, Josh and Belle fall in love and want to marry, but Josh knows his mother's killer is the cold-blooded Cole Slade, who robs and murders at will and kidnaps, abuses, and kills young Mexican girls. He has vowed to bring him to justice, but it means leaving Belle, maybe forever, for who would lay bets on an eighteen-year-old going up against a seasoned, ruthless killer? (Reviewed by Don Pady, November 2008)

Bouton, Mark. (District 4, Havensville)
Cracks in the Rainbow. Waterville, ME: Five Star, 2005,357pp., do, $25.95.
Crisp dialog and breakneck action highlight police action in this jackhammer L.A. thriller. Rick Dover unravels the enigma of computer codes, and maintains long hours of surveillance with his new partner, Falcon. Both discover a conspiracy more dangerous and widespread that raises the stakes with every new twist and turn. Before it's all over, government investigators, municipal police -- and Dover and Falcon -- collide in a furious flight which neither of them may survive. (Reviewed by Don S. Pady, Feb 2008)

Bouton, Mark.  (District 4, Havensville)
How To Spot Lies Like the FBI.  Havensville, KS: Cosmic Wind Press, 2010, 260 pp., Illus., Paperbound, $12.95.
Have you ever been lied to, and wished you could tell? Now you can read faces, bodies and voices. "Mark Bouton served as an FBI agent for 30 years, working cases in Alabama, New York, Chicago, Puerto Rico, Texas and Kansas. He contacted more than 100,000 people, analyzing each discussion for truthfulness.  Spotting lies was crucial to his job. Bouton learned to read facial expressions, verbal 'tells,' and body language that signalled a suspect became nervous when asked certain questions.  It helped him catch kidnappers, killers, and bombers. This book shows many ways to perceive lying. Bouton explains what he's learned from research and experience to help better your life. Whether you're dealing with friends, family, lovers, bankers, or suspected con men, you must learn to detect if they're trying to trick you."  (Reviewed from the book's blurb. Quoted by D.S. Pady, November 2010)

Bouton, Mark. (District 4, Havensville)
Max Conquers the Cosmos. Waterville, ME: Five Star, 2003, 220 pp., hardcover, $25.95.
"Former FBI agent Mark Bouton has used his thirty years of professional experience chasing and apprehending criminals in writing this gripping crime detective story that features an unusual sleuth, Max Austin, an ex-FBI agent turned private investigator, is hired by an attorney whose client is accused of killing her rich contractor husband at their mansion. Vickie Jacobsen says a prowler shot her husband, Morrie, beside their pool with Morrie's own gun. But Max discovers enough clues to be suspicious, so he delves into business records, associates, and the autopsy report to determine the true story. The further Max goes, the more he finds out... and the more people start dying. Between crooked cops, gunplay, and stabbings, Max must move fast to prevent more sudden deaths... including his own." (Reviewed by Don Pady, April 2009)

Bouton, Mark. (District 4, Havensville)
Max Unlocks the Universe. Waterville, ME: Five Star, 2006,24Opp., $25.95.
Ex-FBI agent, Max Austin, traces crimes against a young computer scientist and investigates the causes of deaths of several other computer geeks selling security programs to commercial and governmental groups. Max needs help with the computer connection and enlists an ex-girlfriend and head of computer fraud at FBI headquarters. The tangled instructions are far beyond what he imagined, and unless he can cut through criminal deception, this will amount to his last case. (Reviewed by Don S. Pady, Feb 2008)

Bouton, Mark. (District 4, Havensville)
The Second Savior; an LAPD Mystery. Detroit, MI: Gale, Cwngage Learning, 2009, 267 pp., hardbound, $25.95.
"A war rages in South Central LA as cops and gangbangers vie for control of the streets. Rival gangs battle to run the drug trade. Cops strive to stem the flow of drugs and violence. Innocent citizens suffer the fallout, and there's no truce in sight. But during this conflict comes hope. A mysterious man of peace becomes enmeshed in the battle, effecting the outcome in strange ways."
Author Bouton is ex-FBI, and for 30 plus years investigated high-profile criminal cases including a key role in solving the Oklahoma City bombing. His fast-paced dialog and double-aught action blasts holes in terrorizing gangs like Mickey Spillane's character, Mike Hammer, used to do. (Reviewed by Don Pady, August 2009)

Bovee, Eugene Cleveland. (District 2, Lawrence)
Biblicalimericks: Genesis. Chadds Ford, PA: WJM Press, 2002
This fifth chapbook of Bovee's poetry gives us the funny side of, yes, Biblical Limericks. With Marge Simon's illustrations, the reader can see as well as read limerick after limerick. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Bovee, Eugene Cleveland. (District 2, Lawrence)
Double-dactyl Fun with Some Famous Persons. Chadds Ford, PA: WJM Press, 2004.
Bovee has written this book full of double-dactyl, a humorous form of verse invented by the American poet Anthony Hecht in the 1950s. Even the titles are funny: "Some poets will write anything!" and "I did WHAT in your dreams?" "He had a bad hair day," and "I shouldn't have ridden that horse." All are illustrated by Bovee's favorite illustrator, Marge Simon. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Bovee, Eugene Cleveland. (District 2, Lawrence)
Historicalimericks: Mostly Murderous. Chadds Ford, PA: WJM Press, 2003.
The combined efforts of Eugene C. Bovee, poet, Marge Simon, illustrator, and William J. Middleton, publisher, have brought us another chapbook of the most hilarious poetry. All in limerick form, of course. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Bovee, Eugene Cleveland. (District 2, Lawrence, d. 2005)
Historical Limericks II: Anecdotes of Famous Folks. Illustrated by Marge Simon. Chadds Ford, PA: WJM Press, 2004, 56pp., paper.
Humorous limericks accompanied by clever line drawings reveal this late poet's enthusiasm for historical sayings. The chapbook's appendix provides short definitions of what some famous people had to say on various occasions. (Reviewed by DSP, Feb 2006)

Bovee, Eugene Cleveland. (District 2, Lawrence) and William J. Middleton
Pandamonium: Partners in Rhyme. Chadds Ford, PA: WJM Press, 2001.
Bovee's newest chapbook is a collection of "Punny Limericks" by two long-distance friends, Bill & Gene. I guarantee you'll laugh while reading every page. Illustrations by Marge Simon contribute to the enjoyment of these witty poems. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Bovee, Eugene Cleveland. (District 2, Lawrence)
Selected Poems: A Melange. Lyndora, PA: Jessee Poet Publications, 2003, 24 pp.
You can never get enough of Bovee's poetry. Now his poem "The Mosquito" gives the funniest life cycle of an insect this entomologist ever read. Read more on Guardian Angles, the groundhog in the spring, and Grandfather's Barn, plus many others to get you in a good mood. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Bovee, Eugene Cleveland. (District 2, Lawrence)
Various Poems. Lyndora, PA: Jessee Poet Publications, 2003, 20 pp.
This chapbook shows that Bovee can write other styles of poetry besides limericks. Most of these poems tell stories in the life of a dedicated poet. The one about his clothes dryer throwing a nasty fit cracked me up. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Breault, Christie Merriman. (District 5, Benton)
Logan West; Printer's Devil. Illus. Matthew Archambault. NY: Mondo Publishing, 2006, 142pp., paper, illustrated.
In 1874, the last thing twelve-year-old Logan West wants is to move away from his grandparents and comfortable home in St. Louis to the wilds of Kansas. Convinced that his father wants him to be like "every other boy in the West," Logan is intent on following his own path, which heads him to many adventures -- including a new job and some unexpected truths about his father and himself. Frontier and pioneer life, newspapers, literacy, and Wyatt E q , provide a fascinating tale of historical fiction. (Reviewed by Don S. Pady, Feb 2008)

Brown, Karen Sells. (District 1, Topeka)
Essays, poetry, see in Insight Out (2003) and A Write Stuff Christmas (2004).

Bruntzel, Melvin D. (District 1, Topeka)
Quick Reference To Kansas; Lost-- Found-- Missing Towns and Places; With Selected Trivia and Truths. Belleville, KS: The Print Schop, 2010, 3 vols., soft cover, comb-bound, $120 + $10 P&H.
With over 1,000 pages including a 200 page index in volume 3 listing more than 9,000 Kansas place names, this magnificent work (which took more than 11 years to compile and publish) lists counties and territories of the past with a brief history of each. Volumes 1-2 give alphabetized accounts of Kansas counties and highlights their origins and histories, including county seats, past and present townships with dates when organized, colored maps, alternate spellings or name of towns with name changes, dates when first post offices were established and names of postmasters. Short paragraphs about each place, with date of incorporation, with incorporators' names, first mayors, and some trivia or truths, supplement this gigantic research effort. A general bibliography of books, government documents and newspaper references for further research into each county, further assist those persons interested in prime and secondary sources of Kansas history, genealogy and research. (Reviewed by Don Pady, August 2011)

Buzard, Susan Eliiabeth. (District 3, Coffeyville), with Tracy K. Mansfield.
Violet; A Historical Novel Based on the Life of Violet Elizabeth Brown. Bloornington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2006, 188pp., paper, illustrated.
During the late 1880s, architect Stanford White designed and built a grand home in Coffeyville for W. P. Brown, a prominent oil and gas magnate. Today, that house still stands atop a hill, alone and isolated except for the memories of his beautiful, intelligent, yet tragic daughter, Violet -- born to wealth and privilege. This novel of historical fiction tells the story of Violet Brown who lived in this mansion for seventy years. But, even more, she fears what will become of her home after she dies. (Reviewed by Don S. Pady, Feb 2008)

C:

Carey, Robert D. (District 1, Topeka)
Essays, poetry, see in Insight Out (2003).

Carey, Robert. (District 1, Topeka) and John Furbay.
Freedom Ships. Topeka, KS: Af-Am Links Press, 1999.
Winning the 2000 J. Donald Coffin Award for the best book by a member of Kansas Authors Club within the two previous years, this historical novel tells the dramatic story of African Americans who dared to find freedom in Africa long before the Emancipation. Sailing across stormy seas, fighting hostile tribes, and surviving dreaded African fevers, these black pioneers confronted scheming slave traders and European empire builders to find a place where they created the first black republic in Africa. Based on emigrant letters, diaries, newspaper and journal accounts, and official documents in U.S. Navy and Congressional archives, this thoroughly researched volume makes African and American history come alive. It covers the period from 1820 to 1849, during which the nation of Liberia was founded. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Carman, Edna Creekmore. (District 4, Salina) and Kenneth Scott Carman
Tender Twig. Evanston, IL: OKHO Publishing, n.d.
A masterful story starting with troubled times in Scotland that cause a young man to indenture himself to come to pre-revolutionary America. Tender twig is the name of a native American woman he meets. They take to the wilderness with a slave and a seventeen-year-old runaway boy—combining Indian lore, Scottish ingenuity, the slave's intelligent common sense and the runaway's craving for adventure -- an eventful tale. Carman has written two other books: The Planet fire (1993) and A Day of rest (1994). (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Charbo, Eileen Miles. (District 1, Topeka)
A Doctor Fetched by the Family Dog; Story of Dr. George A. Tann, Pioneer Physician. Springfield, MO: Independent Publishing Co., 1984, 50 pp., photos, illus., paperbound.
Dr. George A. Tann treated the Ingalls family when all were sick with fever and ague (influenza) in Rutland Township, Montgomery County, Kansas, in a "Little House on the Prairie." (Reviewed by D. S. Pady, March, 2009)

Clark, Esther M.  (District 3, Chanute)
The Call of Kansas and Later Verse, by Esther Clark Hill. [Cedar Rapids, IA: The Torch Press], n.d., ["This edition limited to 1,000 copies"] 66 pp., Hardbound
Most of the "Later Verse" had been published in The Kansas City Star, by whose permission it re-appears in this volume. The same courtesy had been extended by The New York Times and The Lyric West, for re-publication of verse first appearing in their columns. (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, April 2010)

Clark, Katrina. (District 1, Topeka)
Recipes, essays, see in A Write Stuff Christmas (2004)

Clark, Katrina Verschelden. (District 1, Topeka)
Scents of Mother Love. [n.p., n.p.] 2001, 97 pp.
A book full of memories, with pages of pictures, important certificates, her mother's favorite recipes, including Green Rice and Cornmeal Mush, and her mother's favorite song lyrics, including "Playmate" and "Has anybody seen my gal?" tells the story of Katrina's mother, Catherine Elizabeth Johnston, beginning around the turn of the century in Topeka, Kansas. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Clark, Marshall C. (District 1, Topeka)
An Eclectic's Buffet. Topeka, KS: Trevor Trump Project, 2005, 325pp., paper.
From accounts of Africa's Massai to Clark's brave action as a Marine corpsman in Korea, this autobiography recalls many exciting incidents that will shock, gladden, amuse, educate, and entertain you. These unique recollections and whimsical stories are richly supplemented by some 70 original photographs taken by the author. (Reviewed by DSP, Nov 2006)

Clark, Marshall. (District 1, Topeka)
Essay, see in A Write Stuff Christmas (2004)

Clarke, Gary K. (District 1, Topeka)
Gary Clarke's Africa; Wildlife, Rainbows and Laughter. Photographic Essays Celebrating Three Decades on Safari. Topeka, KS: Cowabunga Safaris, 2011, 272 pp., 312 color photos. Decorated Hardbound cover. $100.00.
This is a book of extraordinary pictures and compelling words. Moreover, it is the story of one man's passion for Africa and a window into his heart -- a visual rhapsody of his perceptions and expressions of the safari experience. His safaris achieved a transcendental quality, a synthesis of excitement and grandeur, sunlight and darkness, rainbows and laughter, mud and dung. The distinctive format and elegant design create striking photo essays of spectacular wildlife and incredible scenery in dramatic full-frame images. Beyond the animals and landscapes, the book portrays Gary's adventures canoeing the mighty Zambezi, ballooning over the immense Serengeti/Mara, exploring the mysterious Skeleton Coast, and his climbing of Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa. (Quoted from the book's advertisement by D.S. Pady, December 2011)

Clarke, Gary K.  (District 1, Topeka)
Hey Mister—Your Alligator's Loose! Lecompton, KS: Baranski Publishing Co., 2009, 544 pp., illus., Hardcover, $29.95
A lifetime of intimate animal adventures, written by the director emeritus of the world-famous Topeka Zoo, details Gary Clarke's passion for animals and chronicles his extraordinary career. Share adventures with pink porpoises and a misunderstood octopus, baby orangutans after hours, a ghost-like white tiger, the impossible somersaulting giraffe, and the gnus—"Weather" and "Sports." Experience vicariously a terrifying tapir attack, the importance of polar bear poop, a near fatal rattlesnake bite, and the trials and tribulations of a tropical rain forest...in Kansas! This is also the compelling story of people in the heartland community of Topeka, Kansas...who fall in love with their zoo and its irresistible animal personalities. (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, Dec 2009)

Clarke, Gary K. (District 1, Topeka)
I'd Rather Be on Safari. Big Springs, KS: Baranski Publishing Co., 2001.
As it says on the cover, "This book conveys a genuine feeling for the land, the animals and culture of the diverse and complex continent of Africa. On over 100 safaris, Gary has canoed the Zambesi River, camped on the floor of the Ngorongoro Crater, slept under the stars in the Kalahari desert, and traversed the Great Rift Valley." Gary is a new KAC member and lives in Topeka, Kansas, when he is not on safari. Reading this book was like going on safari without ever leaving Kansas. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Clothier, Grant. (District 2) and Jeanie Clothier Montford.
A Prairie beacon; the Peace Creek, Kansas, Church of Christ. Overland Park, KS: Leathers Publishing, 2007, 179pp., paper, illus., $16.95.
Recording the history, since 1874, of the Peace Creek Church of Christ in western Reno County, Kansas, proved an arduous task in assembling the documented facts through authentic research methods. It reveals the strength and character demonstrated by these early Christians. (Reviewed by Don S. Pady, Feb 2008)

Collins, Audrey McCain. (District 6, Hutchinson)
Pages of Prayer and Praise. Baltimore, MD: PublishAmerica, 2005, 67pp., paper.
This fine collection of religious poems spans a period of more than 60 years. They communicate the poet's sentiments, passions and dreams throughout her life. Her poems draw the reader's conviction because they reveal examples of ways her parables in verse can benefit their lives. (Reviewed by DSP, Nov. 2006)

Cloud, David E. (District 5, Wichita)
The Red Book: Choice classroom "Chips?" "Nah." "Clips?" "Nah." "Quips?" "Yeah!" "Slips?" "Oh Yeah!" "Tricks?" "Yeah, Yeah!" Bel Aire, KS: Sunrise Christian School and Academy, 1997.
David compiled all these things from the classes he teaches at the Sunrise Christian School and Academy. The reader is cautioned, and I quote, "Don't blame us if you die laughing!" From 157 students, David came up with 420 surprise laughs over a period of five years. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Cloud, David E. (District 5, Wichita)
A Stroll Through Life: A Poetic Walk. Foreword by Raymond Nelson. Wichita, KS: Creative Freelance Services, 1997.
David has chosen to share his experiences of life in poetry with correlating verses from the Bible. He has written four other books: Grandpa, tell me your memories (1999), How God touches hearts through his people (1998), The Red book (1997) and With God and His humor (1997). (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Cloud, David E. (District 5, Wichita)
Students: The Real Focus of Teaching. Park City, Kansas: Creative Freeland Services, 2005, 120pp., loose-leaf binder, $19.95.
Cloud’s manual offers advice to teachers, poems, journal pages, with a scriptural emphasis. (Reviewed by Karen Sells Brown, Apr 2006)

Clymer, Rolla A. (District 5, El Dorado), see Galvani, William

Cobb, Ronald Lee (District 1, Holton)
Memories of Bosnia: The 35th Division's SFOR-13 NATO Peacekeeping Mission. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2004, 319 pp., photo illus., paper.
Colonel Cobb's bittersweet memories of the U.S. Army’s peacekeeping mission in Bosnia include the terror of war and the beauty of peace through understanding. He recounts the efforts of the Army Chaplain Corps to bring together men of differing faiths in order to help rebuild the war-ravaged country of Bosnia. The author’s interpretations of Islam come from his Christian perspective, as he urged religious tolerance during his Task Force Eagle assignment in 2003. (Reviewed by DSP April 2006)

Coffeyville Night Writers.  (District 3, Coffeyville)
The Family Next Door, Volume I.  Coffeyville, KS: Tanos Books, 2009, 127 pp., illus., Paperbound, $9.95
Do you remember the family next door? Some were close and others distant, but each family had an interesting story. The Family Next Door is "dedicated to the people who over the years called southeastern Kansas home." The Coffeyville Night Riders researched and contributed stories about this part of America—the Great Plains. They share stories about various families, or families accomplishing milestones, perhaps families contributing to the rich history of the area. Especially noteworthy is a bio-bibliographical by Grant Williams, entitled, "Kansas Authors Club, A Brief History." (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, November 2009)  

Cooper, Kathryn Croan. (District 2, Ottawa and Memam, Life Member)
By the Telephone Pole. Shawnee, KS: Whirlybird Press, 2007,40pp., paper, illustrated.
Some of the author's poems in this book are reprinted from twenty-seven chapbooks containing short stories, poetry and photographs. Her formal education was largely in one-room schoolhouses scattered in Kansas towns, now gone. Kitty's writing is sincere and from the heart, and serves as a remembrance of the roots of many of us, and, in a way, of who we are. (Reviewed by Don S. Pady, Feb 2008)

Cooper, Kathryn Croan. (District 2, Ottawa and Memam, Life Member)
Old Authors Never Die. [n.p.]: Norman Printing? 2004,42pp., paper, illustrated.
Short prose pieces, poetry and photographs mark the distinct quality of the author's random thoughts, But she reports the impressions of what she sees and hears in the most personable manner. She published this chapbook at the golden age of 85, and this Life Member of KAC is now 89! (Reviewed by Don S. Pady, Feb 2008)

Crum, Lola Adams. (District 7, Dodge City)
Daughter of Kansas. [n.p., n.p., n.d.] 98 pp.
For eighty years Lola Crum wrote poems and put them in a box. Some were contest winners. Lola has gathered them in this book. It included nature poems and more personal poems. Lola has added little postscripts of information. Many poems are dated, such as "My doll, Bessie," which she wrote in 1921 at the age of 13. Lola Crum is a life member and former state archivist of Kansas Authors Club. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Crum, Lola Adams. (District 7, Dodge City)
A Reminiscence: Teaching in Dodge City's Mexican Village. Dodge City, KS: Kansas Heritage Center, 2002.
Early in the 1900s, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway build a town for their Mexican employees in the railroad yards near the depot and roundhouse in Dodge City. Lola Crum describes her experiences teaching school in Dodge City's Mexican Village during the 1930-1931 school year. The story is enhanced with photos of students and their families. Lola, 94, joined Kansas Authors Club in 1931 and is a life member. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

D:

Dagenais, Julia. (District 5, Wichita)
Verses. (n.p.: Privately printed, n.d.) 12 pp., Paperbound.
An undated but early chapbook of eleven poems—including a sonnet, an acrostic, and a villanelle, Julia portrays glimpses of her pioneering grandparents (the Casads); her mother's piano; the glory of a spring day; and the woman for whom she worked. All are delightful insights into the poet's charming character. (Reviewed by Don Pady, November 2008)

Dagenais, Julia and Ralph Dagenais (District 5, Wichita)
Verses Light and Dark. (n.p.) Christmas, 2005, 60pp., paper.
Highlighting the subjects of childhood, motherhood, family pictures, lessons from nature and the passage of time, this delightful chapbook includes insightful poems and photos of people who witnessed the light of happiness and the dark side of hard times. (Reviewed by DSP, Nov 2006)

Daniels, Celia and Cynthia Pedersen (Non-members)
Fissures. Canton, CT: Singular Speech Press, 1993.
This book of poems by two sisters mingles different styles and topics. Which poet wrote which poems is not specified, but the reader may guess. The authors' very lives reflected in their words. Daniels holds a graduate degree in Museum Studies and Anthropology from the University of Kansas. Pedersen previously lived on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Dary, David Archie (District 2, Lawrence)
Red Blood & Black Ink; Journalism in the Old West. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 1998, 345 pp., illus., photos, Paperbound.
This fascinating book reveals that newspapers in the old west were not only reflections of local happenings but also promoters of pet projects or viewpoints. Newspeople on the frontier not only covered the news, but also colored it and even created it. Dary's fine book also contains a list of newspapers published in the old west. The author was a contributing member to KAC from 1974 to 1981. (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, June 2010)

Dary, David Archie (District 2, Lawrence)
True Tales of Old-Time Kansas. Revised edition. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 1984, 340 pp., illus., index, Softback.
True Tales of the Old-Time Plains (1979), on which this revised edition with a slightly-changed title is based, won the J. Donald Coffin Award presented by the Kansas Authors Club in 1979. Professor Dary is an award-winning chronicler of life on the Kansas plains, and his fascinating tales are set down succinctly and excitingly. There are stories of lost treasure and sudden riches, of outlaws and sheriffs, of massacres and heroics. It is rollicking, adventurous and touching. Whether the reader invests only a few minutes at a time or finishes the book at one sitting, he/she is in for a lot of fun. (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, June 2010)

