Author Archives: Jim Merkel

Years ago, an editor reacted to the a manuscript I’d written by writing “Congratulations on a well-written first draft.” Then as I recall, he demanded all kinds of changes. That’s the way it is with writing. .For my latest book, Walking South City, my editor has demanded change after change. I imagine It’s not muchContinue reading “Stellar! Wow!”

One notable South Side thoroughfare is Itaska Street. The city named it for the lake in Minnesota that is the true source of the Mississippi River. A handy tip: don’t try to find an address on “Itaska Street” by saying it into a phone with a GPS app. That’s because the lake in Minnesota isContinue reading “Don’t Use a GPS for this One”

You wouldn’t find this tallish stump on a trail in far southeast Carondelet Park in other walking tours of South St. Louis. But it will be in my tour book next year, because my book will be unlike any other. Stripped of bark, branches and any hint of a green canopy, it resembles the biggestContinue reading “Is that a tree? Or a huge twig?”

My upcoming book giving a walking tour of strange South St.. Louis ends at a 33-foot tall space alien in front of the Plantarium in Forest Park. Have you ever seen a picture of an alien that wasn’t skinny? Maybe somebody needs to fatten him up before they send him back. You’ll read many moreContinue reading “My Very Strange Book Ends at Statue of Very Skinny Alien”

I’m thrilled to announce Reedy Press soon will release a new book by me, possibly later this year. In Scenes From South City, I’ll give a somewhat crackpot look at what I saw in about 50 miles of walks through the South Side. In seventeen chapters of about three miles each, all traipsed in 2021,Continue reading “A new book about oddball South St. Louis”

Right before Growing Up St. Louis came out at the beginning of April of 2020, my publisher suggested I ought to do a Facebook group to match it. Okay, I groaned to myself, thinking that was one more thing to do as I sold the book. Amazingly, the group called Growing Up St. Louis –Continue reading “My Facebook Group About St. Louis Kids”

If you’re still looking for that perfect gift, your answer might be Growing Up St. Louis or one of my other books. They all provide a special look at the people and history of the Gateway City that everybody on your list will love. On Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 5 and 6, you’ll have aContinue reading “Give the Gift of St. Louis”

In the first of a new series of interviews with people I interviewed, Annemarie Nauert talks about her ideal childhood and what it means to her today. To buy Growing Up St. Louis: Looking Back , click here https://merkels-books-and-things.square.site/.

As administrator of the Growing Up St. Louis Facebook Group. I’ve found hundreds of pictures of kids from St. Louis. Other members have added an untold number. I hope you’ve enjoyed them. If you have, I think you’ll also enjoy my book Growing Up St. Louis: Looking Back Through the Decades. It contains childhood storiesContinue reading “Another Look at Growing Up”

This memory, from page 43 of my book, Growing Up St. Louis: Looking Back Through the Decades, is especially to me. Sidney Duerr, the kid in the front, is my uncle. He was born in 1927 and died not long ago at the age of 91. He’s pulling his younger brother, my Uncle Donald Duerr.Continue reading “When the Hardware Store Closed”