I’ve known Kevin Killeen for close to 20 years. From 2002 to 2009, we both covered St. Louis City Hall. I wrote for the old Suburban Journals, while Kevin was a news guy for KMOX Radio. He always had the oddball question guaranteed to peeve politicians. He still does.
I left the City Hall beat in 2009, but Kevin remained. He keeps busy reporting for KMOX, more so because he also does oddball features several times at week for a brief show called a Whole ‘nother Story. He’s interviewed me about my books several times since my first volume, Hoosiers and Scrubby Dutch: St. Louis’ South Side came out in 2010. His interviews for a Whole ‘Nother Story are always fun because he employes the same kind of unexpected queries in them that he poses to politicians. He also shows his talent for showing the funny side of life by writing the annual KMOX Holiday Show and four novels about growing up Catholic in the 70s.
On Friday, Kevin interviewed me for that show about my latest book, The Making of an Icon: The Dreamers, the Schemers, and The Hard Hats Who Built the Gateway Arch, 2nd Edition. It was sweltering when we met me outside at Fourth and Market Streets, in the shadow of the Gateway Arch. His questions were just as hot, about topics like “Could they build it today?” and “How long will it last?” I explain why the Arch is and isn’t a catenary curve. To learn how, you’ll have to listen to the program, or, better yet, buy the book and read my full explanation.
Jim Merkel the Writer 