Dennis, Cynthia L. (District 1, Brookfield, WI)
The Sunflower Sinner; An Odyssey of Politics and Passion. Topeka, KS: Woodley Memorial Press, 2007,217pp., paper, illus., $16.00.
This ambitious memoir of the author's farnilv serves as a sava-ge indictment of her father. Paul Lackie, whose political aspirations tried to foist his name into the governorship of Kansas. Nor does the author compromise the validity of her scathing criticism by softening the tone of some very personal histories. (Reviewed by Don S. Pady, Feb 2008)

Dennis, Donna C. (District 2, Lawrence)
Lady, the Witch, and the Diamond. [Privately Printed] 2010, 81 pp., Paperbound. T
wo visions came to Donna in her thirties that changed her life. The encounter with the numinous took her into a deep personal relationship with her whole, complete Self. She became aware of the many unknown areas of life that were hidden from her conscious mind. Her story became Lady's by opening the unconscious and allowing the mind to take her on a path ... to find her own truth. During her stay at the Benedictine Monastery in Pecos, New Mexico, she walked down to the Pecos river with pen and pad in hand to write letting her mind have the freedom to put into words the song of a hero. (Quoted from author's book by D.S. Pady, December 2011)

Detrixhe, Sandra J. (District 4, Concordia)
The Everything Sewing Book. (n.p.): F + W Publications, 2004.
This large book does just what the title says, covers everything you might want to know about sewing. Includes illustrations for all projects, and the text is easy to follow for even the non-seamstress. Good addition for the sewing room. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Detrixhe, Sandra. (District 4, Concordia)
Zen and the Art of Needlecraft: Exploring the Links between Needlecraft, Spirituality and Creativity. Avon, MA: Adams Media, 2005, 210pp., paper, $12.95.
Zen tradition says a lot about sewing and the long journey to self-awareness in clothing designs and styles. Based on influences from angels to yin and yang, the author's narrative promotes creativity through meditation and spirituality. (Reviewed by DSP, Dec 2005)

Detrixhe, Sandra J. (District 4, Concordia)
Zen and the Art of Quilting. Avon, MA: Adams Media, 2004.
Sandra wrote that the word "Zen" in Japanese is for meditation, and the word "quilt" comes from the Old French word meaning mattress. So mixing the two creates an image of meditation mats and sweet dreams under warm quilts. To read is to enjoy a different view of the life of a quilter. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Detrixhe, Sandra J. (District 4, Concordia), See also Cassandra Austin and Sandra August, pseudonyms

Dillard, Leona M. (District 6, Hutchinson)
"Picnic at Pryor's Grove," Kansas Heritage, 14(2) Summer 2006, pp. 17-20.
Death in Kiowa County in southeast Kansas came on a peaceful summer day. Near a quiet grove, a town picnic was violently interrupted by gunshots. The crowd scattered, the gunmen fled, and a sheriff lay mortally wounded. What happened to Bill Wyatt is revealed by Dilliard's fascinating true account. (Reviewed by DSP, Nov 2006)

Return to Index

E:

Elster, Toby. (District 5, Wichita)
Pioneer Cooking. Hillsboro, KS: Hearth Publishing, 1993.
The author says this is a collection of original recipes of yesteryear handed down several generations. This book would be great in the libraries of all memoir writers. Very interesting just to read and imagine life the way it used to be in the family kitchen. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Engler, Jerry W. (District 4, Marion)
A Heartland Voice; Just Folks Two. Illustrated by Sheri Lauren Schmidt. Marion, KS: 6-Mile Roots, 288pp., paper.
The author's second collection of short stories demonstrates why he is considered a strong voice of small-town America. Colorful characters provide entertaining tales about the lives of those who mingle in mythical farm communities where everyone knows their names -- and love one another despite that! (Reviewed by DSP, Feb 2007)

Engler, Jerry W. (District 4, Marion)
Just Folks: Earthy Tales of the Prairie Heartland. Vol. I, illus. Sheri Schmidt. Marion, KS: 6-Mile Roots, 2005, 292pp.
These short fictional essays describe a bygone age that was close to the author's heart, and his stories hold on to the memory of a way of life. Engle writes about the characters who are still around us because part of what is easiest to love about humanity is the uniqueness of each individual. Some of his tales are almost true; yet some are purely concoctions. (Reviewed by DSP, Nov 2006)

Epp, Karen Ross. (District 5, Newton)
With Love Stan; a Soldier's Letters from Vietnam to the World. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2007, 329 pp., illustrated, paperbound, $19.95.
Thirty-three years after nineteen-year-old SGT Stanley Dennis Ross fell in Vietnam on 20 October 1969, his sister Karen gathered his letters home. She edited Stan's sometimes shaky handwriting, and found surviving members of his 199th Light Infantry Brigade to confirm and reinforce Stan's bravery under enemy fire. This compelling memoir of her brother, his buddies, and his family back in the world, brings home the absolute horrors of war as if they happened only yesterday. Primary-source documents and candid photographs made it possible for Karen to write an inspired tribute to her brother and those who served with him. With unexpected twists like a bayonet thrust—jam-packed with trenchant wit, strong characters and simple, crisp, declaratory prose, this bittersweet biography ratchets up tension-inducing actions of true heroism ... in one of America's most difficult and frustrating wars. (Reviewed by Don Pady, January 2009)

Everett, Ann Fowler. (District 5, Haysville)
Bylines 'Round the Eyes. Coffeyville, KS: Tanos Books, 2009, 154 pp., illus., paperbound, $14.95.
Ann describes her book, like this: "Poems are blessings, each one birthed and given permission to develop its own personality. The poet places words on the page, but, the poems seemingly exist as a product of their own creation. The creative process is exciting and grueling. Perhaps this is because each poem is an example of the voices living inside the author's skull. Poems dance, sing, sulk or demand justice. Sharing poems is quite dufferent from writing most prose. The mind, spirit, humor, and history of the author are exposed to the world. My word-children (poems) remind me of my humanity. I hope readers identify with a few of them. Oh, the power of word kinship." (Reviewed by Don Pady, August 2009)

Everett, Ann Fowler. (District 5, Haysville)
Emotional Choice: Caregivers Surviving Alzheimer's Disease. BookSurge, LLC, 2005, 55pp., paper.
The author's husband suffered through debilitating levels of the Global Deterioration Scale of Alzheimer's disease. Through poetry and prose, she documents his mental and physical confusion until his untimely death. She learned a positive way to grieve and give passage to a change in her relationship with the inevitable. (Reviewed by DSP Jan 2006)

F:

Farmer, Theodore L. (District 5, El Dorado)
Jon Peter; Volunteer In The Civil War; Poems. [Privately printed] 2010, illus., Paperbound.
This diary-like autobiography, set in verse, chronicles the Civil War activities of Jon Peter of Red Oak, Iowa, who answered President Abraham Lincoln's call to arms. Jon's regiment from Iowa fought in several engagements in southern Missouri before Jon was severely wounded at Wilson's Creek near Springfield. His nurse was sixteen-year-old Dianne, a girl from Tennessee, whom Jon grew to love during his convalescence. When Jon's ninety-day enlistment ended and he was mustered out of the Union Army, he returned to Red Oak, but wrote to Dianne and asked her to come to Iowa where they would marry. They later headed west with their two sons and staked out a homestead south of Douglas in southern Butler County, Kansas. (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, October 2010)

Farmer, Theodore L. (District 5, El Dorado)
Jon Peter; Volunteer in the Civil War; Poems. Newton, KS: Mennonite Press, 2011, Second Printing, viii + 44 pp., illus. by Peter Johnson, Don J. Carlson, Don Koke.
This is the second edition of the author's earlier publication. (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, August 2011.

Feasel, Ron (District 1, Topeka)
Moral Dilemma. (Privately Printed) Charleston, SC, 2010, 341 pp., Softbound.
"After losing his lower legs in combat, Jack Frazzle took his disability from the Navy. He joined a detective agency in San Francisco and became romantically involved with an associate detective. Together they pursued a detective in Topeka, Kansas, with a unique gist -- clairvoyance. The three became involved in a moral dilemma. Their journey involves serial killers, the FBI, Homeland Security, terrorists, the Russian mob, the President of the United States, and new technology" -- like using ice bullets which melt soon after killing victims. Ron crafts a story with action, plot twists, rich characters, and many surprises in this, his second crime novel. (Quoted from cover blurb by Don Pady, March 2011)

Fenceposts, 2002. (District 5, El Dorado)
The work of members of the Prairie Prose and Poetry Guild of Butler County, including short stories, poetry, and non-fiction articles by Lois Friesen, Gail Martin, Jane Persons, Cindy Ross and Dorothy Turner, all members of District 5, Kansas Authors Club. Art work, biographies, and pictures of contributing writers allow the reader to become familiar with the authors as he/she enjoys their diverse writing styles. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Ferguson, Danyelle (District 2, Olathe) and Lynn D. Parsons (non-member)
(dis)Abilities and the Gospel; How to Bring People With Special Needs Closer to Christ. Springville, UT: Cedar Fort,Inc., 2011, xi, 255 pp., Paperbound, $16.99.
Each day, parents and church leaders struggle to teach individuals with special needs, and a touch of humor. This book provides ways for you to effectively teach people of all ages with autism, Down syndrome, bipolar disorders, memory loss, and other disabilities. Find the answers you need and overcome the challenges of teaching the gospel. (dis)Abilities and the Gospel will help you develop each person's ability to learn and grow as you build peace in your home or classroom. (Quoted from book's advertisement by D.S. Pady, December 2011)

Ferguson, Edna Hahn. (District 1, Topeka)
Essays, poetry, recipes, see in Insight Out (2003) and A Write Stuff Christmas (2004).

Fisher, Glenn W. (District 5, Wichita)
Not to Reason Why: The Story of a One-Eyed Infantryman in World War II. (n.p.): Xlibris, 2002, 325 pp.

Fredricks, Jack. (District 1, Topeka)
DNA (Do Not Ask); A True to Life Novel. College Station, TX: Virtualbookworm.com Publishing, 2007, 211pp., paper, $13.95.
This historical novel vortravs techniaues the author used in describin-g dilemmas and psychological problems among many American families during the last century. He developed special education programs for boys in the locked units of the Kansas State Reform School. He related stories about the joys and sorrows of both children and their families while he worked with boys and girls with emotional problems at the famous Menninger Clinic in Topeka. Each fictionalized case plumbed the depths of emotional cases in family relationships, many of which involved drugs and alcohol combined with physical and mental abuse. (Reviewed by Don S. Pady, Feb 2008)

Fredricks, Jack. (District 1, Topeka)
What is Time and Where Does It Go When It Is Gone? Topeka, KS: Sowsear Publishing Co., (n.d.) illus., 33 pp., paperbound.
This story is dedicated to all mothers who take time to talk with their children about life that is made of time and chances -- chances to talk with each other and chances to make time to truly get to know each other, across generations. The booklet's three characters are used to talking about important topics by being open, not burdened with business. (Reviewed by Don Pady, June 2008)

French, Luanne. (District 6, Great Bend)
Cruising Toward Romance. Baltimore, MD: PublishAmerica, 2002.
A modern, light hearted romance about two Midwestern schoolteachers who take a cruise to meet potential husbands. Their success provides entertaining reading in the manner of the 1930s books by Grace Livingston Hill. Two surprising love stories for this modern generation. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

G:

Galvani, William, compiler  (non-member)
Rolla Clymer; Poet of the Flint Hills.  El Dorado, KS: Butler County Historical Society, 1984, 60 pp., Paperbound, $1.50
This booklet exposes a new generation of Kansans to the beauty of Clymer's writing. During his fifty-eight years as editor of the El Dorado Times, Rolla (a member of KAC's District 5) wrote many descriptive editorials about the Flint Hills. His writings stand as some of the finest examples of literature in Kansas journalism.  Following a comprehensive biography by the compiler, examples of Rolla's Flint Hills editorials center around such descriptive titles as, "Majesty of the Hills," "The Hills Eternal Calm," "Change Comes to the Hills," "The Unspringing," and, "Table of the Lord." Three biographical essays follow: "The Journalist as Author," by Dr. Calder Pickett; "The Flint Hills in Literature," by Dr. James Hoy; and "The Man and the Hills," by Dr. Charles Heilmann. (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, November 2009)

Garvey, Olive White. (District 5, Wichita)
Lob-Folly. Wichita, KS: Punch Bowl Press, 1989.
The only fiction story Garvey ever wrote, produced in 1930 and published in 1989, Lob-Folly has everything including murder, car chases, bootlegging, mystery, and romance. The action is set in western Kansas along the Smokey Hill River during prohibition days. Garvey joined KAC in 1934 and was a life member. She died in 1993. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Gentry, Lesley Ann (District 6, Beloit)
The Lady Is a Veterinarian: The Pioneer Women Who Graduated from the School of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State College, 1932-1956. Newton, KS: Mennonite Press, 2005, 145pp., photo illus., paper.
This well-illustrated biographical account testifies to the courage and intellect of twelve women graduates who dared to claim their place in the profession of veterinary medicine, not then considered a place for ladies. The honors and achievements of these women rewarded their hard work to gain proficiency in animal science. These graduates and their knowledge of the care of animals made an indelible mark on the future of women as veterinarians. 2005 Ferguson Kansas History Book Award. (Reviewed by DSP, Jan 2006)

German, Greg. (District 2, Kansas City, KS)
"The Farmer's wife," (Poetry), see Midwest Quarterly, pp. 542-43.

German, Greg. (District 2, Kansas City, KS)
"Beyond confessional: Jonathan Holden . . . honest poetry, honest discovery," (Criticism) see Midwest Quarterly, pp. 497-501.

Glenn, Nancy.  (District 5, Wichita)
Don't Ask Me For the Moon. Newton, KS: Mennonite Press, 2001, illus. by author. Nancy Glenn's first book of poetry. Dreamlike and sensitive, revealing the emotions we all experience as we process what life has given us. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Goering, Gladys V. (District 5, Moundridge)
Women in Search of Mission. Newton, KS: Faith and Life Press, 1980.
This history of the General Conference Mennonite Women's Organization is supported by many photographs. It began in 1917 at the General Conference Mennonite Church meeting in its triennial session in Berkeley, California. The eight chapters cover such topics as Missions Nearer Home; Fund Raisers; Winds of Change, and The Home Front. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Goldstein, Lee  (District 1, Topeka)
Syntaxis. Baltimore, MD: AmErica House Book Publishers, 2001, 71 pp., Paperbound, $16.95.
"There is a 'Zen' quality in this poetry, as one can struggle with a deep koan and its meaning, yet ultimately realize the truth of emptiness. At first that surface appears impenetrable, yet persistence often finds the world of the author and therefore recognizes scars, or open wounds, but with the visceral sense free of any surface—emotional yet beyond emotion. These are things the explorer can find..."  (Reviewed by Steve Creson, poet, 2001)

Gollier, Bud. (District 2, Ottawa)
Like His Teacher; Memoirs of a Rural Kansas Physician .  Leawood, KS: Leathers Publishing, 2002, 241 pp., Softbound
After a near fatal stroke, and throughout his recovery, Dr. Gollier maintained his strong interest in his community of Ottawa, Kansas, and his medical profession. His autobiography developed as a form of therapy, and it grew from an expression of difficult conflicts to a story of faith and resolution. (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, January 2010)

Gonzales, Lydia (District 7, Garden City)
Gringo/Ringo: The Trials of a Watchdog. Newton, KS: Mennonite Press, 2005, 14pp., photo illus., paper.
Gringo/Ringo tells the true story of how the author’s bilingual dog was lost and then returned to his family. Numerous photos record real-life family experiences in western Kansas. Consideration for the needs of others becomes very important in solving the immediate problem, especially in a multicultural town. This book is very positive and encouraging for both children and adults. (Reviewed by Lorena Joyce Herrmann, District 7, Apr 2006)

Graber, Arlene Rains (District 5, Wichita)
Devoted to Traveling. Denton, TX: Devoted to Books, 2010, 155 pp. $13.95
There are places to see in this world. Travel along with the author as she winds her way through the globe visiting the known and unknown. This book is a chronicle of the first-hand experiences of a woman whose adventures are written with lessons learned. [The author] has enjoyed dual careers in the travel industry and as a freelance writer for more than two decades. She has traveled throughout the world from her home in Kansas. [Her book contains] a group of stories that inform and entertain with guidelines and tips for the traveler and would-be traveler in all of us. (Quoted from book's advertisement by D.S. Pady, November 2011)

Grant, Jean (District 2, Lawrence)
The Burning Veil; A Novel of Arabia. Lawrence, KS: Mishmish Press, 2010, 361 pp., Paperbound
The Burning Veil "is a novel of love and colliding cultures. Dr. Sarah Moss visits Saudi Arabia to decide whether to risk marrying Ibrahim, a devout Saudi Arab. She has heard only evil about the Saudi system, where men keep "their" women secluded. Ibrahim's brother, an Islamist hardliner, hates her, as does his fierce jealous mother. Ibrahim himself is torn between his love for Sarah and his devotion to his family and culture. The Burning Veil is also a story of a spiritual quest. Sarah, a troubled agnostic, learns that Islam can be a nurturing spiritual path. The novel depends heavily on actual events in the kingdom, including the Saudi reaction to both 9/11 and the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan." The author lived twenty years in the Middle East, nine of them in Saudi Arabia where she was a staff reporter for Arab News, the English language daily. She speaks Arabic and taught seven years at the American University of Beirut. (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, October 2010)

Gray, Harold L. (d. 1997)
To the prairie and to God; poems written between 1936 - 1941; collected and edited by Kevin L. Gray (District 2, Olathe) and M. Stefan Strozier. NY: World Audience, March 2007, 120pp., paper, illus., $15.99.
This collection's rich variety of poems conveys the sensitivity and often lyrical response of a young Midwesterner to the world around him at a time that now seems quite distant to us—the late 1930s and early 1940s. The poems display the exuberant interest in various forms, like repetition, wit, and serious religious temperament. The poet's son has lovingly prepared these poems for publication, and his highly-personal introduction provides a moving portrait of great appreciation. (Reviewed by Don S. Pady, Feb 2008)

Green, Yvonne Evie. (District 1, Topeka)
Poetry, essays, recipes, see in Insight Out (2003) and A Write Stuff Christmas (2004).

Grimes, Marcene (District 1, Tecumseh)
Ill Blows the Wind. Overland Park, KS: Leathers publishing, 2006, 128pp., paper, $15.00.
This fictional tale concerns a family in the Kansas Flint Hills who allows a commercial wind farm to be erected on their landcreating friction between wind-farm advocates and those who want to preserve the pristine prairie. A brutal murder takes a look at all sides of a real-life issue of producing "clean" electricity with the renewable resources of the famous Kansas winds. (Reviewed by DSP, Nov 2006)

Grimm, Jo. (District 2, Bella Vista, AR)
Putting on Her Face. (n.p.): 1stBooks, 2001, 398 pp.
This is a novel about a young girl's life during World War II. The story takes the reader with Bea Stephens as she trains for a job with the Civil Aeronautics Administration as an Aircraft Communicator in the 1940s. Romance, travel, and history are intertwined as Bea handles the difficulties placed upon young women of that time. This is Jo's second book. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Grimm. Jo. (District 2, Bella Vista, AR)
When the Word Came. (n.p.: n.p.), 1982, 135 pp.
This collection of poetry was written during the fifteen years since Jo Grimm's father died when she was forty years old. The conversion she experienced at that time changed her view of the world. The poems reflect the broadening of her focus from her immediate family, to the extended family of her husband, to the worldwide Christian family. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Guernsey, Jeff G. (District 4, Salina)
Von Din Burg's Regiment. Baltimore. MD: PublishAmerica, 2010, 59 pp., Paperbound
This small book creates "a story about the United States Civil War. General Von Din Burg was a General in the German army before coming to America. His English isn't good but he tries to make himself understood. His regiment was formed from men no one else wanted. As the regiment started to recruit, a better class of men was added to the rolls. A bond started to form between the men. We get to know the regiment and everyone in it as a private writes letters home. He writes as they spoke in 1863. Some words are misspelled, and syntax doesn't match what we use today. We see camp life, go on patrols, and finally go into battle. How does this regiment fair in battle? Do they fight or run? (Quoted from cover blurb by D.S. Pady, December 2011)

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H:

Hamilton, Chris.  (District 1, Topeka)
The House Rules; an Historical Novel . [www.booksurge.com], 2009, 286 pp., illus., tables, Paperbound, $16.95
The late 1960s...a terrible war, a revolution. "What to live and die for were fading...but the fastest youth in America showed us hope." This is a spell-binding tale, an historical novel based on the remarkable true story of Terry Householder of Concordia, Kansas, the fastest high school sprinter in America in 1967, who served as a decorated Marine hero, fighting in Vietnam alongside his Marine brothers in horrendous battles. It is equally the story of the soul of Kansas, the wonders of the high plains and its peoples, the life to be found in great dreams and sacrifice, and the valor in those most dangerous times of revolution and war. The novel is based on numerous eyewitness and participant interviews and documents. From those challenging days, and this unforgetable young man, we can re-learn what to hold fast to in our bright and darkest hours." 
(Reviewed by D.S. Pady, November 2009)

Hamilton, Rylie J. (District 1, Topeka)
Self Consciousness. [Privately printed], 2010, 318 pp., Paperbound.
"In this sequel to Self Convictions, let the Hudson family tell you their story as it continues:  The twins Brielle and Bennett, grow and their powers emerge. When Sarah and Brandon eliminated the chapter in Texas, they opened a floodgate. Sensing the development of their gifts, the Society will stop at nothing to get their hands on them.  New rivals surface, using their powers against Sarah and Brandon in order to get the twins for themselves. Will the Hudsons be able to handle a couple whose wrath is well beyond what they could've ever imagined? Join them as they will all share with you in the continuing story in the 'Self' series."  
(Reviewed from book's blurb. Quoted by D.S. Pady, November 2010)

Hamilton, Rylie J. (District 1, Topeka)
Self Convictions. [Privately printed], 2010, 329 pp., Paperbound.
This novel reveals "an internal struggle between good and evil. Brandon begins his life like any other child but has no idea what's to come. As his powers of telekinesis begin to develop, he doesn't understand where they come from or how to control them. His inability to control his gifts leads him to a place of mystery and unraveling he never would've fathomed. Discover with him who the Voice is that's been making him do things against his will from early childhood. When Brandon thinks things can't get any worse, they do. With so many questions unanswered, he sets out to discover the origins of his being meeting the love of his life along the way. Together they break the code of secrecy and destroy what is meant to control their lives.  Share his life him as Brandon tells you his story in the first installment of the Self series." 
(Reviewed from the book's blurb. Quoted by D.S. Pady, November 2010)

