Duane Simolke

Last updated

Duane Mac Simolke
Born (1965-05-28) May 28, 1965 (age 56)
New Orleans, Louisiana, US
Occupation Author

Duane Mac Simolke (born May 28, 1965) is an American writer based in Lubbock, Texas, who has authored The Acorn Stories, Degranon: A Science Fiction Adventure, Holding Me Together, The Return of Innocence (with Toni Davis), and New Readings of Winesburg, Ohio , based on the original Sherwood Anderson classic. He edited and co-wrote the spin-off The Acorn Gathering and donated the royalties of that work to the American Cancer Society. "Acorn" refers to a fictitious town somewhere in isolated west Texas.

Simolke (pronounced SMOKY) was born in New Orleans. His father was Frederick J. "Pete" Simolke (1938–2001). "Pete" had a twin brother, Carl Wayne Simolke (1938–2006) of Shreveport. Simolke's paternal grandparents were Frederick "Pappy" Simolke and the former Mattie Brown. Simolke grew up in Minden in Webster Parish in North Louisiana. He attended a Baptist Church and graduated from Minden High School in 1983.

Simolke thereafter procured three academic degrees in English. In 1989, he received his Bachelor of Arts from Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. He obtained his Master of Arts degree from Hardin-Simmons University, another Baptist-affiliated institution, in Abilene in Taylor County, in west Texas in 1991. He earned his PhD from Texas Tech University in Lubbock in 1996.

Simolke's works have been published in a variety of journals, including nightFire, Mesquite, Caprock Sun, Midwest Poetry Review, and International Journal on World Peace.

Simolke is openly gay. According to his website: "After a lifetime of denial, I finally began to accept my homosexuality — a process made even more difficult by my religious fundamentalist background and mindset. Numerous essays and poems rose from my inner conflicts. Much of that writing, along with some of my earlier works, would later become my book Holding Me Together. . . . All of my books reflect the reality of human diversity; if encountering gays or people of color bothers you, then you probably won't like most of my writing". [1]

In 1997, Simolke founded the gay online newsletter "Rainbow Lubbock". [2]

Related Research Articles

Lubbock, Texas City in Texas

Lubbock is the 11th-most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Lubbock County. The population of 257,141 in 2020, the city is also the 86th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the northwestern part of the state, a region known historically and geographically as the Llano Estacado, and ecologically is part of the southern end of the High Plains, lying at the economic center of the Lubbock metropolitan area, which has an estimated population of 327,424 in 2020.

Texas Tech University Public university in Lubbock, Texas, United States

Texas Tech University is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University System. The university's student enrollment is the seventh-largest in Texas as of the Fall 2018 semester. As of fall 2020, there were 40,322 students enrolled at Texas Tech. With over 25% of its undergraduate student population identifying as Hispanic, Texas Tech University is a designated Hispanic-serving institution (HSI).

Gene Austin American singer and songwriter

Lemeul Eugene Lucas, better known by his stage name Gene Austin, was an American singer and songwriter, one of the first "crooners". His recording of "My Blue Heaven" sold over five million copies and was the largest selling record of all time. His 1920s compositions "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street" and "The Lonesome Road" became pop and jazz standards.

William Curry Holden was a historian and archaeologist. In 1937, he became the first director of the Museum of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas.

Preston Smith (governor) 40th Governor of Texas

Preston Earnest Smith was an American entrepreneur and politician who served as the 40th Governor of Texas from 1969 to 1973, who previously served as the lieutenant governor from 1963 to 1969.

Tony Campolo American sociologist and pastor

Anthony Campolo is an American sociologist, pastor, author, public speaker and former spiritual advisor to U.S. President Bill Clinton. Campolo is known as one of the most influential leaders in the evangelical left and has been a major proponent of progressive thought and reform within the evangelical community. He has also become a leader of the Red-Letter Christian movement, which aims to put emphasis on the teachings of Jesus. Campolo is a popular commentator on religious, political, and social issues, and has been a guest on programs such as The Colbert Report, The Charlie Rose Show, Larry King Live, Nightline, Crossfire, Politically Incorrect and The Hour.

Barry Corbin American actor (b. 1940)

Leonard Barrie Corbin is an American actor. He is best known for his starring role as Maurice Minnifield on the television series Northern Exposure (1990–1995), which earned him two consecutive Primetime Emmy Award nominations.

