Walter Wangerin Jr. (February 13, 1944 – August 5, 2021) was an American author and

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

best known for his religious novels and

children's books A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''chi ...

Biography

Wangerin was born in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, where his father was a

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

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

M.A. A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

from

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public university, public research university in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the second-oldest List of colleges and universities in Ohio, university in Ohi ...

Oxford, Ohio Oxford is a city in northwestern Butler County, Ohio, United States. The population was 23,035 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A college town, Oxford was founded as a home for Miami University and lies in the southwestern portion ...

. He went on to study at

Concordia Seminary Concordia Seminary is a Lutheran seminary in Clayton, Missouri. The institution's primary mission is to train pastors, deaconesses, missionaries, chaplains, and church leaders for the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS). Founded in 1839, t ...

and Christ Seminary-Seminex, both in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

. He attained his

M.Div. For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and di ...

from the latter in 1976. From 1970 to 1991, Wangerin taught English at the

University of Evansville The University of Evansville (UE) is a private university in Evansville, Indiana. It was founded in 1854 as Carnegie Hall of Moores Hill College, Moores Hill College. The university operates a satellite center, Harlaxton Manor, Harlaxton College ...

, Indiana. From 1977 to 1985, he was the pastor of Evansville's Grace Lutheran Church. While in Evansville he wrote a weekly column for

The Evansville Press The ''Evansville Courier & Press'' is a daily newspaper based in Evansville, Indiana. It serves about 30,000 daily and 50,000 Sunday readers. History The ''Evansville Courier'' was founded in 1845 by William Newton, a young attorney. Its first ...

and hosted an evening radio show on

WNIN-FM WNIN-FM is the NPR (National Public Radio) member station in Evansville, Indiana, with offices in downtown Evansville at the corner of Main Street and Riverside Drive. It broadcasts on 88.3 MHz FM. The radio station streams online via the ...

. He was a professor at

Valparaiso University Valparaiso University (Valpo) is a private university in Valparaiso, Indiana, United States. It is an independent Lutheran university with five colleges. It enrolls nearly 2,300 students and has a campus. The university is known for its Luthe ...

Valparaiso, Indiana Valparaiso ( ), colloquially Valpo, is a city in and the county seat of Porter County, Indiana, United States. The population was 34,151 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area. History The site of present-day Valparaiso ...

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, and a pastor of a Lutheran church. He also participated in cultural ceremonies such as a

Lakota Lakota may refer to: *Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes *Lakota language Lakota ( ), also referred to as Lakhota, Teton or Teton Sioux, is a Siouan languages, Siouan language spoken by the Lakota people of ...

Sun-Dance. Most of his writing is religious, primarily giving theological guidance on subjects such as

marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique to train attention and awareness and detach from reflexive, "discursive thinking", achieving a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state, while not judging the meditat ...

parenting Parenting or child rearing promotes and supports the physical, cognitive, social, emotional, and educational development from infancy to adulthood. Parenting refers to the intricacies of raising a child and not exclusively for a biologica ...

, and

grieving Grief is the response to the loss of something deemed important, particularly to the death of a person to whom or animal to which a bond or affection was formed. Although conventionally focused on the emotional response to loss, grief also ha ...

. Other religious books concern the events in the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

. Wangerin passed away on August 5, 2021.

Awards

Wangerin is probably known best for his

fable Fable is a literary genre defined as a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are anthropomorphized, and that illustrates or leads to a parti ...

s ''

The Book of the Dun Cow (, LU) or the Book of the Dun Cow (MS 23 E 25) is an Irish vellum manuscript dating to the 12th century. It is the oldest extant manuscript in Irish. It is held in the Royal Irish Academy and is badly damaged: only 67 leaves remain and many ...

'' and its sequel ''

The Book of Sorrows ''The Book of the Dun Cow'' (1978) is a fantasy novel by Walter Wangerin Jr. It is loosely based upon the beast fable of Chanticleer and the Fox adapted from the story of "The Nun's Priest's Tale" from Geoffrey Chaucer's ''Canterbury Tales''. ...