Hamilton, Rylie J. (District 1, Topeka)
Self Convictions. Salt Lake City, UT: American Book Publishing, 2010, 202 pp., Paperbound, $18.00.
This suspense/fantasy novel suggests some solutions to: "What would you do if you had the powers of telekinesis? Brandon Hudson faces that very question when he discovers these powers and more as a young boy, and he revels in his abilities.  But a voice interferes with his understanding of right and wrong, leading Brandon to act evilly. When a secret society reaches out to him, Brandon has to question his upbringing, his family's history and the very presence of the voice." 
(Reviewed from the book's blurb. Quoted by D.S. Pady, January 2011)

Haney, Fred J. (District 5, Wichita)
How I know; Words and Music by Fred Haney. (Privately Printed, no date, 4 pp.),
This six-stanza song of praise to Jesus shows how Joseph, the Lord's earthly father, must have believed in Him. Joseph realizes that God had entrusted His son to him, and Joseph agrees to oversee this child's progression. But, as difficult as it is for Joseph to let Jesus go where His heavenly father has chosen, Joseph still craves to hold Christ's hand and walk beside his son. The haunting realization that Joseph could not save Jesus from conviction and execution on the cross is transcended by Jesus living again within us -- and saving us by His grace. (Reviewed by D. S. Pady, July 2011)

Hart, Hazel I. (District 5, Wichita)
Like Mother, Like Daughter. Baltimore, MD: Publish America, 2009, 170 pp., Paperbound.
"When the local historical society chooses another family as a subject for a book on the town's beginnings, Crystal Sands Marshall hires her own writer and sets off to collect the necessary records from her eccentric sister, Iris, who has left the family home since their mother died five years before. When Iris fails to answer the door, Crystal breaks in and finds her sister unconscious on the kitchen floor. Fearing Iris has attempted suicide, Crystal delays the sheriff's investigation until she can search the house. She discovers Iris's diaries and learns her mother committed murder to protect the family name. As even more horrible secrets are revealed, Crystal is faced with the same choice: murder or possible ruin. Is this truly a case of like mother, like daughter?" (Reviewd by D. S. Pady as quoted from blurb, October 2010)

Hart, Hazel I. (District 5, Wichita)
The Night Before Christmas; a Suspense Novel. Wichita, KS: Seasoned Aspirer Press, 2008, 239 pp., Paperbound, $20.00
"It's Christmastime. Wes Myers prays for Jesus' help in reconciling with his wife Betty, so he can keep her from teaching their children pagan beliefs.  Wes's prayers are answered when Betty takes him back, and the couple has a few good days.  When Wes loses his job, he reaches for the bottle first and the Bible second.On Christmas eve, Jesus speaks to Wes again. The message is chilling." (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, November 2009)

Harshbarger, Laurence.  (District 4, Junction City)
Sixty Years of Poetry, 1941-2000. (n.p.: n.p., ca. 2000) Winner of the 2002 Nelson Poetry Award, this book encompasses a wide variety of moods, ideas, and verse forms. Larry's poems are like Kansas weather—if you like it today, just wait and it will change; or just turn the page. Laurence's comments throughout the book and his "Happy Reading" lend a very personal air to the more than a hundred poems that chronicle his life from 1941 to 2000. He is a retired professor of English at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. Larry lives in Junction City where he writes academic, fiction and poetry. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Harris, Cynthia A. (District 4, Manhattan)
K-State Agronomy; centennial 1906 - 2006; a century remembered; a centennial history of the Department of Agronomy, Kansas State University. Manhattan, KS: Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, 2006, 191pp., paper, illustrated.
KSU's Department of Agronomy has statewide responsibilities for teaching, research, and extension in crop, soil and range sciences. This history brings together the accomplishments of faculty and staff, teaching and research programs, extension activities, and services. Chapters written by Cynthia Harris include: "Heads of agronomy," "Experiment fields," "Agronomy farm," and "Ashland agronomy farm." (Reviewed by Don S. Pady, Feb 2008)

Hemmingway, Reaonna T. (District 1, Topeka)
Baseball Card Hero. Topeka, KS: Bodge House Press, 2009, 188 pp., paperbound.
"Seven year old Stevie Donaldson survived premature birth, post-natal drug addiction, and recurring lung ailments just to face the biggest challenge yet, leukemia. Adopted after his birth by Dr. Lorain Donaldson, his hopes for a future rest in God's hands as the search for his biological father becomes a necessity. But things aren't all bad. Thanks to his birthmother leaving him a baseball card, he's a Jumping Jack Tomack Junior Fan Club member and better yet, Mom is now dating Jack. Everything's looking good for Mom to marry his baseball hero until Jack gets mad at Lorain for lying. Stevie couldn't quite hear the whole argument, but it was about him. After Jack stormed out of the house, Stevie heard Mom telling her dead husband's photo that she is going to lose Stevie. So they didn't catch the leukemia in time. He's going to die. But he doesn't want to die, especially since with Jack gone, Mom will be alone again." (Reviewed by D. S. Pady, April 2004)

Hemmingway, Reaona T. (District 1, Topeka)
Home for Christmas; a Collection of Short Stories. Topeka, KS: Bodge House Press, 2009, 80 pp., Paperbound, $9.95
In Home for Christmas, which includes three limited edition stories originally published in The Christmas Treasure (2007), the author has added two new stories and one award-winning entry to the 2005 Kansas Authors Club Literary Contest. The new title to the collection reflects the general theme of the stories presented. No matter whether home is a place, a family, or finding ones vocation, these Christmas stories will find a place in your heart as you remember things past. This fine collection of Christmas stories is dedicated to John George Bodge who died early Christmas morning in 1993 at the ripe young age of 95. (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, December 2009)

Hemingway, Reaona T. (District 1, Topeka)
Mariah; a Novel. Topeka, KS: Bodge House Press, 2010, 223 pp., Paperbound, $13.95.
In search of her birth mother, who left her on the steps of a St. Louis orphanage as an infant, Mariah Wingate lakes a position as a governess in Elk Creek, Wyoming. After meeting her employer's son, Brent Sawyer, she determines that the nuns who raised her didn't quite teach her everything she needed to know about courting the handsome deputy.
   When Deputy Brent Sawyer agreed to meet his niece's new governess, Mariah, at the train station, he never dreamed he would find the girl he wanted to marry. Although cautioned to move slowly in his desire to court Mariah, Brent puts her life in danger as their relationship places her in the path of cattle thieves and a rapist who has terrorized the county for several months.
(Reviewed by D.S. Pady, October 2010)

Hemmingway, Reaona T. (District 1, Topeka)
September 11; a Novel. Topeka, KS: Bodge House Press, 2009, 295 pp., Paperbound, $15.95
Since his birth on September 11, 1985, Kevin Stillwater has lost one family member after another on his birthday, including both of his parents at the Pentagon in 2001. After returning from Iraq, he met Jeremiah Flint, a special agent with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, who enlists Kevin's computer skills in finding Jeremiah's missing nephew, Ivan.
  As Kevin's 21st birthday approaches, Jeremiah fights for his life, Ivan is kidnapped, and Kevin's last remaining brother is shot down in a helicopter. On September 11, 2006, the race is on to save Jeremiah, rescue Ivan, and stop Kevin from trying to end the family curse by committing suicide. (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, November 2009)

Hemingway, Reaona T.  (District 1, Topeka)
Tillie's Marbles; a Short Story. Topeka, KS: Bodge House Press, 2010, 31 pp., Paperbound, $4.00.
The "Black Sunday" Dust Bowl storm caused thirteen-year-old Tillie Mae Herman to lose her bag of marbles which contained three-dozen shooters, two blue and white Aggies, and the key to her grandfather's safe deposit box. An overgrown bully, a nineteen-year-old, named Jethro, had stolen her marbles, and later lured her into a barn among the hay bales where he tried to rape Tillie. She screamed loudly, and he was apprehended by neighbors. Tillie then discovered why Jethro tried to sabotage the town's water supply, the result of which would startle the most fearless reader.  (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, December 2010)

Herrmann, Duane L. (District 1, Topeka)
Andrew Herrmann family in America. Topeka, KS: Buffalo Press, 1990, 35pp., paper, illns., $2.50.
For three generations the Andrew Herrmann family owned land and farmed in Kansas. As a member of the fourth generation, the author interviewed as many living descendents as he could and listened to them narrate the most important parts of their genealogy. A chart showing the decadency illustrates this remarkable story of the American experience of an immigrant family. (Reviewed by Don S. Pady, Feb 2008)

Herrmann, Duane L. (District 1, Topeka)
By Thy strengthening grace: a brief history of the first One Hundred years of the Baha'i faith in Topeka, 1906-2006. Topeka, KS: Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'i, 2006, 159pp., paper, illustrated
Winner of the 2007 Ferguson History Book Award, the author, a native Topekan, shows that the Baha'i Faith's religious community in Topeka during the twentieth century met unique challenges in establishing its place among Topeka's religious denominations. Some of these challenges involved questions like: How do you worship or conduct business when you have no clergy or priesthood because they are forbidden? What do you do when your marriage is not legally valid with the state? These are only two of the many challenges faced and overcome by the Baha'i of Topeka, and this is the story of their first one hundred years. (Reviewed by Don S. Pady, Feb 2008)

Herrmann, Duane L. (District 1, Topeka)
Ninety Years in Kansas; the Baha'i Faith, 1897 - 1987 . Topeka, KS: Buffalo Press, 1987, 13 pp. Paperbound
This very detailed history of the Baha'i faith in Kansas is a record of the acquisition and exercise of the efficient and harmonious life of this religious community. Since the Baha'i faith is in a period of growth, plans for expansion are used as guidelines to coordinate this process. (Reviewed by D.S. Pady. November 2009)

Herrmann, Duane L. (District 1, Topeka)
"On the hillside," (Poetry) see Midwest Quarterly, pp. 543-44.

Herrmann, Duane L. (District 1, Wichita)
Prairies of Possibilities: New and Selected Poems. New York: iUniverse, Inc., 2005, 114pp., paper, $14.95.
These poems bother our consciences because they memorialize our innermost sentiments about many aspects of life. Each poem portrays the journey of the soul as it strives for perfection—for human growth never ends. Many tenets of the Baha'i faith are revealed as the substantive basis for the poems. (Reviewed by DSP, Jan 2006) (Reviewed by Don S. Pady, Feb 2008)

Herrmann, Duane L. (District 1, Topeka)
Voices from a borrowedgarden; a collection of poetry. Topeka, KS: Buffalo Press, 1990, 107pp., paper.
Herrmann is one of sixteen poets whose works he edits as Poet-in-Residence at Louhelen Baha'i School in 1989, at which time he directed work of the Kansas Baha'i History Project. (Reviewed by Don S. Pady, Feb 2008)

Herrmann, Duane L. (District 1, Topeka)
Whispers shouting glory. Topeka, KS: Buffalo Press, 1989,40pp., paper.
"(These) poems are very clear and uncluttered, which makes them most appealing; there is nothing contrived or artificial in them and the poetic voice is unaffected and pure."-- Roger White. Hemnann received the Robert Hayden Poetry Fellowship at Louhelen Baha'i School. (Reviewed by Don S. Pady, Feb 2008)

Hill, Esther Clark (District 3, Chanute) see Clark, Esther M.

Hill, George E. (District 3, Parsons)
Investigation; a Life Shrouded in Mystery. Denver, CO: Outskirts Press, 2008, 126 pp., illus., Paperbound, $11.95
"Is there a man in American society who, on command of the higher levels of authority, follows orders which include deadly force? It appears that way to Confidential Investigator John Green, whose investigation takes many twists and turns as his inquiries send him on the winding trail of a clandestine man's life. Starting from Tulsa, Oklahoma, Green pursues his leads coast to coast, meeting numerous characters, some good, others not. Green's fictional mystery, somewhat fanned by the fumes of paranoia following 9/11, seem to raise more questions, some surreal." (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, November 2009)

Horlacher, Mildred E. (District 7, Colby)
Seasons of Salt; Meditations. New York: iUniverse, 2009, xxiii, 232 pp., Softbound $19.95
Whether or not we realize it at the time, normal events in our everyday lives can have significant spiritual meaning, and can also offer valuable lessons -- if we only take time to listen. In more than sixty devotions suitable for individual or group use, Horlacher seamlessly integrates faith and daily living. [She] shows how everyday activities, including childhood games, kitchen challenges, and family and church events, present perfect opportunities for expressions of faith. With wit and wisdom, Horlacher also tackles subjects such as stewardship, servanthood, and the importance of the church family. In addition, you'll find insight into church celebrations and liturgical seasons in the "Traveling Through the Church Year" section. Taking the time to study God's Word and celebrating our everyday experiences is a vital part of the Christian walk. Let Seasons of Salt give you encouragement and strength for your life's journey. (Quoted from cover by D.S. Pady, November 2011)

Huggins, Alice Margaret (District 1, Topeka)
Fragrant Jade, illustrated by Marybelle Kimball. Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1948, 86 pp., hardcover.
"Little Crooked-Foot," everyone always called her. But Miss Wang, her new teacher, suggested that "Fragrant Jade" would be a better name. When a German surgeon visits Peking, she learns that he can straighten her club foot. She has the operation performed despite the skepticism of her father who did not think much of Christians. But when a Chinese doctor fixes her brother's broken legs, peace and harmony prevail in Fragrant Jade's household." (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, February 2010)

I:

Ironquill. [pseud.] (District 1, Topeka)
Rhymes of Ironquill (by Eugene Fitch Ware). Topeka, KS: T. J. Kellam, Publisher, (Press of Geo. W. Crane) 1885, 157 pp., hardcover.
Eugene Fitch Ware (1841-1911) published Rhymes long before he became a member of the Kansas Authors Club in 1904—the year of its founding. Ware later served as its State President in 1907. An American lawyer and poet, the forms and styles of his poetry was very much admired by William Allen White (1868-1944), who emulated many of his verses. (Reviewed by D. S. Pady, April 2009)

J:

Jadlow, Sally (District 1, Topeka)
God's Little Miracle Book. Denton, TX: Buoy Up Press, 2010, 83 pp., Softbound, $9.95.
This book "contains true stories of God's intervention in the lives of everyday people. These stories come from the author's experiences as a corporate chaplain, from being a wife and mother, and from travels abroad -- stories that inspire, encourage and comfort readers in today's uncertain times." (Quoted from book by Don Pady, March 2011)

Jadlow, Sally (District 1, Topeka)
The Late Sooner. Denton, TX: Roots and Branches, 2006, 215 pp., Soft cover, $16.95.
"Sanford Deering wants to stake his claim in the Oklahoma Territory on April 22, 1889. His wife, Lucy, determined to stay in Missouri, refuses to let him go. They are expecting their third child. Soon after the birth, Sanford receives a letter from a friend who staked a claim. Land is still available. The Late Sooner is the story of one family of homesteaders who claimed some of the pockets of free land available, and dramatizes the struggles, heartaches, and trials of the Deering family as they face claim-jumpers, prairie fires and famine during the difficult years following the first land run in Oklahoma." (Quoted from cover blurb by Don Pady, April 2011)

Jenks, Dorothy. (District 7, Lakin)
"The Runaways," (Poetry) see Midwest Quarterly, pp. 587-89.

Jenkins, Buster. [Pseudonym] (District 2, Ottawa)
Tougher'n a Boot. [by Frankie Kannard]. Leawood, KS: Leathers Publishing, 2002, 117 pp., photos, paperback.
This autobiography of Frankie Kannard (alias Buster Jenkins) records humble beginnings in Woodson County, Kansas—to bare=knuckle days in the Merchant Marines and the U.S. Marine Corps—to his later experiences as a grocery man and musician. He played both guitar and fiddle and won the Kansas Fiddling Contest in 1957. In later years, he was so well among bluegrass musicians and fans that he was invited to play before President Gerald Ford, and later, in front of First Lady Rosalyn Carter. Buster was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Mid-America Old Time Fiddling Hall of Fame. (Reviewed by Don Pady, January 2009)

Johnston, Colleen Kelly. (District 5, Wichita)
Stepping Stones; Moments in a Woman's Life. Wichita, KS: Total Printing Solutions, 2001.
Colleen has written enjoyable poetry and prose relating to precious moments in her life—moments many of us have experienced. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Julian, Vicki L. (District 2, Lawrence)
Christmas; a Season for Angels. Salt Lake City, UT: Bedside Books, 2009, 114 pp., Paperbound, $16.00.
Tightly-woven short stories reveal an "advertising executive who loses his job and a family in a single day; a thirty-two-year-old man dying of lung cancer whose only joy in life now is the cancer stick that put him there; the young single mother who fears she will never again find true love; and the daughter who blames herself for her mother's death: They all have one thing in common -- they are all searching for peace at Christmas time. Vicki Julian will pull at your heartstrings as each person unexpectantly finds the peace they are seeking." (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, November 2009)

Return to Index

K:

Kamberg, Mary-Lane. (District 2, Olathe)
"In Search of John Juda's grave," (Poetry) see Midwest Quarterly, p. 547.

Kannard, Frankie. see Jenkins, Buster [Pseudonym]

Kansas Authors Club. (District 1, Topeka)
Christmas Memories. (Topeka, KS: Kansas Authors Club, 1991, 14 pp., paperbound.
Prose and poetry contributions from twelve members of District 1 mark a joyous rendering of Christmas-related writings. (Reviewed by Don Pady, January 2009)

Kansas Authors Club
Pen life as art; write from the heart; youth writing contest award winners, 2007. Kechi. KS: TRMS Creative Services, 2007 ,86pp., spiral-bound paper.
Fiction, non-fiction and poetry entries by contestants, who placed or were given honorable mention, are published annually by youth in grades 1-12 at the local, district or state level. A judge for each literary genre determines winning entries based on inventive imaginations, sense of adventure and creativity, and maturation in the complexity of the work. Good writing and valuable story-telling techniques teach other youngsters to contribute yearly examples of their poetry and prose. (Reviewed by Don S. Pady, Feb 2008)

Kansas Authors Club
Poetry Anthology ... 1956. [Privately printed] 30 pp., Paperbound.
This chapbook of 56 poems is written by members from all seven KAC districts. They express a variety of thoughts in structures of intrinsic value either boldly evident or deftly hidden just enough to cause the reader to think. (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, November 2009)

Kansas Authors Club
Writing Is A Capital Idea! 2009 Youth Writing Contest Award Winners. Emporia, KS: TRMS Creative Services, 2009, 80 pp., spiral bound.
Poetry, fiction and non-fiction mark the best literary offerings of Kansas youth in 2009. From grades 1 through 12, these award-winning works exemplify the vivid imaginations captured in this heartwarming collection. (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, October 2009)

Kansas Authors Club
2006 Youth Writing Contest Award Winners. Kansas Authors Club, 2006, 107pp., paper.
This collection of poetry, prose, and artwork selected by noted judges represents a myriad of award-winning efforts submitted by Kansas students in all grade levels. As one judge wrote, "Every drawing, painting, sculpture, every story and poem, every dance and song and game you create is a masterpiece, because you have made something beautiful that the world did not have before... And try to laugh every day, for the best creations come from a light heart." (Reviewed by DSP, Nov 2006)

Kansas Authors Club
2010 Youth Writing Contest Award Winners. Newton, KS: Mennonite Press, 64 pp., Paperbound.
This book was presented to all Kansas youth from 1st through 12th grades who were awarded prizes for their prose- or poetry writing at the KAC's annual convention and writing conference held in Lawrence, KS, October 1-3, 2010. Kristine Polansky (District 4) compiled the book, and Tracy Million Simmons (District 2, Emporia) designed and edited it. (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, October 2010)

Kansas Authors Club
2011 Youth Writing Contest Award Winners. Newton, KS: Mennonite Press, 2011, 67 pp., Paperbound
Winning poetry, fiction and nonfiction by Kansas youth, who range between grades 1-12, demonstrate how young people flex their writing muscles in such varied and readable literary works. These writings can be imaginative, factual and creative. But whatever the genre, they hold the readers' interests because the content, originality and organization are so well composed. Moreover, the mechanics of capitalization, punctuation, sentence structure and correct spelling mark literary awareness to all these young people who excel in their early ages. (Reviewed by Don Pady, November 2011)

Karnowski, William J. (District 4, Wamego)
Catching the rain;prose and poetry by ... NY: iuniverse, 2007, 119pp., paper, $13.95.
Karnowski's poetry has its roots as deep as the big bluestem grass that makes up the last remaining expanses of the Tallgrass prairie. The prairie chickens still boom on early spring mornings The poet shares his language of this land. (Reviewed by Don S. Pady, Feb 2008)

Karnowski, William J. (District 4, Laclede)
Dispensation; Poetry. New York, NY: iUniverse, 89 pp., Paperbound, $9.95.
The title word, "Dispensation has several meanings. This collection (of 82 poems) has a scream of diversity, a quiet peace. This is an experiment into lines that live alone and dreams that linger after sunrise." The poet sponsors and judges the Karnowski Youth Poetry Contest for the Kansas Authors Club and is currently the organization's State Vice President. (Reviewed from the dustjacket blurb by D.S. Pady, October 2010)

Karnowski, William J. (District 4, Wamego)
Hardtails and highways; poems of the open road. [n.p.: privately printed, n.d.1 1 lpp., paper.
In sixteen gasoline-charged poems, the poet takes us on his Harley to places beyond the reach of most—unless you've straddled a "hog" over all the backroads that he has traveled. Reminiscences of places seen, people met, and bikers' joys and fears, lay down tire marks and exhaust plumes all along the way. VROOM VROOM. (Reviewed by Don S. Pady, Feb 2008)

Karnowski, William J. (District 4, Wamego)
Painting the Train: Prose and Poetry by ... New York: iUniverse, Inc., 2005, 112pp., paper, $13.95.
The wordsmithing of Karnowski's poetry leaves an indelible mark as he observes life's passages. His portrayal of people and strong belief in himself forge unbreakable chains linking reality and basic truths in the search for hope. (Reviewed by DSP, Feb 2006)

Karnowski, William J. (District 4, Wamego)
Pushing the Chain: Prose and Poetry. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse, 2003.
The author states this book is about a journey across time and places, and the one constant that remains important in his life, searching for joy. I found joy reading his "Old Pine," and "Ten Thousand Years," written on January 10, 2003. Many of his poems and prose pieces are dated. This gives you a feeling of closeness to the author. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Karnowski, William J. (District 4, Wamego)
"The Smell of sunrise," (Poetry) see Midwest Quarterly, pp. 547-48.

Kazminski, Agnes Sutter. (District 1, Topeka)
Essays, poetry, see in Insight Out (2003) and A Write Stuff Christmas (2004).

