Walter Wangerin Jr.: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|American author and educator (1944–2021)}}

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'''Walter Wangerin Jr.''' (February 13, 1944 – August 5, 2021<ref>[https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2021/august-web-only/walter-wangerin-jr-philip-yancey-tribute-storyteller.html Philip Yancey: My Benediction to the Beloved Storyteller, Walter Wangerin Jr.]</ref>) was an American author and [[educator]] best known for his religious novels and [[children's literature|children's books]].

Wangerin was born in [[Portland, Oregon]], where his father was a [[Lutheran]] pastor. He was the oldest of seven children. The family moved often, so Walter grew up in various locations including Shelton, Washington, Chicago, Illinois, Grand Forks, North Dakota, Edmonton, Alberta, Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Fort Wayne, Indiana. In 1968, he attained an [[Master of Arts|M.A.]] in [[English literature]] from [[Miami University]], [[Oxford, Ohio]]. He went on to study at [[Concordia Seminary]] and [[Christ Seminary-Seminex]], both in [[St. Louis, Missouri]]. He attained his [[M.Div.]] from the latter in 1976. From 1970 to 1991, Wangerin taught Englishat the [[University of Evansville]], Indiana. From 1977 to 1985,hewas the pastor of Evansville's Grace Lutheran Church. WhileinEvansville he wrote a weekly column for [[The Evansville Press]] and hosted an evening radio show on [[WNIN-FM]].<ref name=evansville_press>{{Cite news|url=http://local.evpl.org/views/viewimage.asp?ID=1120389|title=Wangerin leaving Evansville to teach|last=Bigham|first=Polly|date=December 18, 1990|work=Evansville Press|access-date=June 28, 2018}}</ref>

He was a professor at [[Valparaiso University]], [[Valparaiso, Indiana]] since 1991, where he taught literature, theology, and creative writing, and was writer-in-residence. Wangerin was honored in 2009 by being selected one of Valpo's 150 Most Influential Persons.

Wangerin is the author of over thirty novels, numerous children's books, and a handful of plays, and he has received several awards for his short stories and essays. He has been a college professor, a radio announcer, a book reviewer, a pastor of a Lutheran church. He also participated in cultural ceremonies such as a [[Lakota people|Lakota]] Sun-Dance.

Most of his writing is religious, primarily giving theological guidance on subjects such as [[marriage]], [[meditation]], [[parenting]], and [[grieving]]. Other religious books concern the events in the [[Bible]].

Wangerin passed away on August 5, 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.valpo.edu/english/in-memoriam-the-passing-of-professor-walter-wangerin-jr/|title = In Memoriam: The Passing of Professor Walter Wangerin, Jr|date = 8 September 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.biblegateway.com/blog/2021/08/walter-wangerin-jr-1944-2021/|title = Walter Wangerin Jr. (1944–2021)|date = 9 August 2021}}</ref>

Wangerin is probably known best for his [[fable]]s ''[[The Book of the Dun Cow (novel)|The Book of the Dun Cow]]'' and its sequel ''[[The Book of Sorrows]]''. ''The Book of the Dun Cow'' won a U.S. [[National Book Award]] in the [[List of winners of the National Book Award#Miscellaneous 1980 to 1985|one-year category Science Fiction]].<ref name=nba1980>[https://www.nationalbook.org/awards-prizes/national-book-awards-1980 "National Book Awards – 1980"]. [[National Book Foundation]]. Retrieved 2012-02-28. (With essay by Harold Augenbraum from the Awards 60-year anniversary blog.)</ref>{{efn|1= From 1980 to 1983 in [[National Book Award#History|National Book Award history]] there were dual awards for hardcover and paperback books in many categories. Most of the paperback award-winners were reprints, including this one.}} In 1986, Valparaiso University awarded Wangerin an honorary doctorate.<ref name=evansville_press />

* 1997, ''The Book of God'', fiction<ref>[http://walterwangerinjr.org/new_web/pdf/excerpt/BOG.doc.pdf Excerpt online]</ref>

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*''The Simple Truth: A Bare Bones Bible'' (1996)

*''Beate Not the Poore Desk: A Writer to Young Writers'' (2016)

;Poetry

*''The Absolute, Relatively Inaccessible'' (2017)

*''On an Age-Old Anvil: Wince and Sing'' (2018)

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* [http://www.valpo.edu/english/about/faculty/walter-wangerin-jr/ Walter Wangerin, Jr., Professor] at Department of English, Valaparaiso University

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[[Category:2021 deaths]]

[[Category:20th-century American Lutheran clergy]]

[[Category:Writers from Milwaukee]]