Charles Kniker
What’s your genre?
Currently, I am a political writer writing about saving democracy
Are you published?
Traditional and indie press.
Books include: Raising America: Building a More Perfect Union (co-editor and author), Myth and Reality, Teaching Today and Tomorrow, You and Values Education, Spirituality That Makes a Difference
What author do you admire and how have they inspired your writing?
Since I first began writing as a high school paper sports editor, I liked those who could make sports “live.” In time, I came to like Hemingway. Perhaps not surprisingly, with my religious background, the authors of various biblical books are some favorites.
Name three of your favorite books and their authors
Because of my current interests, I have been moved by:
On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder
How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt
Yuval Harari’s works (because I disagree with him on many points, but respect his perspective).
What’s one thing readers should know about you?
That I survive with humor. As serious as life and world conditions are, we need release and humor as a way of putting things in context so we can learn new ways to deal with consequential matters.
What one piece of advice would you give to a budding writers?
Know you rarely get it right the first time. Discover a time and method that helps you revisit what you have written.
Author Bio
Charles Kniker is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. He has served congregations in Illinois, Missouri, California, New Jersey, Iowa, and Texas. Now retired, he lives at Green Hills Retirement Community in Ames. As a hobby, he has written texts for over sixty hymns.
Charles served as a professor of education at Iowa State University from 1969-1993. While there, he founded the journal, Religion & Public Education (now Religion & Education). He left Iowa State to become president of Eden Theological Seminary in Webster Groves, Missouri, in 1993. In 1996, he became pastor of Faith United Church of Christ, Bryan, Texas. He returned to Iowa in 1998 as Associate Director of Academic Affairs for the Board of Regents, State of Iowa.
In 2022 he authored Spirituality That Makes a Difference, his seventh book. During his academic career, he wrote numerous articles on moral and values education, teacher preparation, and was co-editor for several reference works. Currently, he teaches courses for the Iowa State University Alumni Association OLLI (College for Seniors) program.