Kazminski, Agnes J. Sutter (District 1, Topeka; edited by Karen Sells Brown, District 1, Topeka)
When We Were Children. Topeka, KS: Hall Commercial Printing, 2001, 91 pp. The author refers to her book as "simple tales" of growing up in Switzerland during World War II. She presents a child's view of one corner of the world in a difficult time, including funny and serious episodes of family life. Agnes came to the United States in 1970 when she married Charles Kazminski. She became an American citizen in 1982. She has made her home in Ozawkie, Kansas, for many years. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Kessler, Gordon A. (District 5, Newton)
Jezebel; A Novel. Newton, KS: Evergreen Books, 2001, 386 pp. Hardbound.
"A madman has come to town seeking a diabolical revenge, and large dogs begin attacking their masters for no apparent reason and with heinous results. Animal-control director Tony Parker must find out why and stop the murderous attacks. Meanwhile, Jezebel, a huge black Great Dane, has killed her master and is loose, terrorizing the city and stalking Parker and his family. Parker and Sarah Hill, his beautiful and seductive young assistant, attempt to unravel the mystery and stop the terrible carnage while dealing with their own demons and lusty desires. The attacks must be stopped. Jezebel must be found—and soon, you see—there is one complication. Parker seems to have come down with an annoying little virus. No, it's not one of those irritating summer colds. It's certain death." (Reviewed from dustjacket blurb by D.S. Pady, October 2010)

Kinney-Riordan, Susan. (District 4, Salina)
I Wanted a Poem About Kansas. Salina, KS: East Window Press, 2004.
This a collection of poetry about the wonders of living in Kansas and elsewhere. Chapter titles are as intriguing as the poem titles. "Traveling Shoes" includes such poems as "Birkenstock Catalog," "Flint Hills to Colorado," and "Car Ride to Eagle's Nest." Then the chapter "I wanted a Poem about Kansas" includes poems like these: "Funny Trees," "Blue Spruce in Kansas" and "Post Rock Country" to name a few. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Klaassen, Mike (District 5, Valley Center)
The Brute. Port Orchard, WA: Blue Works, 2005, 167pp., paper, $14.99.
Klaassen's first novel for young adults is centered in the Flint Hills of Kansas. What happens to sixteen-year-old Fortney Curtis on a Boy Scout campout will strongly reinforce Scouting's legendary motto, “Be Prepared.” (Reviewed by DSP, Jan 2006)

Klassen, Mike (District 5, Valley Center)
Cracks. Port Orchard, WA: Blue Works, 2006, 255pp., paper, $14.99.
An exciting novel for young adults features earthquakes, caves, drugs, and murder. Sixteen-year- old Bodie McCann is on a youth-rehabilitation outing in the vast Ozarks of Arkansas when earthquakes rock the Mississippi Valley. The adults are killed and Bodie finds himself stuck in the wilderness with four other troubled teens. Along the way, Bodie discovers something about himself— and a lot about life. (Reviewed by DSP, Nov 2006)

Klemmer, Jo Ann. (District 1, Topeka)
Leaving; memoirs. Topeka, KS: Hall Commercial Printing, 2006, 128pp., paper, illustrated.
This autobiography tells about her life on a Kansas farm during the 1930s—the years of "drouths, dust storms, grasshoppers, and overall depression." In this very remarkable book, Jo Ann gives her readers pictures of many experiences: golfing in Ireland and Scotland in 1981; working for the Menninger Clinic's School of Psychiatry; teaching English at two universities—and many more topics. The author was President of KAC's District 1 in 1973/74. (Reviewed by Don S. Pady, Feb 2008)

Koch, William E. (District 4, Manhattan)
Folklore from Kansas; Customs, Beliefs, and Superstitions. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 1980, 467 pp., Photos., illustrations, Paperbound.
This book is the result of a careful statewide survey of folk beliefs, customs and superstitions as told to college students—acting generally on volunteer assignments—who were enrolled in folklore and folk-life classes at Kansas State University and Fort Hays (Kansas) State University. They completed over 17,000 3"x5" "informational" cards, which form the basis for the book, gathered mostly during the years 1956 through 1963. Approximately 450 collectors did their work efficiently and accurately. More than 2,800 people are listed in the back of the book who generously offered their knowledge and supportive help in the initial fieldwork. (Reviewed by Don Pady, June 2009)

Kurtis, Bill. (District 3, Chicago, IL)
The Death Penalty on Trial; Crisis in American Justice. New York: PublicAffairs, 2004, 218 pp., Hardcover, $25.00.
Bill Kurtis, anchor of the popular true-crime TV series, Cold Case Files and American Justice, used to support the death penalty. But after observing the machinations of the justice system for thirty years, he came to the stunning realization that changed his life: Capital punishment is wrong! Kurtis takes his readers on an investigative journey to look at two harrowing murder scenes, and explores the legal and tactical decisions made before and during trial—which sent two innocent men to the death row. (Reviewed by Don Pady, October 2008)

Kurtis, Bill. (District 3, Chicago, IL)
The Prairie table cookbook ... with Michelle M. Martin. Napierville, IL: Sourcebooks, 2008, 152pp., illus., $29.95.
The revolution toward healthy beef—from the trail to gourmet kitchens, as described in this book—offers dozens of great-tasting recipes, many of them contributed by today's top chefs and leading ranchers. Bill Kurtis founded the Tallgrass Beef Company to produce grass-fed and grass-finished beef that's good for you. The idea of grass-fed beef is nothing new; it's the way cattle were raised in the days of cowboys and cattle drives.
   Historical recipes, photographs, anecdotes and stories give a savoring flavor to the cowboy and army life. (Reviewed by Don S. Pady, Feb 2008)

L:

Lampe, Roberta Agnes Seiwert. (District 5, Garden Plain)
Agnes. Overland Park, KS: Leathers Publishing, 2006,304pp., hardcover, illus., $19.95.
Agnes Puder Linnebur of Breslau, Germany (renamed Wroclaw, Poland) was the maternal grandmother of the author. Agnes came to America in the early 1900s and she worked in New York City, Milwaukee and Chicago. But she relocated in Garden Plain,Kansas, to take the "i ob as housekeever for a widower and his children. Presented here is a fictionalized version based on actual events of that family. Agnes' broadminded, worldly mannerisms, stylishness and interest in political events were also cause for suspicion among the locai female populace. (Reviewed by Don S. Pady, Feb 2008)

Lampe, Roberta Agnes Seiwert (District 5, Garden Plain)
The Homestead Trail; Kansas Calls. Mustang, OK: Tate Publishing & Enterprises, 2009, 351 pp., Paperbound, $24.99.
"Ephraim Von Horne felt the longing to search for new lands, much as his own grandfather had done some years previous when he left Europe with his family to find a new home in America. On a trip to Kansas in 1869, Ephraim found the perfect spot northwest of the small village of Wichita. Proudly, he planted his sign: 'Homestead.' Inspired by the journey of an actual family, the author takes the reader on an exciting and enlightening trip across the United States. Learn of the Golden Spike era of the railroads; an adventuresome riverboat trip up the Missouri River; the excitement of the Pony Express; the heart-stopping nearness of the Longhorn cattle drives; the glamor of the 'wind wagons,' and the stark reality of the Santa Fe Trail." (Reviewed from the dustjacket blurb by D.S. Pady, October 2010)

Lawson, Robert N. (District 1, Topeka)
The Bridge of Dreams; A Novel. Topeka, KS: Woodley Press, 2009, 490 pp., Paperbound, $20.00.
"This is a story of the narrator and his women from June 1, 1955 to June 1975. The first third is the story of Jack, just back from the Korean War, age 26, and Betty Fredricks, a college sophomore, age 19. The middle third develops Jack's relationships with three other women, Laura Burns, the countess Rostovna and Shoka Watanake. The last third traces the inheritance of values and property which Jack (now 46) has come to share with these women." The tale features the loves and lives of a huge cast of characters who live off of each other for twenty years. (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, October 2010)

Lawson, Robert N. (District 1, Topeka)
The Collected Sonnets of . . . 5th ed. Topeka: Woodley Press, 2004, 189pp., paper, $10.00.
Robert Lawson is a master of the sonnet, approaching the form with respect for the language and an unusual skill with rhyme. The poems are infused with his passion for literature and drama, and many reflect his affection for friends and humorous bent for having fun with words. His essay on “How to Write a Sonnet” is included. Eleanor Bell writes in her introduction, “If you like poetry, if you enjoy the creative use of language, you’ll find a feast for the heart and mind in these pages.” (Reviewed by Karen Sells Brown, Apr 2006)

Lawson, Robert N. (District 1, Topeka)
"Somewhere near Abilene," (Poem) see Midwest Quarterly, pp. 548-50.

Ledgin, Norm (District 2, Stanley) and Bethine Louise (Non-member)
Sour Notes; a Sally Freberg Mystery. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2009, 301 pp., Paperbound
Feisty middle-aged piano teacher Sally Freberg stumbles on a murder-in-progress after a Kansas City concert. Why would anyone conspire to kill mild-mannered archeologist Henry Decker? His brutal knife-slaying stymies all, especially the police. What's the motive? Apparently none in the victim's estranged Santa Fe family stands to gain. But--what's this about Decker's pre-concert mention of an opera? How might Sally follow THAT slender lead to uncover a motive and unmask the conspirators? To nail it all, Sally teams with an ambitious KCPD detective for a deadly pursuit near Decker's digs among ancient Pueblo ruins. It's a wild chase during a fierce New Mexico monsoon, imperiling Sally--and altering her life. (Quoted from book by Don Pady, November 2011)

Ledgin, Norm. (District 2, Stanley)
The Jayhawker; a novel. Illus. Jay Reinhardt. Stanley, KS: 672pp., paper, illustrated.
The author's "primary aim has been to show how people of varying temperaments carried Kansas past warring to a watershed movement, the political triumphs of Free State forces late in 1857 over proslavery intruders." The border struggles feature "both strengths and weaknesses by the principals: heroism, family devotion, romance, ...incest, along with the vengeance, comption, treachery, rape, butchery, and slaughter that 'won' the West." (Reviewed by Don S. Pady, Feb 2008)

Lechliter, Gary, District 2, Lawrence), editor, see Tallgrass Voices; Poems From Members of the Kansas Authors Club

Lilly, Judy Magnuson. (District 4, Salina)
"Foreclosure," (Poetry) see Midwest Quarterly, pp.591-93.

Long, Helen R. (District 4, Manhattan)
The 1996 Directory of Annual Conference Archives of the United Methodist Church in the U.S.A. Natchitoches, LA: Raephern Press, 1996.
Information about the United Methodist Church's Archives and Historical Centers from Alaska to Wyoming and all states in between. Lists location, days and hours open, a contact person, and how extensive the collection is for each center. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Long, Joyce M. Blake (District 3, Cherryvale)
The Misadventures of Zortz. Book I, "The Real Me." Illustrated by Margie Trotter. Coffeyville, KS: Tanos Books, 2010, 111 pp., Paperbound, $11.95.
In this fictional children's book, "imagination makes fantasy real. Many children pretend their dolls or bears are real. Zortz, a little girl puppet, has all the characteristics of being real except for talking. Ms. Joyce and Grandpa are able to communicate with Zortz by reading her mind. Zortz moves from wanting to be human to accepting herself as she is. She learns that she wants to entertain and help others." (Quoted from the author's cover blurb by Don Pady, April 2011)

Lytle, Marsha (District 2, Olathe)
Haggerty's Curse. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2004, 184pp., paper, $20.00.
Two brothers fleeing post-famine Ireland vow that neither of them will pass on the disease that has claimed so many of their Haggerty relations. A chance meeting with the Brennan family tests that vow repeatedly as James Haggerty fights his growing attraction to the oldest daughter, Cat. Through forty years of adventure and heartbreak, Cat Brennan's undying love for James never waivers, despite bad choices they both make with their lives. (Reviewed by DSP, Nov 2006)

Return to Index

M:

McAfee, Joan K. (District 5, Derby)
Riddle of the Lost Gold. Manhattan, KS: Sunflower University Press, 2002.
A historical fiction that blends life in western Kansas in the 1960s with a riddle from the past. An action-packed story for young adults and even senior citizens to enjoy. Cover design by Rod Hoover, St. George, KS. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

McArthur, James I. (non-member, Vail, AZ)
Leaves of Autumn; Cheyenne Indians End Their Domination of the Kansas Plains with an Attack on Settlers in Lincoln County. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2006, 279 pp., paperbound.
"A young man interested in the massacre of ten settlers by Cheyenne Indians in central Kansas in 1869, discovers Old Joe, a grizzled old-timer who purports to know about the incidents leading up to the attack—the Sand Creek Massacre, Roman Nose's famous war bonnet, Forsyth's Scouts, the early pioneers in Lincoln County and much more, leading the man to wonder how Old Joe seems to know so much about those days that occurred 140 years ago. The story that unfolds is an exciting, true-life adventure of the early settlers of Lincoln County and the end of Cheyenne domination of the plains they loved so dearly." James I. McArthur grew up in Newton, Kansas, and graduated from The University of Kansas. He recently retired from the Indian Health Service where he was Director of Information Systems Development. His wife, Sheila (Cromwell) is from Lincoln, Kansas, the place in which the main events of this book occurred. (Reviewed by D. S. Pady, April 2009)

McCarter, Margaret Hill. (District 1, Topeka)
In Old Quivira. Topeka, KS: Crane, 1909c1908, Third ed., 139 pp., illus., hardcover.
This brief tale of a half-forgotten yesterday helps to give place and interest to Quivira. A dreamer, inspired by a visit to the Kansas State House in Topeka on Christmas eve, imagines episodes of the Spanish conquest revealed by an old sword which once belonged to a Conquistador. It may have been that the spirit of Christ, abroad in the world on Christmas eve, as never before, led the dreamer back to the days of the Spanish explorers first coming to these prairies of the West. Whatever the cause, the old lost sword told the sweet story of the long ago, and through it all the same spirit that made it good to hear makes good the stories of Quivira, today—for it is the spirit of an overshadowing, unselfish love, that has the universe for its own. (Reviewed by Don Pady, June 2009)

McCourtie, Anne (District 1, Mayetta)
The Keeper of Names. Mayetta, KS: Gypsy Cat Publications, 2005, 67pp., paper.
Little One's search for the Keeper of Names, whom she hopes will someday reveal her true name, becomes an unexpected challenge on the mountain where the Keeper is said to reside. Even when Little One finds the Keeper of Names, the answers to her questions are not what she expects. But she discovers, in this older children's novel, the depth of her inner strength as she seeks to know her true name and her destiny. (Reviewed by DSP, Nov 2006)

McCray, Billy Q. (District 5, Wichita) with Jon Roe.
Between These Walls: Working For the People. (n.p.): McCray's Publications, 2000.
Winner of the first Ferguson History Book Award (2001). Every liberty we enjoy today was won through courage and commitment of individuals who stood tall and worked hard yesterday. This man, who was on the front lines of the civil rights struggle then—and is still there today—offers inspiration for all of us. Billy proved that in America one can go as far as he or she has the will and education to go, no matter what our beginnings are. This is a book about making a difference written by a man who made the difference. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

McFarland, Trudy (District 1, Topeka)
Diary of a German War Bride. Privately printed, 2006, 474pp., paper, $22.95.
Winner of the 2006 J. Donald Coffin Award, the author's narrative of her mother's life story relates in diary form the hardships and good times between post World War I to her death in 1988. This prodigious work provides a remarkable account of family relationships, historical events, and the personal traits that make a strong and memorable family. (Reviewed by DSP, Nov 2006)

McFarland, Trudy. (District 1, Topeka)
Essays, poetry, recipes, see in Insight Out (2003) and A Write Stuff Christmas (2004).

McFarland, William Joseph. (District 1, Topeka)
My Time On The Clock; The Shaping of a College President. Denver, CO: Outskirts Press, 2008, 515 pp., illus., paperbound, $17.95.
The faith, fortune and foibles of the author are poignantly presented in this informative and entertaining autobiography. With self-deprecating humor and resolute honesty, the author describes a kaleidoscopic picture of events in his life, from moments of innocence to instances of utter hilarity. The pages reflect insights gained from ordinary experiences associated with growing up as a minister's son during the Depression in western Kansas; military service as a cryptographer in Korea; a forty-year career in education; and fifty years of officiating high school and college football. (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, May 2010)

McHenry, Eric. (District 1, Seattle, WA)
"Hypermart, " (Poetry) see Midwest Quarterly, pp. 55 1-52.

McHenry, Eric (District 1, Topeka)
Potscrubber Lullabies; Poems. Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, England: The Waywiser Press, 2010c2006, 77 pp., Paperbound.
"Eric McHenry's Potscrubber Lullabies is a fabulous book, one of the best books I've read in years. Witty, poignant, offbeat, elegaic and satirical (sometimes all at once), with metrical subtlety and sly rhymes, McHenry explores the idiom of place and place of idiom. He reveals how even the most personal and intimate utterances lean 'hard with the weight of someone else's meaning.' This debut collection marks the beginning of a new and significant voice in American poetry." McHenry teaches at Washburn University in Topeka, and Potscrubber Lullabies won the Kate Tufts Discovery Award in 2007. (Reviewed by Alan Shapiro, October 2006)

Mach, Tom (District 2, Lawrence)
All Parts Together. Lawrence, KS: Hill Song Press, 2006 (The Jessica Radford Trilogy, Book 2), 362pp., paper, $16.95.
A searing historical account of a young heroine caught in a whirlpool of American factions during the Civil War. What happens to Jessica Radford from the day after Quantrill's raid on Lawrence, Kansas, to the days after the death of Abraham Lincoln, will shock and inspire you. (Reviewed by DSP Apr 2006)

Mach, Tom. (District 2, Lawrence)
Sissy! Book One of the Jessica Radford Trilogy. Lawrence, KS: Hill Song Press, 2004c2003.
Tom Mach's historical novel Sissy! won the 2003 J. Donald Coffin Memorial Book Award. It follows the exploits of Jessica Radford, a young 19th century Lawrence, Kansas woman who was caught up in the turmoil of the Civil War. According to Civil War historian, David Hinze, author of The Battle of Carthage, Sissy! lays bare the turbulent times along the Missouri-Kansas border during the Civil War.
Sissy! makes the era of bleeding Kansas, the Underground Railroad, and the infamous Quantrill raid come alive for the reader." says Rebecca Phipps, Director of the Watkins Community Museum of History in Lawrence. "His novel vividly shows how some men risked their very lives to abolish slavery and how women showed enormous courage in helping preserve the Union or in protecting their men from murderous border ruffians such as Quantrill." (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Mach, Tom (District 2, Lawrence)
The Uni Verse: a poem exploring the wonders of it all. Lawrence, KS: Hill Song Press, 2006, iv + 62pp., paper, $11.95.
The poet writes, "I realized that the universe is so vast that there was an excellent chance that there is another world out there very similar to ours. Given that, what are the chances that God has souls other than those on earth He cares about? Since a creator is always larger than his creation, our Creator must be truly spellbinding and wonderful!" (Reviewed by DSP, Nov 2006)

Mahanay, Don (District 5, Wichita)
Eagle Woman. Baltimore, MD: PublishAmerica, 2005, 360pp., paper.
Anita Yellowhair administered justice on the killer of her granddaughter, Maria, by releasing fearsome spirits into him that had been held in a dream catcher. Anita and her other granddaughter, Rosa, were the last descendants of the famed warrior Eagle Woman. Anita and the tribes’ chief were convinced that Rosa was the Promised One prophesied to lead their nation out of poverty. (Reviewed by DSP, Nov 2006)

Majdi, Ali A. (Sam) and Sarang Majdi. (District 5, Wichita)
Lovers Paradise. Newton, KS: Mennonite Press, 1997. A collection of quotations about love, beauty and truth, containing 222 entries selected from 111 poets, writers and notables around the world, including a biography of each. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Marshall, Mary Marie. District 2, Fort Scott)
Main Street Musings. Illustrated by Marc Marshall. Fort Scott, KS: Published by the author, 1997.
I've always been told to not judge a book by its cover. But I do choose to read a poem because of its title. In M. M. Marshall's book, poem titles enticed me to read "Mother's Hands," Dad's Garden," and "Grandma's Rocking Chair," in the selection called "Home and Family." In the next division "For the Birds" and couldn't stop until the last poem, "The Buzzard." The "Humorous" section's titles that intrigued me were "Li'l Dandelion" and "To a Cockroach." These two poems will leave you chuckling and in the right frame of mind to read Marie's nineteen "Inspiration" poems. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Martin, Gail Lee (District 5, El Dorado), Cynthia Jo Ross (District 5, Towanda) and Virginia Allain.
Clyde Owen Martin; Family Memories of His Life and Times. (Privately Printed) 2010, 181 pp., Illustrated, Paperbound.
"Born in 1924, Clyde Owen Martin grew up in a Kansas farm family, then worked in all aspects of the oil fields from roughneck to driller to production manager. This book of family memories celebrates his 85 of his life and his pioneering." (Author's blurb quoted by Don Pady, June 2011)

Martin, Gail Lee. (District 5, El Dorado)
My Flint Hills Childhood; Growing Up in 1930s Kansas. Compiled and Designed by Virginia Allen. Published by Blurb.com, 2009, 79 pp., illus., Paperbound.
"A childhood on the Kansas prairies in the 1930s springs vividly to life in the detailed memories of Gail Martin [a former KAC State Archivist]. Her simple accounts of long-ago school days, celebrations and family life are a treasure. Travel back in time to life in the Flint Hills during the Great Depression and the time leading up to World War II. The book also explores her family's role in early Kansas history with details of covered wagons, homesteading, the Civil War and fledgling industries. Martin's memories also include her father's work in the oil field, trips to town in the family's Model A, raising her pet badger fishing on the Cottonwood River and wearing dressed made from feed sack material." (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, November 2009)

Masters, Dorothy M. (District 4, Harveyville)
A Day on the Trail: a Humorous Journey.   (n.p.:  Privately published), 2002. Another fascinating book by the author of Keep of the Sunny Side of Life. Many chapters are about the people Dorothy met in libraries as she promoted her first book. As she soon found out, it is a small world. Some of the short essays were written as columns for the Flint Hills Independent and other newspapers. I really related to "Outhouses to Outer Space and Beyond." It was very entertaining. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Masters, Dorothy M.  (District 4, Harveyville)
Keep On the Sunny Side of Life. Leawood, KS: Leathers Publishing, 2001. A wise and humorous retrospective on her sometimes hard life growing up on a farm in the Kansas Flint Hills in the "dirty thirties," and holding a career in nursing together with being a farmer's wife and mother. The title says it all. Dorothy lives in Harveyville and writes a column for the local paper. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Masters, Dorothy (District 4, Harveyville)
Life Is A Choice. [Privately printed] 1999c1990, 69 pp., Paperbound.
A registered nurse by training, Dorothy Masters shares her feelings and thoughts about her personal and professional experiences. This book will delight and benefit other readers with practical and spiritual advice. (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, April 2010)

Mayer, Barbara, OSB (Non-member, Atchison)
Glimpses of Glory; Poems. [Privately Printed, no date], 79 pp., Illustrated by Judith Sutera, OSB, Paperbound
Sister Barbara Mayer is a Benedictine sister of Mount St. Scholastica in Atchison, Kansas. She is editor of Benedictine magazine, a spiritual journal for monastic men and women. She also helps with other publications and does freelance writing. This is her first book of poetry. Divided into four parts, entitled "Women Speak Out," "Beauty Surrounds Us," "Explorations of Mysteries," and "People I Remember," her poetry "speaks to the soul and conveys snatches of insight often missed in the routine of daily life. Only when we pause to wonder and be astonished do we catch a glimpse of the loveliness that surrounds us and the people who touch our lives." (Quoted comments from the poet's notes; D.S. Pady, December 2011)

Memoir Writing Class, East Wichita Shepherd's Center, The. (District 5, Wichita)
Reflection II. (n.p.: Privately printed), October, 2002.
Memoirs written in prose and some poetry by thirty writers led by Edith Coe, District 5. They all take you back to our early years and the way it was back then. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Mildfelt, Todd, (District 2, Richmond)
The Secret Danites; Kansas' First Jayhawkers. Richmond, KS: Todd Midfelt Publishing, 2003, 132 pp., photos, Paperbound.
Detailing the history of an 1850's "Bleeding Kansas" and slavery, a secret society known as the Danites forms the story of a secret group that worked against the pro-slavery forces as seen through the eyes of Charles Leonhardt, an emigrant from Prussian Poland who headed west in 1857 to help make Kansas Territory a free state. Author Mildfelt was able to shed light on this secret society by poring over unpublished documents located in the Kansas State Historical Society. (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, March 2009)

Mildfelt, Todd (District 2, Richmond)
Wagon Train To Freedom. [Privately Printed] 2011, 67 pp., Illus. and cover design by Kelly Hartman, Paperbound.
This historical novel is based on an actual Underground Railway trip "that took place less than a year before the Civil War began. Come along as the train (of wagons) is challenged by slave catchers and prairie storms. Traveling approximately 35 miles west of Topeka before turning north for Nebraska, this trip was probably the most western of any organized Underground Railway trip in U.S. history. Readers will learn about the Underground Railroad that operated there and encounter some of the most famous Kansas personalities such as John Brown, James Montgomery and Rev. John E. Stewart." (Quoted from readers' annotation by D.S. Pady, August 2011)

Midwest Quarterly, The; a journal of contemporary thought. Vol. 48(4), Summer 2007. Pittsburg, KS: Pittsburg State University.
Poems by fifty-four poets of Kansas are alphabetically arranged, plus interviews of the first two Poets Laureate of Kansas -- Jonathan Holder and Denise Low. (Reviewed by Don S. Pady, Feb 2008)

Miller, Judith A. McCoy (District 1, Topeka)
First Dawn. Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House, 2005, 379pp., paper, $12.99. (Series: Freedom's path, book I)
A fictional account of two families that portrays the harsh circumstances and intense courage displayed by African-American sharecroppers and Caucasian men as they formed the towns of Nicodemis and Hill City in the western Kansas prairie during the late nineteenth century. (Reviewed by DSP, Nov 2006)

Miller, Judie. (District 1, Topeka)
Haiku, recipes, essays, poetry, see in Insight Out (2003) and A Write Stuff Christmas (2004).

