STEVE PAUL

Steve Paul has been a writer and editor for more than 45 years. His daily newspaper career at the Kansas City Star included in-depth profiles of musicians, artists, and writers; long stints as book critic and arts editor; special projects on race and religion, the Lewis and Clark expedition, Ernest Hemingway’s centennial, architectural landmarks, and a Georgia O’Keeffe mystery; along with riveting tales of competitive barbecue, demolition derby, and cold-case murders. As an editor, he shared in the coverage of the fatal Hyatt Hotel skywalk collapse (1981) that led to a Pulitzer Prize for the newspaper’s staff. He ultimately served as editorial page editor and opinion columnist before his retirement in 2016. Among his other books are Hemingway at Eighteen: The Pivotal Year that Launched an American Legend (2017) and Architecture A to Z: An Elemental, Alphabetical Guide to Kansas City’s Built Environment (2011). He edited Kansas City Noir (2012), a collection of contemporary short fiction, and co-edited War + Ink: New Perspectives on Ernest Hemingway’s Early Life and Work (2013). He is a regular contributor to KC Studio magazine and various book-review publications; he’s a former board member of the National Book Critics Circle, and he now serves on the board of the Biographers International Organization. He lives in Kansas City, Missouri.