Missouri Author

Journalist Ben Westhoff mentored a young Black man through the Big Brothers Big Sisters program. When the young man is killed, after sinking into drug abuse and being armed almost all the time, Ben searches for the killer.

After the holidays, many people decide to abstain from alcohol in favor of a sober January. If you decided that this post-partying approach was for you, learn about a weekend that eschews the booze but not the fun.

Jessica Nordell, author of The End of Bias: A Beginning: The Science and Practice of Overcoming Unconscious Bias, will discuss what she’s learned in her 15 years of in-depth study focusing on the efforts being undertaken thus far to combat bias and discrimination in our society.

Sally Benson was born on this date in St. Louis.  She wrote a book that became the basis for Meet Me in St. Louis. She went on to write other screenplays including National Velvet, Bus Stop, and Anna and the King of Siam (The King and I).

By the third chapter of William Least Heat-Moon’s first fictional work, we learn that the handheld device Silas places the most confidence in is the compass, owing to its reliance on magnetic polarity rather than battery power or a human operator.