Mori, James R. (District 1, Sonoma, CA)
Beyond the Outer Limits; a Novel. New York: iUniverse, 2008, 341 pp., Softbound, $20.95
What is the force that moved Harry Krebbs from the Kansas prairie and focused his eyes on far horizons and beyond? Is it the force that drives a monarch butterfly across a thousand miles of desert and mountains to a tiny spot on the California coast? The reasons as to why people and insects live and move in accordance with nature's compelling order describes living things in incredible beauty. (Reviewed by Don Pady, December 2008)

Morrison, Margaret Pegram. (District 5, Wichita)
The Other side of the string. Clayton, NC: P.D. Publishing, 2006,222pp., paperbound.
This memoir draws its strength from real people who lived and shared during The Great Depression. Ironclad faith, earthy wisdom and personal courage are examples in the story as seen by a young girl between 1926 and 1941. The rich abundance of family reliance takes you on a determined pursuit of giving and sharing knowledge. Life experiences are shown through the eyes of a child, beginning when she is five years old, and continuing top chefs and leading ranchers. Bill Kurtis founded the Tallgrass Beef Company to produce grass-fed and grass-finished beef that's good for you. The idea of grass-fed beef is nothing new; it's the way cattle were raised in the days of cowboys and cattle drives. Historical recipes, photographs, anecdotes and stories give a savoring flavor to the cowboy and army life. (Reviewed by Don S. Pady, Feb 2008)

Morrow, Marco (District 1, Topeka)
"A Poet in the Market Place" (Poem), pp. 3-7; "They Do Not Know" (Poem), pp. 15-17; "The Newspaper in a Democracy" (Essay), pp. 18-19, Kansas Magazine Supplement, 1939, 21 pp., Paperbound.
C. E. Rogers, then editor of the Kansas Magazine, described Marco Morrow as "a person who defies classification. He is a poet in the market place, a liberal in the Republican party, a successful advertising man whose interests lean toward the editorial functions of publishing, assistant publisher of an organization whose success depends upon mass circulation, yet himself a reader of selective circulation journals. Mr Morrow combines in one person, as did Benjamin Franklin in a simpler world, the qualities of a successful journalist who is writer, executive, and advertising manager. Like Franklin, Marco Morrow is a philosopher, too. [He] is assistant publisher of the Capper Publications, Topeka, Kansas." The Kansas Magazine was issued as a regional art and literature journal, and was a revival of a publication of the same name which was established in 1872. (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, June 2011)

Mulanax, Elizabeth (District 1, Delia)
Fulfilled Dreams. Kearney, NE: Morris Publishing, 2004, 307pp., paper, $10.00.
Adam and Nancy met in college where she tutored him with computer problems. He married her so she could do the bookwork for his grandmother's business. But the threat that forced them apart sparks this novel's mysterious intrigue . . . and its final solution. (Reviewed by DSP, Feb 2006)

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Needham, T. L. (District 2, Romeoville, IL)
When I Was a Child. Denver, CO: Outskirts Press, 2011, 236 pp., Illustrated, $19.95
Based on a true story of love, death and survival on the Kansas prairie, this true history of 1926 documents the inner strength, courage, and sheer grit that steadied the couple's six children through loss, economic crises, tornados, dust storms and war. What emerges is an inspirational story of love and family bonds as Louis Pfeifer and his siblings grow up to become devoted, successful parents -- despite all odds. Powerful, honest and unflinching, When I Was a Child is about the suffering that life inflicts -- and the bravery that gets us to the other side, becoming much wiser and stronger along the way. (Quoted from book's cover by Don Pady, December 2011)

Nelson, Raymond S. (District 5, Wichita)
The Majesty of God. Hillsboro, KS: Print Source Direct, 2001.
This is another collection of Raymond's inspiring poems. The art work of Stan Nelson and his stirring introduction set the pace for reading pleasure. No other title could have encompassed the many diverse themes portrayed in poetry. Even the individual titles of the poems are intriguing, as the over seventy poems include such titles as "Mt. Fugi, Seeds and Weeds, Watching Faces, Spin Span, Spun," and don't you dare miss reading "Work In Progress." This combined work of father and son is their fifth production. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Nelson, Raymond S. (District 5, Wichita)
Mothers & Babies: Beautiful In Our Time. (n.p.): Privately printed, 2004.
The author wrote these poems during the times his granddaughters were becoming mothers. One even had quadruplets! What an inspirational time to write. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Nelson, Raymond S. (District 5, Wichita)
Prairie Sketches. Hillsboro, KS: Hearth Publishing Co., 1992.
A book of poems divided into five sections: Nature's Quirks; Law and Disorder; Restless Times; Political Vignettes; and Artists In Residence. Includes two narrative poems about Cheyenne Indians. Illustrated by Stan Nelson. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Nelson, Raymond S. (District 5, Wichita)
Thy Love Is Better Than Wine. Hillsboro, KS: Hearth Publishing Co., 1994.
Fifty-seven traditional sonnets, English and Italian, on all kinds of themes: love, work, separation, death, faith. X. J. Kennedy says of Nelson's poetry, "It isn't easy to write so simply and well." (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Nichols, Elizabeth. (District 1, Colorado Spring, CO)
Haiku, recipes, poetry, see in A Write Stuff Christmas (2004).

Nichols, Margaret (Peg) Y. (District 2, Olathe)
I Knee-ded it; poem of recovery. Coffeyville, KS: Tanos Books, 2007,119pp., paper,
illus, $1 1.95.
Need knee surgery? Joint replacement is not something to be feared. These poems about preparation and recoveIy fiom surgery will give you some idea about what to expect, chase away your fears, and help you to view your circumstances with a sense of humor. (Reviewed by Don S. Pady, Feb 2008)

Nichols, Margaret (Peg) Y. (District 2, Olathe)
Mediation Survivor's Handbook, ed. Thomas Britt Nichols. Olathe, KS: Weir Box Publishing, 2006, 110pp., paper, $14.95.
From her work as a pioneer and leader in local mediation and peacemaking, author Nichols shares her wisdom and hopes to encourage self-determination among mediation groups. In her quest to promote mediation as a constructive process for dispute resolution, Nichols states that her motivation for writing this book is to demystify the mediation process. (Reviewed by DSP, Nov 2006)

Night Writers. (District 3, Coffeyville)
Southeast Kansas: Its Places and Faces. Coffeyville, KS: (n.p.), 2005.
Some of the more familiar names in this book are Robert Docking, Kansas Governor; Nolan Luhn, former Green Bay Packer; Emmett Kelly; and Col. James A. Coffey. Places I found interesting were The Brown Mansion, Chautauqua Springs, Round Prairie School, and Coffeyville Carnegie Library. But I didn't overlook reading about :The Lady in Black" or "The Caney River Monster." (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Night Writers. (District 3, Coffeyville)
Who Walked These Trails? Southeast Kansas Celebrities. Coffeyville, KS: (n.p.), 2005.
Kansas Authors Club members of District 3 put together stories of interesting people from their area of the state. Many are well known and others not so well known, but you will enjoy learning about them. Most everyone has heard of Gordon Parks, Laura Ingalls Wilder, the famous Dalton brothers and the bloody Bender family but what about Bud Gillette, Eva Jessye and Chief Black Dog? This book should be included in Kansas history classes. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

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Ohm, Ken (District 1, Topeka) and Don Pady (District 1, Topeka)
Hidden Gold; Lost Treasure in the Flint Hills. Newton, KS: Mennonite Press, 2011, 228 pp., Illustrated, Softbound, $16.95.
This rapidly-unfolding novel, partly based on historical facts, becomes an exciting adventure between the activities of early Welsh settlers both in and around Emporia, Kansas. Beth Pierce, a beautiful young graduate student at Emporia (Kansas) State University, discovers a past-life dimension while training for an upcoming marathon. She is the progenitor of this tale, for she tells what she sees and hears in her mind's eyes and ears from ghostly people who lived in pre-Civil War years in Kansas Territory -- especially Jacob and Elvira Fagans, who lived southwest of Emporia. Beth is one of 28 graduate students in a new experimental class who combine their intellectual and scholarly talents to solve the many riddles about the Fagans couple through scientific, sociological and technological investigations. What happens when this academic class discovers and unearths the long-lost treasure on Fagans Mound will quickly change the minds of readers who steadfastly believe that dead men tell no tales. (Reviewed by Ken Ohm and Don Pady, May 2011)

Ohm, Kenneth R. (District 1, Topeka)
Ducks Across the Moon. Overland Park, KS: Leathers Publishing, 2008, 233 pp., illus., $16.95.
This beautiful autobiography is a fine memorial to the people and geographical region of the Kansas Flint Hill—providing personal "snapshots" of the author's life. These stories will remind older readers of similar events in their lives, and will stir younger readers to appreciate their own lives. It's like a "Through the Looking Glass" visit to another time, place and era. These "Remembrances of Things Past" give guide-map urgings to come home again. (Reviewed by Don Pady, July 2008)

Ohm, Kenneth R. (District 1, Topeka)
Spatzies and Brass BBs; Life in a One-Room Country School. Leawood, KS: Leathers Publishing, 2004, 217 pp., illus., Hardback
Readers of all ages from rural areas will recognize Dr. Ohm's observations from his memories of early childhood in the Kansas Flint Hills. Many beauties, many curious fancies, many strange pictures drink in such vigor, freedom and enthusiasm as come from the isolation and solitude of his unlimited horizon. This book captures an autobiographer's mission of recognition of happy family life and very hard work. (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, November 2009)

Olmstead, Roxie. (District 5, Sheridan, WY)
How Did Augusta Get Its Name? (n.p.): Privately printed, 2004.
A well-researched story of the founding of Augusta (KS) by C. N. & Augusta James around 1870. Many photographs add interest to this early history of a Kansas town. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

O'Shea, J. Scott. (District 2,Kansas City, KS)
Effect of a whisper. Indianapolis, IN: Dog Ear Publishing, 2006,289pp., paper,
illustrated.
This novel chronicles a sequence of true-life events, and this story of hope is set in a small, rural Kansas town as events begin to unravel in September, 2006. John Greeley lived twenty-nine years to get to today, but a single phone call and bad timing changed it all in an instant. John made his decision on the next step of his life, but fate chose otherwise. What follows is one man's fight to recall any memories that may give him a future. With the news of a dear uncle's plight, and John's bizarre, violent car crash, John's spirituality tells him there are no accidents. Caught between personal suffering and the mourning of another, John must find his way. (Reviewed by Don S. Pady, Feb 2008)

Our Way With Words, compiled and edited by Alice Flower (District 4, Junction City). Junction City, KS: Kansas Authors Club, 2004.
This Centennial Celebration Edition is a large book of 2004 members of Kansas Authors Club writings. They range from all types of poetry and prose interspersed with members' photos and illustrations. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

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P:

Pady, Don (District 1, Topeka) see Ohm, Ken, Hidden Gold; Lost Treasure in the Flint Hills.

Pady, Donald Stuart, See also White, Willliam Allen. Poetry of William Allen White.

Pady, Donald Stuart (District 1, Topeka)
Horses and Horsemanship; Selected Books and Periodicals in the Iowa State University Library; an Annotated Bibliography. [Series in Bibliography, no. 3] Ames, IA: Iowa State University Library, 1973, 230 pp., illus., $6.50.
The horse, in this age of science and technology, would seem to have been relegated to the shadows of history. One might even assume that today's society rarely depends upon horses for anything except farm labor, and for that only in underdeveloped areas of the world. Yet today's interest in horses and horsemanship continues to expand and has generated an entirely new and increasing appreciation for written accounts of horses, their uses, and their riders. The Iowa State University Library's growing collection of books and periodicals in this field enjoys a distinguished reputation among scholars and horse enthusiasts. This annotated bibliography describes nearly 800 titles selected from an estimated 1,200 books and periodicals about horses, covering works that range from those published as early as 1475 through recent titles of 1972 held by the University Library. Subject categories in this compilation emphasize the richness of a collection that supports internationally-recognized programs in teaching and research in all areas of equine study and animal science. Descriptive annotations accompany each title. (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, March 2010)

Pady, Donald Stuart, editor (District 1, Topeka), and others
The Saturday Night Literary Club; a History, 1883 - 2010. Topeka, KS: OfficeMax IM Press, 2010, 90 pp., illus. Comb binding.
The past of The Saturday Night Literary Club is prologue to its future. Founded on February 2, 1883, its members have continually enjoyed programs of thoughtful and scholarly essays, along with fine dining and both friendly and fiery discussions. Now 127 years old with 1,803 meetings held to date, the Club is considered one of this country's oldest literary organizations of its kind. (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, May 2010)

Paris, George (District 1, Topeka)
A Distant Home. New York: iUniverse, 2010, vii + 315 pp., Soft cover, $19.95.
The author's story "falls in the category of historical fiction. The setting is an actual place in western Kansas, and the year is 1920. Many of the events and details written into this novel actually happened. Most of the characters are real people. The tale is based upon facts about my mother's life during the early years of her marriage, but it is also about my father and two of his brothers. David had promised wife Emily, his bride of fifteen months, a new house in Dighton in Lane County. But it is still unfinished due to a failed wheat crop the previous summer. Forced to move into a crowded, unfinished home of her extended family, Emily is miserable. Worst of all, she must face the fact that, due to his parents' influence, the once sweet and lovable David is becoming increasingly hostile toward her and the newborn daughter. The family is poverty stricken; appalled at the barren surroundings and her living situation, Emily's father thinks his little girl had wandered into the wrong place. Is he right or can Emily prove him wrong?" (Quoted from Preface and back-cover blurb by D.S. Pady, April 2011)

Parker, Tom (District 4, Blue Rapids)
Dispatches from Kansas. BookSurge, LLC, 2005, 346pp, paper, $17.95.
Bouncing between humor and satire, this collection of personal essays examines the author's discovery of things he was not looking for. He reaches happy—sometimes uproariously funny—conclusions by accident. Most topics touch upon one facet of the author's observation but suddenly veer off into something else that proves his original point. (Reviewed by DSP, Jan 2006)

Parmely, Mary Alice. (District 1, Topeka)
Poetry, recipes, essays, see in A Write Stuff Christmas (2004).

Parmley, Mary Alice (District 1, Topeka)
Seasons: Thoughtful Reflections in Poetry. Topeka, KS: Indian Trail Press, 2004, 95pp., paper, $10.00.
Bucolic themes—summer rains, garden colors, winter snowstorms, driving along country roads, and calling on old friends—produce a poetic travelogue through the seasons of life's journey. (Reviewed by DSP, Feb 2006)

Patterson, Naomi. (District 1, Topeka)
"Decorum," (Poetry) see Midwest Quarterly, p. 558.

Patterson, Naomi B. (District 1, Topeka)
For Crying Out Loud!! Poems by . . .. Topeka, KS: 2004, unpaged, paper.
This book of poetry, the author's third, deals with life's hardships and how humans react to them. Contrasting poems illuminate life's ironies and mark her wide-ranging observations of how we recognize the brilliance, yet shortness, of our mortal experience. Line drawings enhance the images evoked by her superb use of free verse. 2005 Nelson Poetry Book Award. (Reviewed by DSP, Dec 2005)

Patterson, Naomi B. (District 1, Topeka)
Thinking Out Loud. Topeka, KS: Privately published, 2001.
The author encourages the reader to eavesdrop while she is thinking out loud. The poems' titles just beg you to listen or read them out loud. The first section, "People Watching," contains poems about Kindergarten first day, Brow-beater, and Hospital Cafeteria. Oh, how I love to people watch! "Mother Nature" includes Sea birds, Cherry harvest, and Driving rain. "Just for fun" has the funniest poem "Curious Dresser." Grab a copy of Naomi's book and be prepared to laugh. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Pederson, Cynthia Sue. (District 1, Topeka)
Spoken Across a Distance. Edited by Robert N. Lawson. Topeka, KS: The Bob Woodley Memorial Press, 1982, 75 pp., illus., Paperbound, $2.95.
This poet "is, in a sense, a product of the content of her poetry. She has lived in the Kansas that is in many of her poems since an early age. She traveled extensively in the U.S., starting with many family vacations, to the locales and feelings and people which have become this book." (Reviewed by Don Pady. November 2008.)

Pendleton, Deanne Purcell. (District 2, Overland Park)
Gullible's Travels: From Diaper Rash to Kissing Frogs; My Life's Stories -- Book One. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2007, 229 pp., illus., Paperbound,
The author's autobiography includes thirty stories from her early days—from birth through teen years—in Horton, Kansas. The title comes from her "recognized" gullibility as described in the amazing and sentimental tales about her journey through the late 1930s to the '50s. Each memoir includes a moral, message or lesson learned by Deanna as a result of her "travels." (reviewed by Don Pady, November, 2008.)

Pfeifer, Bobbie J. A. (District 1, Topeka)
Hush Little Baby Don't You Cry. San Jose, CA: Writers Club Press, 1999.
A thriller that will keep you awake at night wondering what you would do if you were in this young woman's shoes. But the ending will leave you in a happy mood. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Pierson, Sam. (District 2, Lebo)
Essays, recipes, poetry, see in A Write Stuff Christmas (2004)

Pierson, Sam (District 2, Lebo)
Rose's Mountain: Take an Eye for an Eye. Kearney, NE: Morris Publishing, 2002, 254 pp., paper.
The quiet, tranquil mountain standing high over the town of Hazard, Kentucky, will never be the same again. Peace as the Holloway family knew it is gone forever. The rattling of something metal in the middle of the night is just the beginning of a journey so perilous to young Rose Halloway. The dark of night will bring frightening visions, and her life will hold more excitement than she wants. (Reviewed by DSP, Mar 2007)

Pierson, Sam (District 2, Lebo)
A Scary Story for Brave Children: an exciting adventure. Kearney, NE: Morris Publishing, 2006, 82 pp., illus., paper.
What happens when a once elegant but now haunted house makes you afraid to enter. Why does a hanging rope dangle overhead tied to nothing? Inside this monstrous house are spirits just itching to torment even the toughest kids in your neighborhood. (Reviewed by DSP, Mar 2007)

Pierson, Sam (District 2, Lebo)
She's Called Willie. Kearney, NE: Morris Publishing, 2003, 168pp., paper.
Following her first two books, Rose's Mountain and Wind Whispers, Sam Pierson weaves a tale of neighbors living on a street in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. A summer heat wave explodes and lays bare raw emotions, secrets, jealousies, and hatreds. We're already in a sweat when murder is done, and we are caught up in a suspenseful “Who done it?” Sam's inimitable style shines through every page, and the ending will leave readers thinking long and hard about Willie’s favorite Bible verse: Be not deceived for whatsoever man soweth, that he shall also reap. Another great read for Sam Pierson fans. (Reviewed by Trudy McFarland, District 1)

Pierson, Sam. (District 2, Lebo)
Targets of rage. Coffeyville, KS: Tanos Books, 2007,30lpp., paperback.
Sheriff Thad Marlow is looking for a murderer -- a murderer who may be looking to kill again. The small university town of Ottawa, Kansas is in an uproar; its citizens just want the murders to stop. A group of old men, who play detective in a restaurant at the edge of Ottawa, will take part in the arrest of a bumbling taxi driver, and a fumbling old man and his new friend will bring an end to the killer's trail of blood. And wouldn't you know love blooms during all this mayhem?! (Reviewed by Don S. Pady, Feb 2008)

Pierson, Sam (District 2, Lebo)
Wind Whispers. Kearney, NE: Morris Publishing, 2003, 341 pp., paper.
Cold snow covers the tracks of a murdering man. Tragedy stalks a group of people stranded on this mountain and children are left in a cabin with no food to fend for themselves. Strange things happen on Rose's mountain when unwanted visitors arrive one freezing night. (Reviewed by DSP, Apr 2007)

Pierson, Sam. (District 2, Lebo)
Without Warning; a Coffey County Crime. Topeka, KS: Hall Commercial Printing, 2009, 160 pp., Paperbound.
"This is a true story about forced entry, theft and human fear. There is a hostage situation, allowing thieves to ransack the house, taking everything they want. It's easy to steal when the innocent are bound and blindfolded, rendering them unable to defend their possessions. Two people will sit helpless, while fear of death makes this the longest night of their life." (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, July 2009)

Pinker, Rebecca K. (District 2, Olathe)
The Cry of a Mother's Heart: Poems by . . ., illus. by Jana E. Pinker. Leawood, KS: Leathers Publishers, 2004, 96pp., paper.
Composed since her daughter Jana's death, Pinker’s poems fathom her devastation as she learns to survive her terrible loss. These verses show how the practice of life and the anticipation of life beyond death reveal human faith. (Reviewed by DSP, Jan 2006)