''. ''The Book of the Dun Cow'' won a U.S.

National Book Award The National Book Awards (NBA) are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. ...

in the one-year category Science Fiction."National Book Awards – 1980"

National Book Foundation The National Book Foundation (NBF) is an American nonprofit organization established with the goal "to raise the cultural appreciation of great writing in America." Established in 1989 by National Book Awards, Inc.,Edwin McDowell. "Book Notes: ...

. Retrieved 2012-02-28. (With essay by Harold Augenbraum from the Awards 60-year anniversary blog.) In 1986, Valparaiso University awarded Wangerin an honorary doctorate. His ''Letters from the Land of Cancer'' received the Award of Merit in the Spirituality category of the 2011 ''Christianity Today'' Book Awards. The

Evangelical Christian Publishers Association The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) is an international non-profit trade association whose member companies are involved in the publishing and distribution of Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres ...

awarded Wangerin six Gold Medallions (now Christian Book Awards) in several categories. * 1986, ''Potter'', children's books * 1988, ''As For Me and My House'', marriage and family * 1993, ''Reliving the Passion'', devotional * 1997, ''The Book of God'', fictionExcerpt online
/ref> * 1999, ''Growing Deeper'' series, inspirational * 2001, ''Paul, a Novel'', fiction

Books

;Religious books *''Ragman and Other Cries of Faith'' (1984; 2004) *''Miz Lil And The Chronicles Of Grace'' (1988) *''Little Lamb, Who Made Thee?'' (1993; 2004) *''Mourning into Dancing'' (1992) *''Reliving the Passion'' (1992) *''Branta and the Golden Stone'' (1993) *''The Book of God: The Bible as a Novel'' (1996) *''The Simple Truth: A Bare Bones Bible'' (1996) *''Orphean Passages'' (1996) *''The Manger is Empty'' (1998) *''Whole Prayer'' (1998) *''Preparing for Jesus'' (1999) *''Prayerbook For Husbands And Wives'' (2000) *''As for Me and My House: Crafting a Marriage to Last'' (2001) *''Paul: A Novel'' (2000) *''Jesus: A Novel'' (2005) *''The Crying for a Vision'' (2003) *''This Earthly Pilgrimage'' (2003) *''In The Days Of The Angels'' (2007) *''Father and Son: Finding Freedom'' (2008) *''Naomi and Her Daughters'' (2010) *''Letters from the Land of Cancer'' (2010) *''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) ;Fantasy novels * ''

'' (1978) * ''

'' (1985) * '' The Third Book of the Dun Cow: Peace at the Last'' (2013) ;Children's books/stories *''Bible for Children'' (1981; 2003) *''Thistle'' (1983; 1995) *''Potter'' (1985; 1994) *''Elisabeth and the Water Troll'' (1991) *''In the Beginning, There Was No Sky'' (1997) *''Mary's First Christmas'' (1998) *''The Bedtime Rhyme'' (1998) *''Water, Come Down'' (1999) *''Peter's First Easter'' (2000) *''Swallowing The Golden Stone'' (2001) *''Angels and All Children'' (2002) *''Probity Jones And The Fear Not Angel'' (2005) *''I Am My Grandpa's Enkelin'' (2007) ;Historical fiction *''Saint Julian'' (2003)

Notes

References

External links

*
Walter Wangerin, Jr., Professor
at Department of English, Valaparaiso University

at Paraclete Press

at Christianbook.com
Walter Wangerin
at

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

Authorities — with 63 catalog records {{DEFAULTSORT:Wangerin, Walter Jr. 1944 births 2021 deaths 20th-century American Lutheran clergy National Book Award winners People from Grand Forks, North Dakota Writers from Milwaukee Valparaiso University faculty Miami University alumni American male writers