 |
Doug Worgul | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | September 13, 1953 St. Johns, Michigan, U.S. |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Spouse | Rebecca Sesler |
Doug Worgul (born September 13, 1953) is an American writer and editor, living in Kansas City.
|
Doug Worgul | |
|---|---|
| | |
| Born | September 13, 1953 St. Johns, Michigan, U.S. |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Spouse | Rebecca Sesler |
Doug Worgul (born September 13, 1953) is an American writer and editor, living in Kansas City.
Raised in Battle Creek and Lansing, Michigan, Worgul is the oldest of three siblings. He graduated from J.W. Sexton High School in 1971, and attended Gordon College (Massachusetts) from 1971 to 1972. He graduated from Western Michigan University in 1976 with a BA in political science, and again in 1977 with a M.A. in education, with an emphasis on the teaching of reading. While a student at Western Michigan University, he studied writing and poetry under Stuart Dybek. Worgul lived in Kalamazoo County, Michigan, from 1973 to 1989.
Worgul moved to Kansas City in 1989, where he worked for The Kansas City Star newspaper as a writer, book and features editor, and editor of Star Magazine from 1996 to 2006. He was previously editor of Kansas City Magazine.. Prior to his work as a journalist, Worgul was a social worker and an advertising and marketing consultant.
A nationally recognized authority on the history and cultural significance of American barbecue traditions, Worgul has been interviewed and/or cited in numerous national and regional newspapers and magazines on the subject, and has also appeared on two History Channel programs. From 2010 to 2020, he was Director of Marketing at Joe's Kansas City Bar-B-Que. Worgul is the author of The Grand Barbecue: A Celebration of the History, Places, Personalities and Techniques of Kansas City Barbecue (Kansas City Star Books, 2001).
In 2003, while at The Kansas City Star, Worgul discovered a Toynbee Tile at the corner of 13th and Grand in downtown Kansas City. He wrote about the Kansas City Toynbee Tile and the worldwide Toynbee Tiles mystery in an award-winning article published on The Star's website. The article has been cited frequently in subsequent articles about the Toynbee Tile phenomenon.
Worgul's first novel, Thin Blue Smoke, set in a fictional barbecue joint in Kansas City, is a story of love, loss, despair, redemption, squandered gifts, second chances, whiskey, God, and the secret language of rabbits. It was published in the UK by Macmillan Publishers in 2009. The U.S. edition of Thin Blue Smoke was published by Burnside Books, now Bower House, in September 2012. A strong sense of place permeates Worgul's writing. His writing has been compared to that of John Irving, Richard Russo, Kent Haruf, David James Duncan, and Frederick Buechner. Thin Blue Smoke was a 2010 finalist for The People's Book Prize (UK). The Englewood Review of Books named Thin Blue Smoke its Novel of the Year in 2012. And the publishing blog, GalleyCat, named the book as one of 2012's 'Most Overlooked' books.
Matthew Quick, author of the critically acclaimed novel Silver Linings Playbook , praised Thin Blue Smoke, saying "As Norman Maclean's A River Runs Through It does for Montana fly-fishing, Doug Worgul's Thin Blue Smoke makes the poetry of Kansas City barbecue accessible to all readers. More than gorgeous prose and fully developed characters – this novel offers us catharsis. Communion has never tasted so good."
Rajiv Joseph, the Pulitzer Prize-nominated playwright also praised Worgul's Thin Blue Smoke, saying "Emerging from this book, I want to go back, I want to live with these characters for just a little longer, I want their voices in my head. Thin Blue Smoke is a wandering through a community bound by their shared histories, their dreams, and the food they love. It reminds me of the best things in life. Like the good food holding these stories together, you can't believe your luck when you sit down before a full plate. And Doug Worgul has done what all great writers strive to do: make you crave for more."
A review posted on Amazon (April 2020) said of Thin Blue Smoke “…the prose will draw you in like a John Prine song.”
In 2009, the (UK) website Mr B's Emporium of Reading Delights said Thin Blue Smoke was “As gentle & positive as a novel can be in the 21st century without being naff”.
Thin Blue Smoke has been included on annual assigned reading lists at The Barstow School. The book has also been taught at the University of Missouri Honors College and the Rutgers University Honors College.
The film and television rights to Thin Blue Smoke have been optioned.
On October 22, 2012, Worgul delivered a lecture at The Buechner Institute at King College in Bristol, Tennessee, as part of the annual Buechner Lecture Series. In July 2013, Worgul was named to the National Advisory Board of the Buechner Institute. Other members of the Advisory Board included theologian Walter Brueggemann, novelist Ron Hansen, essayist and memoirist Kathleen Norris, author Phyllis Tickle, and author Philip Yancey. In May 2014, Worgul was a featured speaker at Buechner Fest in Charlotte, North Carolina, an event devoted to the exploration and celebration of the works of Frederick Buechner.
In January 2019, Worgul was named the first Visiting Author in Residence at University of Missouri Honors College.