Platt, LaVonne Godwin. (District 5, Newton)
Bela Banerjee: Bringing Health To India's Villages. Newton, KS: Wordworth, 1988.
This is a biography of the author's friend and colleague from the 1950s when they served together as members of a team of an American Friends Service Committee development project in the state of Orissa, India. A fascinating story of how one woman made a difference in many lives. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Platt, LaVonne Godwin. (District 5, Newton)
In Memory of Bela Banerjee: a Coda To Her Biography. Newton, KS: Wordworth, 1996.
This book covers the last year of Banerjee's life, with focus on her final four months which she spent with the Platt family in Kansas. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Poetpourri. (District 5, Wichita) (n.p.): East Wichita Shepherd's Center Winter 2001 Workshop. Kansas Authors Club members Lily Angle, Julia Dagenais and Ruth Stunz have poems featured in this enjoyable anthology. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Pope, Floyd. (District 5, Wichita)
Jacob's Well: the Story Of A Land and Its People. (n.p.): Mountain House Publishing, 2000.
This story begins as the homesteaders settle around the famous landmark called Jacob's Well. They encounter droughts, prairie fires, a tornado, and dust storms. They even run across a member othe dreaded Dalton gang. An exciting story that could have happened to our own ancestors and probably did. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Porubsky, Matthew (Topeka)
Voyeur poems. Lawrence, KS: Coal City Review, no. 22, May 2006, 55pp., $10.00.
Winner of the 2006 Nelson Poetry Book Award. The poet defines a voyeur poem as "a situation of observation where the viewer is absent from the perceived action, and through that, has the realization that he or she is the most important contagion in the event ... the variable of fate." (Reviewed by DSP, Nov 2006)

Pruett, Sue (District 1, Topeka)
Our Marriage; Surviving Addiction and Thriving in Sobriety. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2010, viii + 245 pp., Illustrated, Softcover.
"While there are many books available focusing on recovery and sobriety, Our Marriage offers the unique perspective of the often-overlooked familial consequences and how one family dealt with these. A must read for anyone touched by alcoholism or addiction. Our Marriage gives hope for a happy life once sobriety has been obtained." (Quoted from author's blurb by D.S. Pady, May 2011)

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Rabas, Kevin (District 2, Emporia)
Lisa's Flying Electric Piano; Poems. Topeka, KS: Woodley Press, 2009, 64 pp., $12.00
Kevin Rabas co-directs the Creative Writing Program at Emporia State University, and is co-editor of Flint Hills Review. His first book, Bird's Horn & Other Poems was published by Coal City Review Press. Of his second book, Matt Porubsky writes, "The veiled saints and martyrs in Lisa's Flying Electric Piano reveal themselves from beneath a thin layer of daily routine that grabs the reader's attention like bright chalk drawings on the sidewalk…he shares secrets of jazz musicians and children alike with attentive tempo, letting the reader inside to wet their whistle just enough for them to ask for more. This book as a whole is just like the title suggests—it is full of dreams that could actually happen." Lisa's Flying electric Piano won the 2010 Nelson Poetry Book Award of Kansas Authors Club. (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, October 2010)

Rabas, Kevin (District 2, Emporia)
Spider Face; Stories. Rockhampton, Australia: Ololiths, 2011, 56 pp., Paperbound
Spider Face is a collection [of short fiction] of true images that linger in the place between memories and dreams. Kevin Rabas dresses the dramas of mental health and sensuality, self-destruction and loyalty, grief and social status, in a veil of constant discoveries that dance translucent around each story. These are all moments of heat and passion, whether that is passion of belief, passion of music or passion of flesh, that are concentrated examples of how everyday experiences create who a person is, and, in turn, how a person creates themselves through those same events. (Quoted from Matthew Porubsky's review on the book's cover, October 2011)

Reiter, Lora K. (District 2, Ottawa)
Animals Galore and Love Unconditional; Essays (Glad, Sad and Mad) About Creatures Who Share the Earth. Baltimore, MD: PublishAmerica, 2007, 150 pp., paperbound.
Animal lovers will love this book! In these essays, you'll meet Cully, Christmas, Bugle and Shiner, all lost or abandoned dogs -- some doomed, some joyously adopted. Dozens of other companion animals will make you laugh, rage and cry. The author writes with honest understanding, respect and love both of the animals who have been her friends and of those she has successfully tried to rescue. (Reviewed by Don Pady, June 2008)

Reiter, Lora K. (District 2, Ottawa)
One Was Annie. Baltimore, MD: PublishAmerica, 2005, 402pp., paper.
Meet Annie Sherwood in this historical novel—a pioneer woman, one of thousands who came to Kansas after the Civil War. A pretty Tennessee mountain girl, married at fifteen to a shell-shocked Civil-War veteran, she struggles against all odds in places like St. Louis, Kansas City, the Kansas Flint Hills, along Starvation Trail, and into the Solomon Valley. Annie bares her soul, and her life's journey takes you close to your own experiences. (Reviewed by DSP, Nov 2006)

Reiter, Lora K. (District 2, Ottawa)
Snake in the Cradle; Poems. [www.booksurge.com], 2008, 106 pp., Paperbound
This book won the Nelson Poetry Award for 2009. Reiter's poetry and short stories have won numerous prizes including Seaton Awards in both genres. Snake in the Cradle draws out comparisons between what we are, and how we are affected by life's complexities. Stark, sometimes spooky images propel the reader to comprehend her skillful development of vivid imagery of powerful topics. (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, November 2009)

Rochelle, Larry. (District 2, Pittsboro, NC)
Arrow. [n.p.: Booksurge, LLC], 2007, 151pp., paperbound.
From the lonely backroads of rural Kansas to the mesmerizing toxicity of city streets, Rochelle's poetry depicts people who develop imaginative methods of escape. Some go inward, fighting the surrealistic battles of lost loves and interpersonal defeat. Others streak through the skies, trying to find meaning in spiritual impressions. All are seekers, and many fmd their targets. But some are off-target, leaving unique and loving environments for experimental habitats and defeat. (Reviewed by Don S. Pady, Feb 2008)

Rochelle, Larry. (District 2, Pittsboro, NC)
Blue ice; a Palmer Morel mystery. [n.p.]: BookSurge, LLC, 2005,33Opp., paperback.
Palmer Morel was not prepared for the unexpected Kansas City ice storm. The indoor tennis season carried its own stress and strategy. But when this holiday season included the mob for Thanksgiving, he was not ready for dinner. Author Rochelle cleverly takes the reader into the back streets of Kansas City and the fields of Osawatomie where lives are lost on a whim and where playing with the mob feels like the cold horror of a dead turkey. (Reviewed by Don S. Pady, Feb 2008)

Rochelle, Larry. (District 2, Overland Park)
Dust Devils: Collisions With the Wind. (n.p.): BookSurge.com, 2004.
This book won the 2004 Nelson Poetry Book Award. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Rochelle, Larry. (District 2, Pittsboro, NC)
Home schooled. [n.p.]: BookSurge, LLC, 2006, 141pp., paperback.
Winner of the 2007 Nelson Poetry Book Award, Home schooled portrays the strongest impressions of a writer deeply connected to place. Rochelle's sense of connectedness navigates through a landscape of hardware stores, tornados, or an old Kansas where sharks died near Salina. He invites readers to share his insight of vistas cleared of distractions. Here can be found the whispering of people loved, hated or merely being witness to "pancake s p p dripping offlthe edge of a platter." Impressions of experience remain like "footprints in cement," or evoke smothered passions and resentments. Tales of families are found as in "Off old Osawatomie road," where father and son contend within the breath of alcohol-impaired lives. (Reviewed by Don S. Pady, Feb 2008)

Rochelle, Larry (District 2, Overland Park)
I Got da Ever Lovin' KC Blues: Poems. BookSurge, LLC, 2005, 164pp., paper.
The barbecue sauce splashes and the French fries are so sweet. A few people start to dance and the blues singer's gravelly voice rumbles deeper -- the sound of the bass rattling our chests. The essence of Kansas City expresses itself as the poet explores the rhythm of the city, exposing its strengths and challenging its foibles -- and all the while mixing with that good Boulevard Beer, and healing the community with love. (Reviewed by DSP, Nov 2006)

Rochelle, Larry (District 2, Overland Park)
Moody Blue. (n.p.) 2006, 99pp., paper.
In both poetry and prose, Larry Rochelle presents an interesting juxtaposition of Elvis Presley to the dry, religious folk of rural Kansas. He wonders if these stolid, red-state conservatives will warm up to Elvis' gyrations. What he finds will give you a kick in the ribs and a shock to your soul. (Reviewed by DSP, Nov 2006)

Rochelle, Larry (District 2, Overland Park)
Pistol Whipped, and Other Suburban Delights: Poems. BookSurge, LLC, 2004, 192pp. paper.
Pain, sorrow, nervousness, and fright! Rochelle's free verse pinpoints obvious reasons behind many fears that confront modern suburban families. He sifts through a myriad of earthly disorders, and provides plausible routes toward sanity. (Reviewed by DSP, Jan 2006)

Rochelle, Larry (District 2, Overland Park)
Siren Sorcery: Magic in the Night. 2004, 115pp., paper.
Free-verse poems grouped into four parts—“New Orleans Jazz,” “Kansas City Blues,” “Toledo Ballads,” and “Ancient Rhythm”—describe fictionalized situations and how people deal with them. Every reader can recognize ancient and modern nightmares in Rochelle's superb collection of human experiences. (Reviewed by DSP, Feb 2006)

Rogers, Nedra (District 2, Lawrence)
Soul's Night Out; Poems by Nedra Rogers. Topeka, KS: Woodley Press, 2009, 75 pp., Paperbound $15.00
This first book of the poet won the 2011 Nelson Poetry Award. In Soul's Night Out Nedra Rogers explores a wide range of human experiences. Among these is loss, both personal and universal. Her subjects include poverty, racism, and war, as well as the sudden deaths of both her mother and her father. The poems in this book are reflective and life-affirming. Nedra sees the beauty in the simples gestures of life: in walking the dog, in singing, in watching children play. She is gentle but tough minded. She balances the light with darkness, and knows always how and when to end a poem. This book is a kind of Kunstler-Roman, a chart of the artist's way and beginning. (Reviewed by Kevin Rabas, District 2, Emporia, 2009)

Roland, Frankie (District 3, Coffeyvile)
To Even the Score. Coffeyville, KS: Tanos Books, 2006, 128 pp., paper, $12.95
A novel about a young boy who during hard times finds strength and courage to protect his younger siblings and keep them together in the deep South. Poverty and cruelty mark abusive attitudes and actions against what we would now call a dysfunctional family. The author's first novel puts the reader in the middle of heart-rending situations and triumphant solutions. (Reviewed by DSP, Apr 2007)

Ross, Cynthia J. (District 5, Towanda)
Ride a Stick Horse; Poems. Second edition, edited by Kristy Duggan. Coffeyville, KS: TanosBooks, 2008, 60 pp., illus., Paperbound.
Children's poetry is one of Cynthia's favorite literary genres. That old saying, "You can take the child out of the country but you can never take the country out of the child," seems to fit her literary style, very well. (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, November 2009)

Ross, Cynthia Jo (District 5, Towanda) see Martin, Gail Lee, Clyde Owen Martin.

Ross, Ray. (District 3, Coffeyville)
Birds Against the Sky. Coffeyville, KS: 3Yank7 Publishing (n.d.)
A compilation of prose and poetry, "one legged poetry that stands alone words with no rhyme nor reason birds against the sky." The pages are full of various poetry and prose forms, fonts, colors, borders and graphics. But each page leads you to reading the next one and then the next, all in anticipation of what might turn up. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Russell, Ione Dawes. (District 4, Clay Center)
Clay County Scrapbook: Volumes I & II. (n.p.: Privately published, n.d.)
This large book is the second printing of Clay County's long and interesting history, first printed in the late 1950s. You name it and it is all in this history beginning in 1862. Not only is the book factual but interesting. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

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Sharrett, Anne (District 1, Topeka)
Together With God. [Privately printed] June, 1990, 23 pp., illus., Paperbound
All the prayers contained in this booklet have been published in Capper's Newspaper during 1988. Each seeks God's grace, and she thanks Him for our many wonderful blessings. (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, December 2009)

Scheel, Mark. (District 2, Mission)
"The Gardner," (Poetry) see Midwest Quarterly, pp. 562-63.

Schray, Martin H., ed. by Harley J. Stucky (District 5, North Newton)
The European History of the Swiss Mennonites From Volhynia. Newton, KS: Graphic Images, 1974.
This book traces the European heritage of Mennonites who settled in Kansas. Harley Stucky's contribution involved not only editing; he was also the pillar of strength that made this book and two other publications possible: The Swiss Mennonite Memorial Monument: Is It Inspirational Art, Symbolic Expression, Or History? (1999) and The Centennial Treasury of Recipes Of the Swiss Mennonites, which was compiled by Harley's wife Ruby and Mrs. Alice Kaufman in 1973. These books are great resource material about Mennonite life in Kansas. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Schroeder, Doris (District 6, Hutchinson)
Remember When. Coffeyville, KS: TanosBooks, 2008, 155 pp., illus., Paperbound, $13.95
Remember When was the name of the newspaper column Dorothy wrote for The Hutchinson News in 2007. Starting as a weekly part of the "Taste of Life" page, her writing has become a successful, bi-monthly attraction. This book bears the same title as her journalistic effort as she surveys the historical progress of her life among her autobiographical accounts. She had also been secretary and president of KAC's District 6, and she presided as State President for three years, 2004 - 2006, and now serves as the State KAC Parliamentarian. She continues to write about her remembrance of times when life was simple and direct. ((Reviewed by D.S. Pady, November 2009)

Seymour, Michael R. (District 4, Council Grove)
The Bloodletting: An American Tale of Revenge. Book I. Leawood, KS: Leathers Publishing, 2005, 359pp., paper, $9.95.
A novel about retaliation against foreign invaders and how ordinary people can find the courage and stamina to mobilize and finally repulse insidious attacks. What happens at the Taylor farm near Timberlake, Iowa, will make readers wonder if such enemy infiltration could someday happen in their communities. (Reviewed by DSP, Feb 2006)

Sheldon, Charles M. (District 1, Topeka)
In His Steps. New York, NY: Grosset & Dunlap, 1982 [Complete authorized edition; with a foreword by the author], 242 pp., hardcover, $5.95.
Over 35 million copies of this title have been sold—in all corners of the world and in all languages. It is the story of a group of Americans who pledge to follow "in His steps" for a year, to ask themselves before each action, "What would Jesus do?" Their efforts to apply the basic teachings of Christianity to the complexities of the complexities of the modern world, with its problems of personal gain, business ethics, of poverty and unemployment, make not only an absorbing novel, but one which profoundly stirs the soul—carrying a rare spiritual message. This inspiring book was written during the thirty-five years during which Dr. Sheldon was pastor at the Central Congregational Church in Topeka, Kansas. (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, June 2009)

Sheldon, Charles M. (District 1, Topeka)
Life's Treasure Book; Past, Present and Future. Elgin, IL: David C. Cook Publishing Co., [n.d.] 112 pp., (Author's signed dedication on the first preliminary endpaper), paperbound.
"A Christian is a Person who loves people he does not like," wrote Charles M. Sheldon, when he presented this book to the Beulah Chapter No. 34 (Topeka, KS), Order of the Eastern Star, in its Colonial Year, 1945. A bookmark is pasted in the second preliminary endpaper citing the New Testament passage from John 2:25. The book contains short sayings, philosophical maxims and other points of wisdom gleaned from Sheldon's life of service to others. Each page is filled with thought-provoking statements that will help the reader to a fuller realization of life. (Reviewed by D. S. Pady, April 2009)

Sheldon, Charles M. (District 1, Topeka)
Two Old Friends. Cincinnati, OH: Christian Home Magazine, 1925, 30 pp., paperbound.
Topeka's famed minister of the evangelistic gospel beautifully describes his conception of what old age and death might and should be. He takes the experiences of mankind which most persons regard as anything but friendly, and shows it to us as merely the gateway to the most wonderful of adventures. This is a small chapbook which will make you richer and happier for reading. (Reviewed by D. S. Pady, April 2009)

Simpler, Helen. (District 4, Junction City)
Tin; it's a dog's life. [n.p., Privately printed, 20051 161pp. Paper, illustrated.
Did you ever watch a dog trot across your yard, huny down the street, and disappear around the comer? Did you wonder where he came from and where he is going? This delightful little story of a dog's life, as told by the dog, will bring warmth to your heart and tears to your eyes. (Reviewed by Don S. Pady, Feb 2008)

Sharrett, Anne. (District 1, Topeka)
The Railroader and Other Stories. Topeka, KS: Privately printed, 2001
This very personally Anne book includes touching short stories, memoirs, and a poem. The foreword is written by Pat Bell. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Shauers, Margaret (District 6, Great Bend)
”Johnny's House” in God Allows U-Turns for Women: The Choices We Make Change the Story of Our Life, comp. Allison Bottke and Cheryl Hutchings. Bloomington, MN: Bethany House, 2006, pp. 37-39, paper, 252pp., $12.99.
Through prayer and quick decisions the author's Sunday School class provides a disruptive boy with God's miraculous direction to change his behavior. Only God could have enabled the teacher to give Johnny the sense of importance he so desperately needed. (Reviewed by DSP, Apr 2006)

Shauers, Margaret (District 6, Great Bend)
Manhattan Mysteries—winning entries in The Great Manhattan Mystery Conclave short story contest in honor of the 2004 centennial of the Manhattan Public Library. Manhattan, KS: KS Publishing, 2005, 150pp., paper, $12.50.
Three short stories crafted by Margaret Shauers are included among 23 by other authors: “Mrs. Fritche’s Missing Chicken,” “Aunt Merle Rules Aggieville,” and “Mikey’s Gone.” These collected tales celebrate the centennial of Manhattan's Carnegie Free Public Library. Early settlers in Manhattan formed the first library organization in Kansas. All of the stories are set in Manhattan. (Reviewed by DSP, Jan 2006)

Shiever, Anne (District 4, Salina)
Captivated: In the Heart of Love and Romance. Salina: Anne’s Angel Publishing, 2005, 195pp., paper.
A collection of sentimental poems about love and relationships. (Reviewed by Karen Sells Brown, Apr 2006)

Shiever, Anne. (District 4, Salina)
Fathers Are Forever! Salina, KS: Anne's Publishing, 2004.
This sensational little book is full of memoirs of a father told in prose, poetry, photographs, and illustrations. An interesting story dedicated to all fathers the author has known. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Shiever, Anne. (District 4, Salina)
Forever Love ... A Mother. Salina, KS: Anne's Publishing, 2004.
This is a small book about the happiness of motherhood. The contents cover a wide range of emotional experiences of raising a family written by a mother. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Shiever, Anne. (District 4, Salina)
Heart, Mind, and Soul. Salina, KS: Anne's Publishing, 2004.
This inspirational book of more than 250 poems will lift your heart on almost any and every occasion. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Shiever, Anne (District 4, Salina)
Inside My Heart, Mind, and Soul: The Poetic Works of . . . . Lotus Books, 2005, 273pp., paper, $24.95.
Anne Shiever's heartaches and arduous life journeys have given her many subjects to include in this collection of verses, which asks readers to “accept her for the woman inside her heart.” (Reviewed by DSP, Dec 2005)

Shiever, Anne. (District 4, Salina)
The Myth of the Special Christmas Spider. Salina, KS: Privately printed, 1974.
A mini, mini book telling the tale with colorful illustrations of how spiders became so special during the Christmas season. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Shiever, Anne (District 4, Salina)
Nature’s Touch: A Hint of Positive Inspiration for Your Life from the Treasures of the Earth. Salina: Anne’s Angel Publishing, 2005, unpaged, paper.
A compendium of gemstones, myths, spiritual and healing properties associated with them. (Reviewed by Karen Sells Brown, Apr 2006)

Shiever, Anne (District 4, Salina)
Taffy’s Wonderful Miracle: Advanced Reader Edition, illus. by the author. Salina: Anne’s Publishing, 2005, 46pp., paper.
This memoir details the relationship of the puppy with the author from Taffy’s birth in the kennel, coming home, a tragic injury, and a miraculous healing, all attributed to a loving God. (Reviewed by Karen Sells Brown, Apr 2006)

Shiever, Anne (District 4, Salina)
Taffy’s Wonderful Miracle: An Easy Reader/Coloring Book, illus. by the author. Salina. Anne’s Publishing, 2005, 38pp., paper.
Anne’s injured puppy is able to walk again in this story meant to appeal to younger children, who are reminded that “God loves us!” Sketches of Taffy’s experiences on every page. (Reviewed by Karen Sells Brown, Apr 2006)

Shiever, Anne (District 4, Salina)
Time for Tig*ger Tales. Salina: Anne’s Publishing, 2004, paper.
Captioned photos of a cute kitten followed by several poems about cats. (Reviewed by Karen Sells Brown, Apr 2006)

Shiever, Anne. (District 4, Salina)
The Worst Fishing Trip. Salina, KS: Anne's Publishing, 2001.
A cleverly illustrated book of a fisherman's worst nightmare. Like Murphy's Law, "If it could happen," it did!. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Smith, Florence B. (District 2, Overland Park)
Books by Florence. [Privately printed, no date] 22 pp., illus., paper, 50 cents.
As a youthful storyteller, the author loved to escape back into history in the 1880s. She has since written 34 books, and has 25 published historical novels to her credit, plus many articles in some 20 magazines. This chapbook provides short, annotated reviews of 19th century westward expansion. Rich in detail and imagination, Smith's novels provide compelling stories of mystery, adventure and romance, (Reviewed by Don Pady, April 2009)

Smith, Florence B. (District 2, Overland Park)
The Devil Comes to Franklin County. Independence, KS: Two Trails Publishing, 1999, 199 pp., paperbound.
This historical novel is rich in real characters and local color, and in actual facts and circumstances surrounding the underground railroad and the men who made it work. When border ruffians kill her husband because he is an abolitionist, Rebecca Greer has no choice for herself and baby but to accompany Zi-ree, her dead husband's best friend and partner, as they flee for their lives. The leader of the ruffians is an evil man who loves to kill Negroes simply for the joy of killing. But with the help of Tauy Jones and Damon Higbee, Zi-ree sets out to rescue Rebecca. What happens to her is unbelievable, and the demise of the ruffian's leader must be read to be believed. (Reviewed by Don Pady, March 2009)

Snow, Florence L. (District 5, Neosho Falls)
Golden Wedding; for Lucien and Abbie Thrall, May 25, 1943, Neosho Falls, Kansas. [Privately printed] 1 leaf, 8.5" x 11", [Holograph signature by author]
Written before she moved from Neosho Falls to Lawrence in 1954, Florence L. Snow composed and dedicated this one-page panegyric poem to the 50th wedding anniversary of Lucien and Abby Thrall of Neosho Falls. (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, December 2009)