Stephen Graham Jones Native American fiction author

Stephen Graham Jones is a Blackfoot Native American author of experimental fiction, horror fiction, crime fiction, and science fiction. Although his recent work is often classified as horror, he is celebrated for applying more "literary" stylings to a variety of speculative genres, as well as his prolificness, having published 22 books under the age of 50. 31.5 linear feet of Jones' works are held in the Sowell Family Collection in Literature, Community, and the Natural World, part of the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library at Texas Tech University.

Larry Hays

Larry Hays is a collegiate baseball, basketball, women's basketball, and softball coach. He served as the head baseball coach at Lubbock Christian University (LCU) (1971–1986) and Texas Tech University (1987–2008). Hays also served as the head coach of the LCU Chaparrals basketball, LCU Lady Chaps basketball (1982–83), LCU Lady Chaps softball (2010), and LCU athletic director (1979–1987).

Texas Tech University System

The Texas Tech University System is a state university system in Texas consisting of five universities in the state of Texas, of which three are general-academic universities, Texas Tech University, Angelo State University and Midwestern State University, and two health-related institutions, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso. Headquartered in Lubbock, Texas, the Texas Tech University System is a $2.5 billion enterprise focused on advancing higher education, health care, research and outreach with approximately 21,000 employees, more than 63,000 students, nearly 370,000 alumni and an endowment valued at $1.7 billion. In its short history, the TTU System has grown tremendously and is nationally acclaimed, operating at 24 academic locations statewide and internationally.

Morley Jennings American athlete, coach, and administrator (1890–1985)

William Morley "Jopsey" Jennings was an American football, basketball, and baseball player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He attended college at Mississippi State University in Starkville, at which he participated in baseball, basketball, football, and track. Jennings served from 1912 to 1925 as the head football coach at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, and then at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, from 1926 to 1940. He compiled a career college football record of 153–77–18. He was also the head baseball coach at Baylor from 1928 to 1939, where he tallied a mark of 120–79. From 1941 to 1951, Jennings served as the athletic director at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1973.

Education in Texas Overview of education in Texas

Texas has over 1,000 public school districts—all but one of the school districts in Texas are independent, separate from any form of municipal government. School districts may cross city and county boundaries. Independent school districts have the power to tax their residents and to assert eminent domain over privately owned property. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) oversees these districts, providing supplemental funding, but its jurisdiction is limited mostly to intervening in poorly performing districts.

Guy Hubert Bailey is a sociolinguist and the 1st president of the University of Texas–Rio Grande Valley. He was the president of the University of Alabama, his baccalaureate alma mater. He was previously the president of Texas Tech University and held earlier positions at Emory University, Texas A&M University, and Oklahoma State University, prior to serving as dean of liberal arts at University of Nevada, Las Vegas. From there he became provost of the University of Texas at San Antonio. Before assuming the role at Texas Tech, he was the chancellor of the University of Missouri–Kansas City.

Gerald Myers is an American former college basketball coach. He was the head coach of the Texas Tech Red Raiders men's basketball team and the Houston Baptist Huskies men's basketball team and athletic director at Texas Tech University.

<i>Arizona Sky</i> 2008 American film

Arizona Sky is a 2008 independent gay-themed romantic drama that was written, directed, and produced by Jeff London. Filmed in Lake Havasu City, Arizona and Bakersfield, California in the spirit of Brokeback Mountain, Arizona Sky follows the lives of two young men from rural America who fall in love as teenagers and find a way to rekindle that love later in life.

Marvin Duane Nellis is an American educator, university administrator, and 21st president of Ohio University in Athens. He was previously the president of Texas Tech University and the University of Idaho. Nellis previously served as provost and senior vice president at Kansas State University, and dean of the Eberly College of Arts and Science at West Virginia University.

The American Cowboy Culture Association is an organization based in Lubbock, Texas, which seeks to promote and preserve the western history and culture of the late 19th and early 20th century American cowboy. Founded in 1989, the association is principally known as a sponsor of the annual National Cowboy Symposium and Celebration. The 2013 symposium was held from September 5 to 8.

Mark Adams is an American college basketball coach who is currently the head coach for the Texas Tech Red Raiders men's basketball team.

Dustin Burrows American politician

Dustin Ray Burrows is an attorney and businessman in Lubbock, Texas, who is a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 83. He has represented the 83rd district since January 2015. Burrows is the former Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and the former Chair of House Republican Caucus. He has sponsored legislation including the SB2 bill, enabling Texas taxpayers to control local tax rates and tax increases. He also serves as the Chairman of the House Calendars Committee, a position he has held since 2021.

References