Worgul is the grandson of Francena H. Arnold, author of Not My Will and nine other works of fiction. He has four daughters and eight grandchildren and lives in Leawood, Kansas with his wife.
Carl Frederick Buechner was an American author, Presbyterian minister, preacher, and theologian. The author of thirty-nine published books, his career spanned more than six decades and encompassed many different genres. He wrote novels, including Godric, A Long Day's Dying and The Book of Bebb, his memoirs, including The Sacred Journey, and theological works, such as Secrets in the Dark, The Magnificent Defeat, and Telling the Truth.
The Toynbee tiles, also called Toynbee plaques, are messages of unknown origin found embedded in asphalt of streets in about two dozen major cities in the United States and three South American cities. Since the 1980s, several hundred tiles have been discovered. They are generally about the size of an American license plate, but sometimes considerably larger. They contain some variation of the following inscription:
Steven Raichlen is an American culinary writer, TV host, and novelist.
Kansas City–style barbecue is a slowly smoked meat barbecue originating in Kansas City, Missouri in the early 20th century. It has a thick, sweet sauce derived from brown sugar, molasses, and tomatoes. Henry Perry is credited as its originator, as two of the oldest Kansas City–style barbecue restaurants still in operation trace their roots back to Perry's pit.
Lee Goldberg is an American author, screenwriter, publisher and producer known for his bestselling novels Lost Hills and True Fiction and his work on a wide variety of TV crime series, including Diagnosis: Murder, A Nero Wolfe Mystery, Hunter, Spenser: For Hire, Martial Law, She-Wolf of London, SeaQuest, 1-800-Missing, The Glades and Monk.
J. W. Sexton High School is a public school located on the western edge of Lansing, Michigan, United States, in the Lansing School District. The principal is currently Daniel Boggan. The Sexton J-Dubbs are members of the Capital Area Activities Conference. The school has a fierce rivalry with the Everett Vikings of Everett High School on the south side of the city. In March 2012 the Lansing School District announced that Sexton would house 7-12 grades beginning in the 2012–2013 school year.
Peter Orner is an American writer. He is the author of two novels, two story collections and a book of essays. Orner holds the Professorship of English and Creative Writing at Dartmouth College and was formerly a professor of creative writing at San Francisco State University. He spent 2016 and 2017 on a Fulbright in Namibia teaching at the University of Namibia.
Maureen Johnson is an American author of young adult fiction. Her published novels include series leading titles such as 13 Little Blue Envelopes, The Name of the Star, Truly Devious, and Suite Scarlett. Among Johnson's works are collaborative efforts such as Let It Snow, a holiday romance novel of interwoven stories co-written with John Green and Lauren Myracle, and a series of novellas found in New York Times bestselling anthologies The Bane Chronicles, Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy, and Ghosts of the Shadow Market.
Diversicon is an annual speculative fiction convention held in July or August in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minnesota area. Diversicon provides programming and social opportunities to encourage the multicultural, multimedia exploration and celebration of SF by those within and outside of the traditional SF community. Diversicon includes both live and posthumous guests. It is sponsored by SF Minnesota.
Lauren Belfer is an American author of four novels: City of Light, A Fierce Radiance, And After the Fire andAshton Hall, which was published in June 2022.
Wendy Mass is an author of young adult novels and children's books.
Doug Stanton is an American journalist, lecturer, screenwriter, and author of New York Times bestsellersIn Harm's Way: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors (2001) and Horse Soldiers (2009), which is the basis of the 2018 feature film 12 Strong.
Barbecue is a tradition often considered a quintessential part of American culture, especially the Southern United States.
Corinne Demas is the award winning author of five novels, two collections of short stories, a collection of poetry, a memoir, two plays, and numerous books for children. She has published more than fifty short stories in a variety of magazines and literary journals. Her publications before 2000 are under the name Corinne Demas Bliss.
A Bacon Explosion is a pork dish that consists of bacon wrapped around a filling of spiced sausage and crumbled bacon. The American-football-sized dish is then smoked or baked. It became known after being posted on the BBQ Addicts blog, and spread to the mainstream press with numerous stories discussing the dish. In time, the articles began to discuss the Internet "buzz" itself.
Ardie Davis, also known as Remus Powers, is a well-known judge on the barbecue circuit and the founder of Greasehouse University. Davis is also the founder of the American Royal International BBQ Sauce, Rub, & Baste Contest. He has been awarded several honors for his involvement judging barbecue competitions, Including being inducted into the Barbecue Hall of Fame in 2016.
Jordan Stempleman is an American poet. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Stempleman earned a B.A. in Fiction from Columbia College Chicago and a Master of Fine Arts degree in poetry from the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop.
Jones Bar-B-Q is a barbecue restaurant in Kansas City, Kansas, owned and operated by Deborah and Mary Jones.
The Storm is the fourteenth novel by the American author and theologian, Frederick Buechner. The novel was first published in 1998 by Harper, San Francisco.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
