The J. Donald Coffin Memorial Book Award was established by Mrs. Bertha Coffin to honor the memory of her husband, a long-time member and officer of KAC, after his death on September 6, 1978. An award of $100.00 will be given each year to a KAC member according to the rules printed below. The J. Donald Coffin Award is intended to honor the best published book (excluding history and poetry, which have their own contests) written by a member of Kansas Authors Club.
J. Donald Coffin Memorial Book Award Winners
2022 - FICTION
Opulence, Kansas, by Julie Stielstra, Ellinwood, KS/Lyons, IL, D6
2022 - NONFICTION
A Cat Named Fatima: Tales of 23 Cats & The People Who Loved Them, by James Kenyon, DVM, Cedar Falls, IA, D7
2021 They Met at Wounded Knee: The Eastman's Story, by Gretchen Cassel Eick, Wichita, D5
2020 All Hallows' Shadows, by Michael D. Graves, Emporia, D2
2019 The Real Education of TJ Crowley, by Grant Overstake, Wichita, D5
2018 Flight: A Novel of Beirut and the French Countryside, Jean Grant, Lawrence, D2
2017 Hush Girl: It’s Only a Dream, Gloria Zachgo, Wichita, D5
2016 Sundrop Sonata: A Novel of Suspense, Ann Christine Fell, Winfield, D3
2015 In the Shadow of the Wind, Ann Christine Fell, Winfield, D3
2014 Maid Merrian and the Lawman, Deb Stover, Wichita, D5
2013 Tiger Hunting, Tracy Million Simmons, Emporia, D2
2012 Gary Clarke's Africa, Gary Clarke, Topeka, D1
2011 Feisty Family Values, B.D. Tharp, Wichita, D. 5
2010 Hometown Appetites: The Story of Clementine Paddleford, the Forgotten Food Writer Who Chronicled How America Ate, by Cynthia Harris & Kelly Alexander
