Each year, writers from across the state gather for the Kansas Authors Club convention. Members enjoy a variety of writing workshops, give and get accolades for a year of writing, and enjoy the fellowship of creative friends and neighbors. Join us October 4-6 in Wichita!

Kenneth Edward Peery and his wife, Doris, were KAC D1 members for several years. Kenneth passed away on Saturday, August 10, 2019, at the age of 93. 

Carol Yoho (D1) shared the following news item about the Peery's from an August 2011 Kansas Authors Club meeting: 

Ken and Doris Peery, District 1, Topeka, shared work they'd helped publish by Ken's cousin, Maury Pierson, who was a Topeka artist, ship modeler, salesman, and closet writer. Having no children, Maury shared a small box of his writings with Ken, expressing the hope that someday they might be published. Ken and Doris worked on the booklet, hoping to publish before Maury's passing but he died in July, 2008. The keyboarding was made difficult by frequent bouts of laughter. When completed, the book was bound with a spiral binding and titled "Wit and Philosophy" by "an old curmudgeon" Maury Pierson. Copies were mailed to Maury's living cousins. Ken and Doris read selected portions of his writings.

Link to Kenneth's Obituary (Legacy.com)

Ralph W. Dagenais was a District 5 member of Kansas Authors Club who long played an active role in both district and state leadership. After joining KAC in 1992, he served as State Financial Secretary from 1993-2001. He also served several terms as district secretary and state contest chair.

Ralph helped secure the first KAC website in 1995, housed on the KU Department of History website. Ralph, along with wife, Julia (KAC President from 1998-99), and son, John, acted as webmaster for this site.

In 1995, Ralph received a service award for his many roles in Kansas Authors Club. He was recognized as a 20 year member in 2013.

In his last correspondence with the current Financial Secretary, Tracy Million Simmons, he stated (via Facebook message) that at 95 years of age, he was retiring his membership with Kansas Authors Club. He enjoyed his many years of active participation with the club and valued the friends and supporters he had gained there.

Ralph wrote memoir, non-fiction, and technical writing.

His obituary can be found here.
_______________________________

Members are invited to submit memories and details of Ralph's work with KAC. Please send in an email to Tracy.

In an attempt to improve our ability to write with clarity and communicate convincingly with our fellow authors, as well as our readers, I am posting the following challenge to all members of KANSAS AUTHORS CLUB. (I plan to learn a great deal from your responses to my challenge.)

Please take into consideration that all excellent definitions of concepts contain both a genus and differentia, when you compose and send me your own definition of the concept, “IRONY.” Also, include your best written examples of: (1) verbal irony (2) situational irony and (3) dramatic irony. All entries must be sent to my email box, randfan@cox.net by August 31, 2019 at midnight.

I will judge the Kansas Authors Club members entries and award the winner of this exercise with a plaque at our Kansas Authors Club, monthly meeting at Larksfield Place, 7373 E. 29th, Wichita, KS, 67226 on September 14, 2019 at 1:30 pm. (For out of towners, I will give the winner of the award their plaque at the Convention in Wichita on October 4-6, 2019 if they can’t come to town on 9-14-19.)

PLEASE SHOW ME YOUR INGENUITY AND WRITING SKILLS CONFINED TO ONE 8”x10” PAGE!

Don Marler (District V)

Updated 8/3/2019

Dan Close is an associate professor in the Elliott School of Communication at Wichita State. He has taught many forms of journalism for 30 years and presented at conferences nationwide. Close was a reporter and editor at The Wichita Eagle and other newspapers for a dozen years. He is the winner of national and regional awards for writing and reporting. Close covered multiple homicides, F-5 tornadoes, race riots, union strikes, plane crashes, ice storms, flooding, the homeless, the elderly, and the mentally ill. He has interviewed four presidents and many music celebrities. He has been editorial consultant or editor for three books, including Bind, Torture, Kill: The Inside Story of the Serial Killer Next Door [HarperCollins, 2007].

At the 2019 KAC convention in Wichita, Close will offer a seminar on Interviewing Celebrities--Great and Small.

Ever need to talk to an soldier accused of murder (they confessed in front of their lawyer), global rock stars (they shared their beer and drugs) or any number of U.S. presidents (results may vary)? How about dealing with slippery politicians, striking meatpackers, venomous Hollywood movie stars, or a small-town arsonist who burned down the only school in town? Learn from a journalist with decades of experience interviewing and researching the good, bad and pitiful. Plenty of tips and handouts on asking the right questions, cold-calling, death-knocks, weaseling your way backstage, and getting to the truth—including when to ask the “Did you kill your wife?” question.

Contact Close at dan.close@wichita.edu
​
http://www.KansasAuthors.org

Like us on Facebook: Kansas Authors Club
​
Hotel information:
KS Authors Club