Snow, Florence L. (District 2, Lawrence)
Sincerely yours. Muscatine, IA: Prairie Press, 1937, 137 pp., [Signed copy] Hardbound.
Contents include 86 poems gathered in three book sections: "One Thing I Know," "Songs Make Their Way," and "The Lamp of God." Snow was a poet and historian who lived first in Neosho Falls, and later in Lawrence. This limited edition was designed and printed for the author by Carroll D. Coleman. (Reviewed by Don Pady, March 2009)

Solomon, Eva Kouri. (District 5, Wichita)
Gems of the Heart. Wichita, KS: Privately published, 1968.
Poems gathered from newspapers, yearbooks, church bulletins, and radio and TV stations in Oklahoma and Kansas during the late thirties and early forties. So many thoughts and ideas expressed in poetry grab your heart. Categories include Sacred Poems, Prayer Thoughts, Short Thoughts, Brighteners, Thought Capsules, and many others that encourage you to browse, read, and enjoy. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Sorensen, Claire Willis. (District 5, Wichita)
On Lines My Muse Has Led Me. Powers, MI: North Star Publishing, 2005.
As usual with poetry books I started with the index. Interesting titles then led me back and forth through the book. Some of the titles that caught my attention first were "Abandoned Shed," "A Dog's Desire," and "A Row of Identical Houses." But you might find these titles interesting, too: "My Forever Valentine," and "Thank You, Lord, for Mothers." The poems lived up to my expectations. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Sorensen, Claire W. (District 5, Wichita)
A Simpler Uncomplicated Age. (n.p.): Privately printed, 1999.
Easy-reading vignettes and poems ranging from Claire's early childhood to being the grandmother of two girls and two boys. Most of the stories take place in western Kansas. Illustrations and family pictures complement the text. Intriguing chapter titles include "Red Flannel Christmas" and "Spiders, Burns, and a Boy's Bed." The author brings these stories alive. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Sorensen, Claire W. (District 5, Wichita)
Souvenirs and Other Stanzas. (n.p.): Privately published, 1994.
These charming poems are divided into the categories of Romance, Christianity, People, Childhood, Heartbreak, Limericks, and Philosophy. Sketches add a whimsical touch to the kaleidoscope of words from the heart. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Speer, Clara Aiken. (District 2, Kansas City, MO)
Sonnets for Eve; and Other Poems. Mew York: The William-Frederick Press, 1952, 46 pp., [autographed] Hardbound.
The author of these delightful little poems shows that she knows the wisdom (and folly!), tolerance and understanding of the problems and triumphs of all women, from Eve on down through the ages to the present emancipated women of our democratic time. She was born in Richmond, Kansas, and attended Sterling College. She wrote poetry for The Kansas City Star's editorial page. Since 1946 she represented the seventh district, Jackson County, as a member of the Missouri House of Representatives. Her poetry has a philosophical outlook tempered with realism, and has a special appeal to the mature mind. (Reviewed by Don Pady, February 2009)

Stackley, Muriel T.  (Non-member, Kansas City)
Oracle of the heart. Newton, KS: Wordsworth, 2003. Winner of the 2004 Nelson Poetry Book Award. (Cited by Gail Martin)

Stanley, Ellen May. (District 7, Dighton)
Golden Age, Great Depression, and Dust Bowl. Newton, KS: Mennonite Press, 2001.
Winner of the 2002 Ferguson History Book Award, the third and final book of Lane County's history covers the period between World War I and 1940. Stanley covers such interesting chapters as "One Million Bushels of Wheat," "Young Men Register for the Draft," and "War Wounds and Death in France." "A Failed Bank Robbery" and "Bobbed Hair and Dances" also caught my attention. With bated breath I read "Snow, Dr. Brinkley and Blizzards" and "Black Blizzards." The book is liberally enriched with photographs, advertisements, maps, and miscellaneous paper items. A "must read" books for history buffs of western Kansas. Other books in this series are Early Lane County History, 12,000 B.C. - A.D. 1884., published in 1999. In 1996, she published Cowboy Josh: Adventures of a Real Cowboy. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Stanley, Ellen May. pistrict 7, Dighton)
A Journey -- from Germany in 1853 to Alamota, Kansas in 1904. [Newton, KS:
Mennonite Press] 2007, 147pp., illus., indexed.
This superb genealogical study of the author's family follows her enviable place as an accomplished historian. A Journey is well-indexed, has explanatory endnotes and features many photographs. The KAC in 2002 awarded her book, Golden age, great depression, and dust bowl (2001) its Ferguson Kansas History Book Award. Stanley is a Past President of the Kansas State Historical Society. She has written many historical articles for newspapers and periodicals, and is now a community editor for Legend Magazine. (Reviewed by Don S. Pady, Feb 2008)

Stein, Mary Lou. (District 1, Topeka)
Essays, poetry, see in Insight Out (2003) and A Write Stuff Christmas (2004).

Stein, Mary Lou Buckholz. (District 1, Topeka)
Too Late to Regret, Too Soon to Forget. Topeka, KS: Privately printed, 2001, 36 pp.
This volume of memoirs and photos, subtitled, "A Story Remembered," covers the author's life from 1929. "The Beginning," through the Depression, World War II and the Korean War, ending with her parents' deaths. Stein does not gloss over the difficult times; rather she writes expressively of them and how they formed the person she became. (Reviewed by Karen L. Kolavalli, Children's Librarian, Bradford Memorial Library, El Dorado, Kansas)

Stonecipher, Sandra Parr (District 5, Wichita)
Threads of Life Stitched in Rhyme: Poems by . . . Wichita: ADR Bookprint, 2003, 134pp., paper $11.95.
Faith in God and love of family fill these simple rhymed quatrains. The problems of war, the unfairness of life, and a big helping of humor about dieting are included. A poem likely to be appreciated by authors supposes what might happen if “God the Author” were “on earth to sign his Book.” (Reviewed by Karen Sells Brown, April 2006)

Stratton, Lori. (District 4, Wamego)
Seasons of the Heart. Mobile, AL: Parson Place Press, 2008, 233 pp., paperbound, $21.97.
Filled with hope, occasional tragedy, and scenes that provoke laughter as well as tears, this Christian historical romance will keep you entranced while you follow young Swedish immigrant Anna Svensen through her late teens and early twenties as she searches for love and independence. Set in the 1880s, this beautifully-written book shows how hard love and life actually occurred on the Kansas frontier. (Reviewed by Don Pady, June 2008)

Stufflebean, Debra Guiou (District 1, Topeka)
Untold secrets; a novel. NY: iUniverse, 2006, 324pp., diagrs., paper, $19.95.
Readers will find this well-crafted novel has it all: romance, suspense, inspiration. The author does not shy away from the demons of sickness, rape, murder, adultery, kidnapping, abandonment, abuse and addiction. Her science- versus-spirituality approach to the discovery of truth asks many questions of the reader: Can memories be genetically transferred through DNA? Are dreams the gifts from God?, etc.  (Reviewed by DSP, January 2007)

Stumpf, LeNore. (District 4, Axtell)
Bits of Wisdom (For Folks Already Too Smart For Their Britches). Newton, KS: Mennonite Press, 2008, 95 pp., Softcover, $14.95.
Pithy comments and short, original epigrams mark universal truths that apply to any modern culture. Who can dispute her perfectly-honed logic or her ingenious turns of thought? To quote an example: "Kansas, they say, is the land of Ahs. Ah for the beauty of a Kansas spring. Ah-men for a drought-breaking rain. Ah-choo for a ragweed season." This book is perfect for busy readers who digest books in increments. (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, August 2008)

Stumpf, LeNore. (District 4, Axtell)
Branded With Love. Baltimore, MN: PublishAmerica, 2002.
A modern-day romance and the solving of a long-ago mystery set in the "real west" of western Kansas. A must for horse lovers, mystery buffs, and those who yearn for some Kansas landscape. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Stumpf, LeNore. (District 4, Axtell)
Life, I Think, Is Like a Watermelon. Illustrated by Greg M. Goff. Baltimore, MD: PublishAmerica, 2003, 190 pp. Softcover, $14.00.
With humor sometimes bubbling over into extravagant, exaggerative hyperbole and occasional satire, the author, poet and newspaper columnist, describes adventures and misadventures of people who affected her life. She wrote weekly humor columns for nearly two decades, and found subject material among her many memories. Her ability to fancifully parse ordinary words into new definitions will amaze you -- and irreverently tickle your funny bone! (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, August 2008)

Stunz, Ruth S. (District 5, Wichita)
Contrails In the Wind. Newton, KS: Mennonite Press, 2002.
Winner of KAC's 2003 Nelson Poetry Book Award, Ruth Stunz writes with skill and sensitivity of many facets of the human experience: living, loving, learning, losing ... She writes, too, of human weakness, of denials of life and love, and of the personal and political decisions she believes wreak havoc with civility and peace. Readers will find many poems here to ponder, to enjoy. They speak of lifeas they bespeak this poet's life. Ruth's other books are Poems To Ponder, 1968; Reflections, 1988; Evolution, the Hole Story, 1989 & 1997; and Peace On Earth, 1990. (Reviewed by Dr. Helen J. Throckmorton, Professor Emeritus, Wichita State University, Wichita, Kansas)

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Tallgrass Voices; Poems From Members of the Kansas Authors Club, ed. Gary Lechliter (District 2, Lawrence) Lawrence, KS: Hill Song Press, 2011, 136 pp., Paperbound, $11.95.
"The poetry in this collection of Kansas writers reflects on the validity of place and the importance of Kansas writers and poets from such diverse backgrounds and occupations as educators, engineers, chaplains and novelists. The poems are not about sunflowers and meadowlarks, Dorothy's red shoes, a house that drops from a tornado onto a witch. The poems are earthy plainsongs from the flyover state. They crush the age-old stereotypes of backward people that are unacquainted with the rest of the world, untraveled, uneducated, quaint icons of Green Acres. Read through this collection of Kansas writers. You will find yourself, whether you are a Kansan or not, reading the poems again and again. You will understand the milieu of the endless flatland, the history, the names, the towns, and the people." (Quoted from Introduction by editor Gary Lechliter by Don Pady, July 2011)

Tanos, Richard Paul. (District 3, Coffeyville)
The Best Ever! Centennial Celebration, Montgomery County, Kansas. 100 Great Years, Fair-Races—Rodeo, Coffeyville. Coffeyville, KS: Tanos Books, 2008, 199 pp., illus., hardcover, $25.00
This book won the 2008 Kansas History Book Award. From 1908 to 2008, the Montgomery County Fair has thrilled thousands of people who came to Coffeyville to see the Fair, races, rodeo, 4-H projects and a myriad of starring celebrities. For the most part, author Tanos relied on reports of annual events published in the Coffeyville Journal over the past 100 years. Interviews he conducted with modern-day people also captured the cultural, social and historical essence of what took place since the earliest times. Civic pride in the Fair has traditionally brought the community together to entertain and educate. This book recaps hard-to-get facts, starting from a relatively small conception through the industrial age, several major wars ... up to the present time. Local businesspeople have rallied together with common vision to bring city and rural folks together for a celebration of good food, fun, entertainment, competition and education. (Reviewed by Don Pady, December 2008)

Tanos, Richard Paul (District 3, Coffeyville)
Cold Calls; the Decadent Decades; an Incredible Journey Based on Actual Facts. Coffeyville, KS: TanosBooks, 2009, 270 pp., Paperbound, $19.95
"Conner Tomms was a Canadian protege employed with a subsidiary of the Chicago Tribune Corporation who desperately needed a career change. In 1981, after experiencing several years in a recessive economy, direct sales organizations started to flourish with hundreds of up-start companies all offering sales opportunities earning huge monies to almost anyone. Conner becomes indirectly involved with a cosmetics company, and as a result, he build a turn-key computer system which he spent the next decade installing throughout Canada and the United States. Take an exciting and entertaining journey from a very unique perspective as Conner shares his story of money, control, sex and drugs—what he called the decade of decadence." (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, November 2009)

Tanos, Richard P. (District 3, Coffeyville)
The Home Child. Palm Bay, Florida: Tanos Books, 2004, 227pp., paper.
Richard Tanos has based this fiction on the story of his grandfather’s journey from an orphanage in England to a tobacco farm in Canada where he spent five years as a home child. Tanos’s portrayal of the difficult life in the orphanage, the boys’ long trip to Canada, and the horrors of their treatment on the farms, is compelling. Romance between Tawny and Lizzy, a girl who lives in a nearby town, offers hope in these grim circumstances, and they marry. Though the outcome is known, it is an intriguing story. (Reviewed by Karen Sells Brown, April 2006)

Tharp, Bonnie D. (District 5, Wichita)
Feisty Family Values. Detroit, MI: Gale CENGAGE Learning, 2010, 271 pp., Hardbound, $25.95
Courage to overcome personal tragedies can account for the most difficult challenges to many people. In this poignant novel, winner of KAC's 2011 J. Donald Coffin Award, three women share their lives conversational discourse. The author's narrative technique moves the story and shows marvelous examples of redemption and hope. What happens when Tillie Dawson undergoes a radical mastectomy, yet finds true love and marriage despite her fear of rejection? Or why does Regina Morgan-Smith decide to live with her lawyer friend? Or how can young grandchildren survive domestic violence and then find love ... despite what their grandmother, Annabelle, thinks of her derelict daughter? Located in the "once opulent Riverside area of Wichita, Kansas ... this contemporary work of women's fiction will have you laughing and crying as the ladies discover the truth about what makes a family." (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, January 2012)

Torrez, Rosemary Parsons. (District 1, Topeka)
Essays, poetry, see in Insight Out (2003) and A Write Stuff Christmas (2004).

Townley, Roderick (District 2, Shawnee Mission)
The Door in the Forest. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2011, 247 pp., Hardbound, First edition, $16.99
Behind an invisible door lies an impossible secret. At the midpoint of three towns, in the center of three streams, in the heart of a forest, lies a mysterious island. Encircled by quicksand and sewn shut by vines, it is impenetrable to all but the poisonous snakes patrolling its waters. But Daniel is determined to get there, along with his friend Emily. Imagine exploring this forbidden place where no one had ever been -- never, since the moist beginnings of life on earth. It was in this one way like the moon, a land where no one had ever died and no one had ever been born. A place where no one had ever told a lie. (Quoted from author's readers' annotation on the rear cover; D.S. Pady, November 2011)

Townley, Wyatt (District 2, Shawnee Mission)
The Afterlives of Trees. Topeka, KS: Woodley Press, 2011, 79 pp., Images by Michael Johnson, Paperbound, $15.00
This book of poetry is "a path through the forest, winding through childhood, adulthood, and the illusion of death. All forms are in flux. But behind the form is the spirit that runs through all life. It is here that the tree and we have our afterlives. It once held you in its branches. Now you hold it in your hands, a fusion of word and image, ink and pulp. The tree has changed its clothes, but it is nonetheless a tree." (Quoted from author's readers' annotation on back cover; D.S. Pady, November 2011)

Turner, Ursula (District 3, Coffeyville)
Hello there ... have a nice day: a collection of her columns about life in America and elsewhere. Coffeyville, KS: Tanos Books, 2006, 204 pp., illus., paper, $14.95.
For nine years, Ursula Turner, Lifestyle editor of The Coffeyville Journal, wrote a weekly column called "Bits 'n pieces." This book contains a collection of her favorites. They will send you on a nostalgic trip into your past, bringing up many things long forgotten but well worth remembering. (Reviewed by DSP, Apr 2007)

Turner, Ursula (Winter). (District 3, Coffeyville)
A Dalton's Revenge. Coffeyville, KS: Tanos Books, 2008, 219 pp., Softbound, $16.95
"Daniel Newman is a Vietnam veteran who, upon receiving a letter from his dying father, learns that he is a descendant of the late Emmett Dalton, member of an outlaw gang that once terrified people of the Old West. He also learns that the Dalton Gang found its end in the small town of Coffeyville, Kansas, where some of its citizens killed all but Emmett in a fierce gun battle. Newman devises a plan to avenge his relations by doing some damage to Coffeyville and to some of its citizens." He intends to do this with the help of four men he knows. One backs out at the last minute, but Daniel's girl friend reluctantly agrees to help. When the gang roars into town on motorcycles instead of horses, Mother Nature shows up with a vengeance of her own, and provides a nail-biting, functional plot with a wild ending. (Reviewed by Don Pady, November 2008.)

Turner, Ursula (Winter). (District 3, Coffeyville)
A Mother's Sins. Coffeyville, KS: Tanos Book Publishing, n.d., 156pp., paper.
"Holly Snyder arrived at Seven Oaks to work as a private secretary for Senator Drew VanDorn. However, the real reason she came to the manor was to find her birth father. When she falls in love with a young man who might just be her half-brother, her task becomes more than complicated. Will Holly find the answer she desperately seeks? Will she need to sacrifice her happiness? This is a well-crafted romantic novel with good movement throughout. (Reviewed by DSP, Nov 2006)

Turner, Ursula (Winter). (District 3, Coffeyville)
Sirens: Life in Rural Germany During and Shortly After World War II. Coffeyville, KS: Tanos Books, 2008, 230 pp., illus., Softcover, $17.95.
Nazi Germany, with its constant threat to German civilians, filled the author's life with unbelievable hardships and fear. This historical memoir tells a compelling story from the point of view of a child who lived through the horrors of WWII. She did not know for a year that her father was a prisoner of the Allies in France; her mother struggled to feed and clothe Ursula, her sister, and herself; bombs dropped by Allied aircraft were a constant threat. But her mother wrote a daily journal in which she noted everything of importance to her—everything she would put into her letters to her husband. This tragic but inspiring record will bolster your spirit, and turn this first-hand novel into a warning of what could happen in years to come. (Reviewed by Don Pady, December 2008)

Turner, Ursula (District 3, Coffeyville)
Sirens II; Letters From the Heart. Coffeyville, KS: Tanos Books, 2010, 167 pp., Illustrated, Paperbound, $15.95
Karl and Erna Winter, the author's parents, were separated for five long years by a horrible war. Although Karl was able to come home on leave during the earlier part of the war, the couple engaged in regular correspondence by both letter and post card. However, during the late summer of 1944, all mail deliveries suddenly ceased and neither Karl nor Erna knew if the other was still alive. In spite of this, both continued to write on a regular basis. This book contains a translation of many of these letters and cards which didn't appear ... until after the war ended. They show clearly how each of the couple suffered from not knowing the other's fate. (Quoted from author's readers' annotation on back cover; recorded by D.S. Pady, December 2011)

U:

Umbehr, Eileen. (District 4, Alma)
Small town showdown; the true story of a trashman's battle for free speech that led him from a Kansas town to the United States Supreme Court. [n.p.]: Xulon Press, 2007,485pp., paper, $23.99.
The true story of a trash hauler's battle for free speech that ultimately led to resolution by the U.S. Supreme Court. When county commissioners in Wabaunsee County, Kansas, clamped down on this refuse collector's right to speak freely about how taxpayer money was being spent, they demanded that the editor of the local newspaper censor his articles or face withdrawal of all county business. What happens after that explicitly questions whether people should speak out against government abuses at their own economic peril. (Reviewed by Don S. Pady, Feb 2008)

Unruh, Cheryl (District 2, Emporia)
Flyover People; Life on the Ground in a Rectangular State. Newton, KS: Quincy Press, printed by Mennonite Press, 2010, 197 pp., Illustrated
Flyover People is a wonderful collection of several dozen of Unruh's columns that appeared weekly in The Emporia Gazette extolling Kansas' landscape, culture and people. "In her writings Unruh celebrates and describes what it is that Kansans love about living in this 'flyover' state. She provides those that live outside the state a picture of Kansas through the eyes of those that have chosen to live there. In several of her essays, Unruh provides information about various communities, activities and historical events that help to educate her reader." More of Cheryl's columns and daily writings may be read at www.flyover people.net (Quoted passage by Terry Pedersen Summey. Don Pady, November 2011)

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V:

Vaughan, Joe H. (District 2, Prairie Village)
Alone in the Crowd; One Man's Struggle With Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Foreword by John J. O'Hearne, M.D. Prairie Village, KS: Joe Vaughan Associates, 1993, viii + 135 pp., Paperbound, $9.95.
" 'KCMO Radio News Time is 4:56 ... I'm Joe Vaughan.' For over 20 years Midwesterners heard the big news of the day from veteran broadcast journalist Joe Vaughan. Nationally, tens of thousands of radio listeners have heard the Kansas native's lead stories broadcast on both the CBS and ABC Radio Networks. What those listening didn't know was that the Kansas City area broadcaster was living a devilish drama of his own. Alone in the Crowd chronicles Vaughan's lifetime struggle with obsessive compulsive disorder and the savvy self-sufficiency, grit and good luck it took to carve out a noteworthy career as a broadcast journalist and civic leader." (Quoted from book's advertising blurb by D.S. Pady, August 2011)

Vaughn, Dale E. (District 1, Topeka)
Black Jack '56; The First Battle of the American Civil War. Bloomington, IN: iUniverse, 2010, 174 pp., illus., maps, Paperbound, $16.95.
"For almost a year, settlers in the Kansas Territory had to fight every day for survival. It was not enough that they had to struggle against hot dry weather, bugs, grasshoppers, mosquitoes, rats and rattle snakes; they also had to fight to keep their land from murderous Missouri Border Ruffians and raiders brought in from almost every slave state including Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Arkansas. Murders, threats of death, burning of cabins, beatings, more killings and a Government thrust upon them by a Pro-Slavery President; his Territorial Governor and Territorial Legislature fashioned after that of neighboring Missouri; a Missouri that claimed the Kansas Territory as their own! And no one would stand in their way -- regardless of the consequences. Told through the eyes of Abrael Kepper, a young Jewish boy looking to make a home in the new Territory, bloody Kansas becomes the site of the beginning of the American Civil War." (Reviewed from author's advertisement, D.S. Pady,October 2010)

Vaughn, Dale E.  (District 1, Topeka)
The Chance.  Leawood, KS: Leathers Publishing, 2004, 278pp., illus., maps, hardbound, $22.95.
An historical novel about the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry, this thrilling action of a brave regiment documents how it was that Kansas actually produced the very first African-American troops to fight in uniform in the American Civil War. The story alludes to the fact that the war most likely began in Bloody Kansas in 1855 rather than Fort Sumpter in 1861. The author, a veteran himself, demonstrates a solid historical grasp as he spotlights this long-overlooked and neglected aspect of the war between the states.  (Reviewed by DSP, Feb 2007)

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W:

Wacker, Mary Langley. (District 5, Wichita)
Landmarks. (n.p): Baltimore, MD: PublishAmerica, 2002.
The author used her grandfather's life as her guide for this fictional story of the adventures of a fourteen-year-old boy left alone after a bear kills his father. His travels from Michigan to Kansas in 1881 will give you an idea of the harsh life the pioneers experienced. I found a new hero in Darwin Langley to put alongside my favorite hero, Daniel Boone. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Walkenhorst, Patricia Callahan. (District 2, Blue Springs, MO)
The Callahans of Kansas. Blue Springs, MO: Keepsake Books, 1997.
The saga of the Callahan clan's migration through many generations from Ireland to Kansas, down to the author's own family is well documented and indexed. The book itself is an excellent example of what can result from intensive family history research. The author autographed the book with these words: "Treasure the memories!" (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Walkenhorst, Patricia Callahan (District 2, Blue Springs, MO)
Irish Settlers of Kansas; Memoirs of the Pioneer Life. Coffeyville, KS: TanosBooks Publishing, 2009, 210 pp., illus., Paperbound, $18.95
A non-fiction collection of untold pioneer stories of Kansas' second largest ethnic population, the Irish, are gathered by the author with the assistance of Father John Lahey and Ellen Cregan Anderton. These nearly-lost, handed- down true stories of cowboys, Indians, buffalo, floods, Border and Civil War events help us to relive the trials and victories of the Irish who came to Kansas. Some had fled the Irish famine, others sought the free land, and many stayed enroute to Pike's Peak gold. Letters, articles, documents, maps and tintypes in this genealogist's treasure chest make these memories a history too important to be lost. (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, May 2010)

Ware, Eugene Fitch [1841-1911] (District 1, Topeka), see Ironquill, [Pseudonym]

Wassall, Irma. (District 5, Wichita)
The Ruby-Emerald Jungles. Wichita, KS: The Vortex Press, Lee Streiff, 1999, 14 pp., illus., Paperbound.
Irma Wassall is a Wichita writer-recitalist. This is her sixth collection of poems previously published in magazines, newspapers and anthologies. All nine poems in this delightful little chapbook, illustrated in color and black and white by Ken Jones, feature descriptions of African places, tribal rituals and the devastating slave trade. (Reviewed by Don Pady, December 2008)

Waterman-Peters, Barbara. (District 1, Topeka)
Essays, poetry, drama, see in Insight Out (2003) and A Write Stuff Christmas (2004).