2009 Ride a Shadowed Trail, Eunice Boeve, Phillipsburg. D6
2008 Targets of Rage, Sam Pierson, Lebo. D2
2007 The Moon Butter Route, Max Yoho, Topeka. D1
2006 Diary of a German War Bride, Trudy McFarland, Topeka. D1
2005 Life, I Think, Is Like a Watermelon, LeNore Stumpf, Axtell. D4
2004 Max Conquers the Cosmos, Mark Bouton, Carbondale. D2.
2003 Sissy, Tom Mach, Lawrence. D2
2002 The Revival, Max Yoho, Topeka. D1
2001 Summer of The Crow, Eunice Boeve, Phillipsburg. D6.
2000 Freedom Ships, Robert D. Carey, Topeka. D1.
1999 The Lie, Lloyd Ballhagen, Hutchinson. D6
1998 A Backward View, Mark Scheel, Mission. D2
1997 Small Towns, Dark Secrets, Lloyd Ballhagen, Hutchinson. D6
1996 Gathering Reunion, David Tangeman, Topeka. D1
1995 Wind Songs in the Wheat, V.3, Ruth Ebberts, Eureka. D3
1994 Sarah of the Border Wars, Dr. James Yoder, Hesston. D5.
1993 The Potsdam Protocol, Al Clovis, Topeka. D1.
1992 The Enchanted Prairie, Esther Loewen Vogt, Hillsboro. D4
1991 Cloud of Darkness, Emanuela O’Malley, Salina. D4
1990 Worker in Wood, Leland R. Johnson, Wichita, D5
1989 Sandscript, W.L. Lambert, Liberal. D7
1988 Flame in the Wind, Enola V. Feldman, Garden City. D7
1987 The Preacher’s Kid, G. Robert Haywood, Topeka. D1
1986 Passes At The Moon, Thomas Fox Averill, Topeka. D1
1985 Lady Sheilla’s Groom, Monette Cummings, Lawrence, D2
1984 ABC’s from Dugout to Astronaut, Floyd E. Pope, Wichita. D5
1983 Jayhawk Children, Blanch Carroll Rush, Winfield. D3
1982 Not by Bread Alone, Raymond S. Nelson, Wichita. D5
1981 Red are the Embers, Guanetta Gordon, Sun City, AZ. D2
1980 A History of Kiowa, Old and New, on the Cowboy-Indian Frontier, Jean M. Brown, Kiowa. D6
1979 True Tales of the Old Time Plains, David Dary, Lawrence. D2
2022 - FICTION
Opulence, Kansas, by Julie Stielstra, Ellinwood, KS/Lyons, IL, D6
2022 - NONFICTION
A Cat Named Fatima: Tales of 23 Cats & The People Who Loved Them, by James Kenyon, DVM, Cedar Falls, IA, D7
2021 They Met at Wounded Knee: The Eastman's Story, by Gretchen Cassel Eick, Wichita, D5
2020 All Hallows' Shadows, by Michael D. Graves, Emporia, D2
2019 The Real Education of TJ Crowley, by Grant Overstake, Wichita, D5
2018 Flight: A Novel of Beirut and the French Countryside, Jean Grant, Lawrence, D2
2017 Hush Girl: It’s Only a Dream, Gloria Zachgo, Wichita, D5
2016 Sundrop Sonata: A Novel of Suspense, Ann Christine Fell, Winfield, D3
2015 In the Shadow of the Wind, Ann Christine Fell, Winfield, D3
2014 Maid Merrian and the Lawman, Deb Stover, Wichita, D5
2013 Tiger Hunting, Tracy Million Simmons, Emporia, D2
2012 Gary Clarke's Africa, Gary Clarke, Topeka, D1
2011 Feisty Family Values, B.D. Tharp, Wichita, D. 5
2010 Hometown Appetites: The Story of Clementine Paddleford, the Forgotten Food Writer Who Chronicled How America Ate, by Cynthia Harris & Kelly Alexander
2009 Ride a Shadowed Trail, Eunice Boeve, Phillipsburg. D6
2008 Targets of Rage, Sam Pierson, Lebo. D2
2007 The Moon Butter Route, Max Yoho, Topeka. D1
2006 Diary of a German War Bride, Trudy McFarland, Topeka. D1
2005 Life, I Think, Is Like a Watermelon, LeNore Stumpf, Axtell. D4
2004 Max Conquers the Cosmos, Mark Bouton, Carbondale. D2.
2003 Sissy, Tom Mach, Lawrence. D2
2002 The Revival, Max Yoho, Topeka. D1
2001 Summer of The Crow, Eunice Boeve, Phillipsburg. D6.
2000 Freedom Ships, Robert D. Carey, Topeka. D1.
1999 The Lie, Lloyd Ballhagen, Hutchinson. D6
1998 A Backward View, Mark Scheel, Mission. D2
1997 Small Towns, Dark Secrets, Lloyd Ballhagen, Hutchinson. D6
1996 Gathering Reunion, David Tangeman, Topeka. D1
1995 Wind Songs in the Wheat, V.3, Ruth Ebberts, Eureka. D3
1994 Sarah of the Border Wars, Dr. James Yoder, Hesston. D5.
1993 The Potsdam Protocol, Al Clovis, Topeka. D1.
1992 The Enchanted Prairie, Esther Loewen Vogt, Hillsboro. D4
1991 Cloud of Darkness, Emanuela O’Malley, Salina. D4
1990 Worker in Wood, Leland R. Johnson, Wichita, D5
1989 Sandscript, W.L. Lambert, Liberal. D7
1988 Flame in the Wind, Enola V. Feldman, Garden City. D7
1987 The Preacher’s Kid, G. Robert Haywood, Topeka. D1
1986 Passes At The Moon, Thomas Fox Averill, Topeka. D1
1985 Lady Sheilla’s Groom, Monette Cummings, Lawrence, D2
1984 ABC’s from Dugout to Astronaut, Floyd E. Pope, Wichita. D5
1983 Jayhawk Children, Blanch Carroll Rush, Winfield. D3
1982 Not by Bread Alone, Raymond S. Nelson, Wichita. D5
1981 Red are the Embers, Guanetta Gordon, Sun City, AZ. D2
1980 A History of Kiowa, Old and New, on the Cowboy-Indian Frontier, Jean M. Brown, Kiowa. D6
1979 True Tales of the Old Time Plains, David Dary, Lawrence. D2