Marvin Bell, first Poet Laureate of Iowa, longtime Iowa Writers’ Workshop professor and first poetry editor of The Iowa Review, died on Monday, Dec. 14 after a months-long illness. He was 83. Bell earned his MFA from the Writers’ Workshop prior to his 40-year tenure teaching there. His students included such luminaries as James Galvin, […]
Obituary
Posted inArts & Entertainment
In memoriam: Everyone who knew John Hopkins has a ‘John story’
John Hopkins died on Nov. 21, 2020. By Ian McCuskey, Nashville For JH In the late fall of 2005 I had just started working at New Pioneer Co-op in Coralville. One afternoon at a local Indian buffet, I was discussing my newfound and still shaky employment with an acquaintance. She reassuringly told me she had […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Hall of Fame Hawkeyes Coach Hayden Fry, who also helped integrate college football in Texas, dies at age 90
Hayden Fry, the coach whose name has become synonymous with Hawkeye football, died on Tuesday, his family announced in a written statement. He was 90. “With our family at his side, Hayden Fry, beloved husband, father, and grandfather, passed away following a lengthy battle with cancer,” his family said. Fry spent 20 seasons as the University of Iowa’s head football coach, and during that time transformed the team.
Posted inCommunity/News
Jo Ann Zimmerman, the first woman elected lieutenant governor and a long-time champion of progressive values in Iowa, has died
Jo Ann McIntosh Zimmerman, the first woman elected lieutenant governor of Iowa, died on Tuesday evening, the Des Moines Register reported. She was 82. A Democrat, Zimmerman was voted in as lieutenant governor in 1986, the same year Republican Terry Branstad was elected to his second term as governor. Although the office held little power, Zimmerman used
Posted inArts & Entertainment
In memoriam: Actualist author and publisher Morty Sklar dies
A key figure in the world of Actualism has died. Morty Sklar passed away on Dec. 28, 2018 in New York City. He was 83.
Posted inOpinion
Donald Kaul: A funny sort of eulogy
Donald Kaul, a twice almost-Pulitzer Prize winner; political humorist, satirist and columnist of the Des Moines Register’s “Over the Coffee” much more than twice; and unindicted co-conspirator and co-founder of Iowa’s annual bicycle ride and small-town-pillage-fest known as RAGBRAI, died Sunday, July 22 from prostate cancer and its complications. He had suffered a heart attack […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Remembering Frank Iowa, RAGBRAI icon
For the first time in RAGBRAI’s 45-year history, one of the true legends of the event will be missing. Frank Iowa, the only person from Iowa City to ride in every RAGBRAI, passed away on April 30. He was born Gregson Schmidt, but his love for his state prompted him to adopt the name by which he became known around his hometown of Iowa City.
Posted inCommunity/News
‘I believe plows are greater than swords’: Sonia Kendrick, founder of Feed Iowa First, has died
Sonia Kendrick, founder of Feed Iowa First, has died. News of Kendrick’s death began circulating on social media on Tuesday evening, but no details have been released yet.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Remembering Dennis Jones, Iowa City’s sound guy
Those who contribute the most to local music scenes often make the least amount of noise. This was certainly true of the late Dennis Jones, an unassuming sound engineer who could regularly be seen operating the sound board for Iowa City’s Friday Night Concert Series, as well as at hundreds of club shows, benefits and other local events over the past three decades, until his death at the age of 68 on Feb. 9.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
The record collector: Remembering Kirk Walther
Kirk Walther, owner of the Record Collector, passed away on Sept. 24 after more than 35 years of service to the Iowa City music community. As any small business owner will tell you, an owner’s DNA is woven into the fabric of their business. It is an extension of them, a reflection of their ideas, ideals, goals, vision and integrity, and, conversely, the business becomes a part of the owner. I write this about Kirk Walther, a man I consider to be the best boss I ever had, but an even better friend.
Posted inCommunity/News
Hans Breder, distinguished artist and educator, dies aged 81
Hans Breder, pioneering media artist and educator, died unexpectedly on Sunday in Iowa City. He was 81.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Virginia Myers, printmaker and inventor of foil imaging, has passed away
Professor Emerita Virginia Myers has died. The renowned printmaker, artist and inventor best known for her foil printing techniques and the Iowa Foil Press passed away on Dec. 7. She lived to see the University of Iowa dedicate a new collaborative project in her name, the Virginia A. Myers NEXUS of Engineering and Art opened […]