Wellman, Sam. (District 5, North Newton)
Galaxy of Superstars: Ben Affleck. Philadelphia, PA: Chelsea House Publications, 2000.
An entertaining story of the life of Ben Affleck and his rise to fame and fortune as an eight-year-old in the PBS series of The Voyage of the Mimi. Affleck played in commercials and television movies, then with his roommate, Matt Dillon, wrote a play, Good Will Hunting. The rest is history, as the saying goes. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Wellman, Sam. (District 5, North Newton)
Heroes of the Faith Series. Uhrichsville, OH: Barbour Publishing, 1995 - 2001.
This series of books includes: C.S. Lewis, Author of Mere Christianity (1996); William Carey, Father of Modern Missions (1997); George Washington Carver, Inventor and Educator (1998); Billy Graham, The Great Evangelist (1996); David Livingston, Missionary and Explorer (1995); John Calvin, Father of Reformed Theology (2001); Amy Carmichael, A Life Abandoned to God (1998); Florence Nightingale, Lady With the Lamp (1999); Corrie Ten Boom, Heroine of Haarlem (1995); Mary Slessor, Queen of Calabar (1998). All these books are wonderful stories of faith heroes. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Wescoe, Jason. (Non-member)
Between the Letters. Perry, KS: 219 Press, 2002.
A collection of poetry covering the years 1998 through 2002. Try "Kaw River Road" or "The Prairie Intersections." This poet has seen the prairies of the Flint Hills as I have. The poems are each dated and enhanced with photographs and pencil sketches. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Whisnant, Steve (District 5, Little Rock, AR)
Domino. Little Rock, AR: SkyMacSyd Publishing, 2007, 32 pp., illus., Hardbound.
Join Kevin Baker and his imaginary friends as they escape into a world of adventure to avoid the boredom of everyday chores. Students of the 5th Grade Jefferson (Arkansas) Elementary School Art Club painted color illustrations to their story and then published the entire tale in the end of the book. (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, November 2009)

Whisnant, Steve (District 5, Little Rock, Arkansas)
Yesterday Once More; Award-Winning Short Stories, Vol. 2, with Photos and Illustrations by Great Artists. Little Rock, AR: SkyMacSyd Publishing, 2009, 269 pp., Paperbound
These fiction and non-fiction short stories include tales of love and friendship, mysteries, humor, horror and westerns. Author Whisnant is a field representative for the Vital Records Division of the Arkansas Department of Health. His work complements his writing because he talks with people throughout his resident state of Arkansas. His stories often take on parts of tales his client's relate to him about genealogical and biographical findings. This gives Whisnant's yarns the human element--unique to his literary imagination. (Reviewed by Don Pady, December 2011)

White, William Allen. (District 2, Emporia)
Autobiography of William Allen White. New York: Macmillan, 1946, 669 pp., photos., illus., Hardbound.
"This Autobiography, in spite of all the pains I have taken and the research I have put into it, is necessarily fiction. The fact that names, dates, and places seem to correspond with such things that may have occurred in real life does not guarantee the truth of these stories. So, in all candor, I wish to warn the reader not to confuse the story with reality. For God only knows the truth. I am hereby trying, in my finite way, to set down some facts which seem real and true to me. At best, this is only a tale that is told." (Reviewed by Don Pady, January 2009)

White, William Allen. (District 2, Emporia)
Fifty Years Before and After; an Address Given at the Sixty-Second Annual Commencement of the University of Kansas, June 11, 1934. Lawrence, KS: Department of Journalism Press, 1934, 15 pp., chapbook.
William Allen White read this commencement address to KU's graduating class during the days of the Great Depression. "No man will minimize the gross injustices of our modern world. They cry to Heaven for redress. And you must redress those gross economic maladjustments. Don't be fooled by smoke screens behind which men, clamoring for the Bill of Rights, are digging entrenchments for wicked economic wrongs. Be sure that under the democratic process you can and will make the drastic social, economic and industrial adjustments needed." (Reviewed by Don Pady, April 2009)

White, William Allen. (District 2, Emporia)
Forty Years on Main Street. New York: Farrar & Rinehart, 1937, 409 pp., photos., Hardback.
Ever since he took over The Emporia Gazette in 1895, until his death in 1944, White had been the authentic voice of the American Main Street. His selected columns and editorials, published here, were syndicated and reprinted in almost every corner of the United States. Since the publication of his famous and heart rending editorial, "What's the Matter with Kansas?" he was known as one of the freshest, most vigorous, most intelligently human of our political commentators. (Reviewed by Don Pady, April 2009)

White, William Allen. (District 2, Emporia)
Masks In a Pageant. New York: Macmillan, 1928, 507 pp., photos., illus., [Autographed edition], Hardback.
White tries successfully to picture the masks of people in the pageant of politics. "So they go," writes the famous editor of The Emporia Gazette, "... the long, swiftly-moving line--masks in a pageant; masks that I saw, that I scrutinized eagerly, but only with eyes of clay that never could see clearly, much less convey the truth to a mortal heart that never could quite understand." (Reviewed by Don Pady, March 2009)

White, Willian Allen. (District 2, Emporia)
Poetry of William Allen White; Collected and Edited by Donald Stuart Pady. Leawood, KS: Leathers Publishing, 2002, 233 pp., portrait, illus., Hardback, $24.95; Softcover, $17.95.
In addition to this well-known Kansan's journalistic and political accomplishments, William Allen White (1969-1944) was also a very good poet. He published nearly 200 poems in numerous newspapers, books and magazines. Now, his poetry—even some verses as yet unpublished before his death—are brought together for the first time. This editor's introduction and critical notes give added dimension to White's poetic philosophy and provide the inside meaning and innuendo to White's expressive words and statements in verse.
   White wrote poems in many different meters and rhyme schemes which conveyed ideas and opinions which expressed his unique personality. Some of his political verses, when read today, might seem libelous--especially when they scathingly attacked the shenanigans of White's bitter opponents. But his wide range of social ideas and concerns, herein arranged chronologically by subject, carried some of his more important thoughts into vast arenas of public interest. (Reviewed by Don Pady, December 2008)

White, William Allen. (District 2, Emporia)
What It's All About; Being a Reporter's Story of the Early Campaign of 1936. New York: Macmillan, 1936, 146 pp., Hardcover.
This book is White's honest attempt to tell from the Republican side of things what the millions who are opposed to the New Deal are trying to do about it; what the opposition means; something about the historical background out of which this campaign developed. It is an account of the Republican National Convention platform and the story of Governor Alf Landon's Kansas nomination for President of the United States. It also contains the account of the Democratic National Convention platform and the story of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's nomination. White claims impartiality as one entirely separated from the Republican organization, and Landon's personal entourage—concentrating only on the issues of the campaign. (Reviewed by Don Pady, March 2009)

Wilcox, Myra L. (District 1, Nortonville)
Red Moon Rising. Nortonville, KS: HillTop Ministries, 2006, 133pp., paper.
Grab a cup of coffee, a comfy chair, and enjoy the life reflections of an audacious southern belle. Here is poetry elevated to a new level with five intriguing themes. Her Analytic Spoofs are daring; Quicksand Revelations fearlessly tread dangerous ground; Soul Cries tug the heartstrings; Spicy Romance poems brim with the fiery passion of youth; laugh with insightful Retrograde Anagrams. So relax and enjoy the magic of poetic license Myra uses to challenge the wondrous adventure we call life. (Reviewed by DSP, Nov 2006)

Williams, Grant (District 3, Arkansas City)
Another Piece of My Mind. Arkansas City, 2003, 100pp., paper.
Williams shares more verses on many subjects occasioned by life in a small Kansas town, with a hope that readers will remember “A Piece of My Mind.” (Reviewed by Karen Sells Brown, Apr 2006)

Williams, Grant (District 3, Arkansas City)
Big Willie. Coffeyville, KS: Tanos Books, 2007, paper, $14.95
A powerful novel with both fact and fiction woven together into a beautiful quilt with a New England setting. When Big Willie is stricken ill, the relationship with his son William takes on a new meaning. But have there been too many bridges burned to allow reconciliation between father and son? (Reviewed by DSP, Apr2007)

Williams, Grant (District 3, Arkansas City)
The Boys from Hog Heaven. Coffeyville, KS: Tanos Books, 2006, paper, $17.95
The author's first novel features Tarleton McGregor, who quickly discovers that growing up in southern Georgia holds memories relating to his experiences of living in small town America. He creates a story that all of us could have lived. (Reviewed by DSP, April 2007)

Williams, Grant (District 3, Arkansas City)
From My Hand to Your Heart. Winfield, KS: Central Plains Book Mfg, 2006, 96pp., paper.
These didactic poems express Williams’ moral compass—guiding the reader into decisions about what is right. (Reviewed by DSP, Apr 2006)

Williams, Grant (District 3, Arkansas City)
From My Pencil Box: Children’s Moral Poetry. Arkansas City, Kansas: 2005, 25pp., paper, spiral bound.
Simple nostalgic rhymed verses describe things remembered from childhood, some more adult. (Reviewed by Karen Sells Brown, Apr 2006)

Williams, Grant. (District 3, Arkansas City)
Hog heaven and home. Coffeyville, KS: Tanos Books, 2007,224pp., paper, $17.95.
The fictional tale of Tar McGregor continues as a sequel to Williams' fist novel, The Boys from hog heaven. Now an adult, Tar McGregor experiences the trials of people in a southwest, rural Georgia community who deal with strange happenings in the woods by a big farm. Characters find they can overcome many obstacles in their lives and live in happiness and harmony. What lies in store for Charlotte and Tar? What will happen to Grandpa McGregor? (Reviewed by Don S. Pady, Feb 2008)

Williams, Grant (District 3, Arkansas City)
My Favorite Poems. Arkansas City, KS, 2005, 101pp., paper.
This assortment of homespun ditties expounds on the stories, philosophies, and opinions Williams has recognized through his life's endeavors. (Reviewed by DSP, Apr 2006)

Williams, Grant. (District 3, Arkansas City)
Pigs and Packinghouses; a Collection of Short Stories and Poems. Coffeyville, KS: Tanos Books, 2008, 271 pp., illus., Paperbound, $18.95
A collection of poignant but fictional short stories and poems, the author leaves a distinct legacy to his many readers. He states purposely that we should all do the best we can for those with whom we contact during life's journey. But, as Grant readily admits, "Making a difference in people's lives takes many twists and turns. Sometimes in stories you must feel the idea more than the words." (Reviewed by Don Pady, December 2008)

Williams, Grant. (District 3, Arkansas City)
Playing in the Sandbox; Child's Verses—Children's Moral Poetry. Arkansas City,KS: Kester Ink, 2004, 25 pp., illus., Paperbound.
Grant grew up in New England and attended Cowley County Community College in Arkansas City. He is a U.S. Navy veteran; believes in his God, his country and family. He enjoys entertaining children with his poetry, and he hopes there is a moral message to the children and parents in this book. (Reviewed by Don Pady, April 2009)

Williams, Grant (District 3, Arkansas City)
Poems by "A Connecticut Yankee" in Kansas. Coffeyville, KS: Tanos Books, 2009, 135 pp., illus., $13.95
One hundred and seven poems of many rhymes and meters capture the readers' imaginations with verses among subjects as: Nature, Children, Love, The Shore, Sports, Patriotic, Inspiration, Holidays, Occupations and Humor. Many photographs by Jacquelyn Gould Sanders of Old Lyme, CT illustrate the poems. (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, October 2010)

Williams, Grant. (District 3, Arkansas City)
Summer of '59. Coffeyville, KS: Tanos Books, 2009, 267 pp., illus., paperbound $19.95.
The summer of 1959 begins with the Buffalo Buffaloes breaking spring training in Florida and heading north. The baseball team is led by Skipper Cap Anderson, who goes through a season of highs and lows with the young team. Doc McCain and Donny Rush learn a lot about baseball and a lot about life—as do the other members of the team. In the end do they realize baseball is still a child's game played by men? As New York Yankee's catcher, Yogi Berra, once quipped, "The game isn't over until it's over." And, as catcher Roy Campanella once said, "You gotta be a man to play baseball for a living, but you gotta have a lot of little boy in you." (Reviewed by D. S. Pady, April 2009)

Williams, Grant. (District 3, Arkansas City)
Under the Shade Tree; Children's Moral Poetry. Arkansas City, KS: Kester Ink, 2004, 25 pp., illus.,Paperbound, $8.58.
This book of poems is dedicated to the caregivers of children, to the educators and teachers, and to the loving parents who take the time to read with—and to—their children. Author Williams believes this is our legacy and both our—and children's— future. The 25 poems are in rhyming couplets and are intended to teach and to delight. (Reviewed by Don Pady, April 2009)

Wood, Annette G. (District 5, Wichita)
A Different kind of kin; for relations of persons with autism. Wichita, KS: Kansas Windmill Press, 2007, 125pp., paper, illus., $16.99.
This heartrending story, from the perspective of a sibling who grew up in the 1950s with a sister who had autism, describes much that has been learned so far about this insidious, developmental disability during the last forty years. Personal accounts from the viewpoint of sibling are rare, but these struggle with many issues: loss, guilt, anger, resentment and embarrassment, and many other reactions. A bibliography of books, articles, and websites provide helpful resources. (Reviewed by Don S. Pady, Feb 2008)

Wright, James D. (District 5, Bel Aire)
The Middle of Somewhere: Stories of Life on the High Plains. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse, 2004. This book's title is about all you need to want to read these interesting tales. One story, "Beyond Lodge Trail Ridge," is written as a daily journal. All are fictional glimpses into different lives in the short-grass prairie that stretches from the Midwest to the foothills of the Rockies. Reading some of these brought up memories of someone I knew, like the rodeo girl who lost her dreams in just one last ride. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

The Write Stuff (District 1, Topeka)
Insight Out: an anthology of poetry and prose. Ed. Karen Sells Brown, illus. Barbara Waterman-Peters. Topeka, KS: The Write Stuff, 2003, 154 pp., paper,
These literary contributions by twelve members of The Write Stuff writing group, which grew out of a creative writing class taught by Dr. Robert D. Carey in Topeka, display some of the best writings of those who took his course of instruction. First the students practiced the art of memoir-writing. Those recovered clumps of words gradually shaped authentic writing in other creative genres, such as poems, novels, short stories, and drama. The Write Stuff continues writing together weekly, steadily pursuing the craft of becoming fine authors. (Reviewed by DSP, Apr 2007)

A Write Stuff Christmas: a collection of poems, stories and recipes. Topeka, KS: The Write Stuff, 2004, 70 pp., illus., paper.
This small holiday collection includes touching memories of Christmas past, poems, artwork, and favorite recipes contributed by members of The Write Stuff. (Reviewed by Karen Sells Brown, Apr 2007)

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Y:

Yoder, James D. (District 5, Hesston)
The Lone Tree; a Historical Novel. West Conshohocken, PA: Infinity Publishing, 2008, 235 pp., Paperbound, $14.95
"Faced with rejection, starvation, and the horror of a plague, a teen-age girl struggles to preserve her family and her faith. To keep their faith, Lusanna Becker, her family, and entire congregation leave Polish-Russia in 1874. When they arrive in Hutchinson, Kansas, they are met with rejection and must travel by boxcar to Florence, Kansas, in fourteen below zero temperatures. Over 600 are shoved into a warehouse where smallpox breaks out. Facing the death of hundreds, Lusanna remembers that a Christian is like a tree planted by the rivers of water. She sacrifices herself by nursing the sick. When spring arrives, she marries Carl Jantz and settles on land near Canton, Kansas. Here she discovers a gigantic cottonwood tree,which reminds her of her homeland and her Christian faith. Today, The Lone Tree Church stands nearby." (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, December 2009)

Yoder, James D. (District 5, Hesston)
Mudball Sam: an historical novel. West Conshohocken, PA: InfinityPublishing.com, 2006, 348pp., $18.95.
After a bully picks fights with him and calls him "Mudball," Sam learns to forgive and win friends. He struggles to live with hope as he contends with thievery, floods, and false charges brought against him at a threshing fire. With the help of his faithful mother and sister, Sam wades through near-overwhelming challenges toward a life of joy and fulfillment. (Reviewed by DSP, Nov 2006)

Yoho, Max (District 1, Topeka)
Felicia, These Fish Are Delicious: Poems, Essays, and Short Stories. Topeka, KS: Dancing Goat Press, 2004, 97pp., paper, $10.95.
Yoho's poems, essays, and short stories swing the delighted reader between humor and pathos like a vibrating yo-yo string. Each piece reminds us of just how vulnerable we are to act, or react, in the same way his characters do. What tweaks our imagination is his brazen and unperturbed literary interpretation of the human condition. (Reviewed by DSP, Nov 2005)

Yoho, Max (District 1, Topeka)
Me and Aunt Izzy; Doing Time at the Jesse James Hideout and Coal Mining Company. Topeka, KS: Dancing Goat Press, 2011, 139 pp., Paperbound, $11.95
Sprinkled with subtle satire to magnify his fun-filled activities, eleven-year-old Jefferson Davis Johnson tells of his "moral rehabilitation" under the stern auspices of his great aunt, "Queen Isabella," to whom Jeffie's parents had taken him for some corrective behavior. His first-person account of his "treatment" in Southeast Kansas. Would "three years of perfect attendance in his Presbyterian Sunday School be enough to protect Jeffie from the evils of drink, a warpathing aborigine, and a bright-eyed tomboy, Pauline Potts? And ... does any other boy have a relative who cohabits with the ghost of Jesse James?" Author Yoho brilliantly uses a rarely-used device to spin his yarn: Young Jeffie looks up a random word-a-day in his very own dictionary. The youngster then employs the chosen word--whether a noun, verb, adjective, pronoun or gerund--and uses it throughout his "imprisonment" with Queen Isabella to describe whatever he does at any given moment. And nouns are sometimes used as verbs; pronouns as adjectives, etc.--whatever comes to Jefferson's mind as he relates this delightful tale. (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, November 2011)

Yoho, Max (District 1, Topeka)
The Moon Butter Route. Topeka, KS: Dancing Goat Press, 2006, 194pp., paper, $12.95.
These hysterical adventures of twelve-year-old Wally Gant deliver more than just Moon Butter and other “dairy products” to homes along his route. Playful humor and biting satire portray everyone from gangsters to preachers, and a shot of double-distilled Deep Shaft smoothes many aspects of life in the mining area called the “Little Balkans” in southeastern Kansas. [Winner of the 2007 J. Donald Coffin Award.] (Reviewed by DSP, Jan 2006)

Yoho, Max. (District 1, Topeka)
The Revival. Topeka, KS: Dancing Goat Press, 2001, 201 pp.
Max Yoho's humorous novel won the 2002 J. Donald Coffin Memorial Book Award for the best book by a member of the Kansas Authors Club published within the two previous years. His story, about a boy growing up in a small Kansas town, is a coming-of-age novel without the usual angst. Max's young hero embodies a craving for fun and adventure, a healthy dose of sibling rivalry, and just enough budding romance to keep the story interesting. Max has captured his small-town setting with its rival revivals perfectly. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Yoho, Max. (District 1, Topeka)
Tales From Comanche County: The Peculiar Education of Jack Freeman. Topeka, KS: Dancing Goat Press, 2002, 238 pp.
A rousing, warm and funny series of yarns, these tales are memories of summer hours spent on the front porch at Great Uncle Jack and Great Aunt Tildy's home in rural Comanche County, Kansas. Young Max Freeman listens as the two oldsters spin stories -- some with kernels of truth, and some just concocted to entertain. (Reviewed by Gail Martin)

Yoho, Max. (District 1, Topeka)
"Vacant lot - Colony, Kansas." (Poetry) see Midwest Quarterly, p. 574

Yoho, Max. (District 1, Topeka)
With the Wisdom of Owls. Topeka, KS: Dancing Goat Press, 2010, 127 pp., Paperbound, $11.95.
This newest work leaps even further into Yoho's outrageous view of life, and a growing list of fans enjoy his off-beat sense of humor and mind-boggling leaps of logic. "What if ... there was a baby named Harry who could remember his own conception and birth?  Harry had a godfather, Wyatt, who was an OWL? ... This precocious baby hadn't learned English, but could converse fluently in 'High Owl' language? ... Wyatt had two brothers, Harry's 'owlces' who are also eager to contribute to Harry's education? ... Harry must decide between staying a human boy or becoming an owl himself? Max Yoho's colorful wordplay will leave readers laughing out loud. So cast aside limitations and enjoy humor as only as Max can deliver it.  (Reviewed from book's blurb. Quoted by D.S. Pady, December 2010)

Yunk, Dan (District 4, Manhattan)
Celebrate Wheat. Manhattan, KS: Kansas Farm Bureau, 2010, 17 pp., Photos by John Schlageck; Illustrations by Michele Johnson. Paperbound
Celebrate Wheat is book number 4 in the author's award-winning series, "Kelly's Ag Adventures." In 2007, Kansas Farm Bureau published the first of the series with the title, Milk Comes From a Cow? Author Yunk then wrote Farmers and Ranchers Care About Their Animals (2009) and The Soil Neighborhood in 2008. In Celebrate Wheat, little Kailey asks her grandmother where pizza crust come from. Grandma explains how wheat is planted, harvested, ground into flour, and eventually ends up as pizza crust. Beautiful pictures enhance this cute children's tale. (Reviewed by D.S. Pady, November 2011)

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