Pictured: Don Corrigan
Contrary to current mythology, reports of the “death of books” are greatly exaggerated. In fact, opportunities for publishing in popular culture, trade, and local interest markets are increasing.
That was the message Don Corrigan, Webster University journalism faculty emeritus, brought to the Missouri Press Association Convention in St. Louis on Sept. 13. He was the Saturday breakfast speaker.
Several MPA members have taken Don’s message to heart, including Susan Croce Kelly, author of the recent, Route 66: The Highway And Its People. Corrigan has authored four books in the popular culture realm –with a fifth on the way.
Corrigan will bring his optimistic message on the future of books to the Midwest Popular Culture Association Conference at the University of Iowa in Iowa City slated for Oct. 3-5.
He will speak on “Writing, Publishing, Marketing Pop Culture Books.” Corrigan recently won honors for the top popular culture book published in 2024 at the national convention of the Popular Culture Association (PCA) held in April in New Orleans.
Corrigan has argued that popular culture books can be used for “stealth environmentalism.” An environmental writer and teacher, Corrigan authored, Environmental Missouri, a book used frequently for educating state residents about environmental issues in Missouri.
With his pop culture books, Corrigan has argued that squirrel Sloppy Joes are more sustainable sources for protein than hamburgers. He also has made the point that a dismissive attitude toward animal roadkill can reflect a crass and uncaring attitude toward human carnage on U.S. highways.
At the PCA conference at the University of Iowa, Corrigan’s presentation will take up such question as: Who is the target audience for my book?
How do I get earned media? How do I book presentations venues?
Corrigan will take up these and many more questions by prospective authors at Webster University this fall. The new Webster Wordsmiths Collective is offering a 1-credit course in Fall II, over two weekends (Nov. 8-9 and Nov. 16), that will focus on book publishing.
Book Course At Webster
The immersive one-credit course at Webster University will cover all aspects of publishing, but will especially focus on helping students write that all-important proposal that can launch a career as an author, according to the course’s teacher Corrigan.
Corrigan is author of a dozen books including Nuts About Squirrels: The Rodents that Captured Popular Culture (2019), American Roadkill:
The Animal Victims of Our Busy Highways (2021), I Fart In Your General Direction: Flatulence in Popular Culture (2023), and In Search of Manhood: Men’s Movements Past and Present (2024).
The versatile author has published several books on the outdoors and the environment. Corrigan has won many awards for his teaching as a college professor of journalism and for his work as a weekly newspaper editor.
He is Professor Emeritus at Webster University and Editor Emeritus at the weekly newspaper, Webster-Kirkwood Times.
Corrigan’s next outdoor book, Scenic Missouri: Top Sites in the Show-Me State, will be published by Reedy Press in late 2025. His next pop culture book is on the portrayal of octogenarians in mass media will be published by McFarland Press in 2026.
Environmental Echo 