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Writing well involves continual learning. That reminder smacked me in the back of the head after receiving pointed but helpful feedback on the first draft of my book manuscript.
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When I shot this photograph of The Big Rip Brewing Company co-owner and head brewer Bri Burrows in May of 2019, I didn’t know the importance of the image. Burrows and guest brewer Damon Arredondo worked on a collaboration beer that day. I visited and chatted about industry news, just another day in the brewhouse. Fast forward six years later. Big Rip closed on July 26, 2025, ending its 12-year run. The photograph reminded me: Writing about history both documents and provides context to the story of people and the times they lived in, a main goal of Barons, Brewers, and Bootleggers: A Social History of Beer in Missouri.
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Writing Barons, Brewers, and Bootleggers: A Social History of Beer in Missouri resulted in leftovers – sentences, paragraphs, and passages that interested me – but didn’t make it into the manuscript, such as these literary and cultural notes on early 19th century German beer gardens in St. Louis.
Continue reading “What More Could a German Heart Possibly Wish For?”
After 18 months of research, writing, travel, and side work, I met my July 1, 2025, deadline to submit the manuscript for Barons, Brewers, and Bootleggers: A Social History of Missouri to the publisher, University of Missouri Press.
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The New Territory has collaborated with University of Illinois Press to collect and publish Lingering Inland, 73 essays edited by Andy Oler that originally appeared in the magazine’s #LiteraryLandscapes series. Pre-orders will ship in November 2025 just in time for the holidays. Hint, hint.