Stepenoff, Bonnie 1949-

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Stepenoff, Bonnie 1949-

PERSONAL:

Born July 18, 1949, in Allentown, PA; daughter of Ernest W. (in sales) and Nancy (a factory worker) Steckel; married Peter Wright, 1977 (marriage ended, 1985); married Jerald S. Stepenoff (a grants administrator), February 14, 1986; children: (first marriage) Samantha; (second marriage) Hannal. Education: Ohio State University, B.A.; University of Missouri at Columbia, M.A., 1978, Ph.D., 1992. Politics: Democrat. Religion: Episcopalian. Hobbies and other interests: Writing poetry.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Cape Girardeau, MO. Office—Department of History, Southeast Missouri State University, Cape Girardeau, MO 63701. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Jefferson City, cultural resource preservationist, 1984-91; Southeast Missouri State University, Cape Girardeau, assistant professor, 1993-98, associate professor, 1999-2003, professor of history, 2003—. Missouri Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, member, 2003—.

MEMBER:

State Historical Society of Missouri (member of board of trustees, 2004—).

WRITINGS:

Their Fathers' Daughters: Silk Mill Workers in Northeastern Pennsylvania, Susquehanna University Press (Selinsgrove, PA), 1999.

Thad Snow: A Life of Social Reform in the Missouri Bootheel, University of Missouri Press (Columbia, MO), 2003.

From French Community to Missouri Town: Ste. Genevieve in the Nineteenth Century, University of Missouri Press (Columbia, MO), 2006.

Contributor of poetry to periodicals, including Modern Haiku, Frogpond, and Bellowing Ark.

SIDELIGHTS:

Bonnie Stepenoff told CA: "In my opinion, the only reason to write is to try to tell the absolute truth, or at least that portion of it that you have managed to learn by research or experience or both. The writers I admire most are those who can express complex ideas in simple terms. Writers of poetry often do that. I also admire nonfiction writers who capture the poetry of real life. Aldo Leopold comes to mind. So does Studs Terkel. I like to write haiku—the biggest feelings expressed in the smallest number of words. My newest book is about democracy, a very big idea, as it developed in a very small French colonial town on the Mississippi River. I love Missouri, really love it, and love writing about it."