Stories, Journalism & Vonnegut Bio Hank Nuwer
Grab a coffee and enjoy the story clearinghouse of Hank Nuwer with photos of Alaska and its wildlife by Malgorzata (Gosia) Nuwer.
You’ll find that I’ve added some finished and partially finished biography-in-progress of Kurt Vonnegut, “The Man in the Hole.”
Hank Nuwer’s Indiana University Press books on hazing. Podcast in The Culture
Podcast of “Weed in the Garden of Academe” with Hank Nuwer
Scroll down for archived Realalaskadaily stories.Thank you for reading. Got a compliment or gripe? Drop a line to Hjnuwer@Alaska.edu. Gosia and I want to keep this site ad-free. Trying to raise funds for last-minute research on my Kurt Vonnegut biography: “Kurt Vonnegut: The Man in the Hole. A Life of Reinvention.” (“Not authorized, but authentic scholarship”). Your donation would be so helpful: Hank Nuwer, PO Box 73446; Fairbanks, AK 99707-3446.
There’s no humor like gallows humor, is there?
Photo: Louis Kenneth Neu by Hank Nuwer One casualty of shrinking newspapers is the disappearance of wonderfully weird stories that once filled their pages. When a murderer named Louis Kenneth Neu went to the gallows in Louisiana in 1935, the Indianapolis Star reported...
More research needed: Was Nazi Party Member Cilly Aussem also the Wimbledon star?
Further research is needed to determine whether Germany's celebrated lawn tennis champion Cilly Aussem was a member of the Nazi Party. Given the gravity of Nazi Party membership, I think it's important to distinguish clearly between what the records establish, what...
Edith Vonnegut’s death: coronary occlusion or suicide as her son claimed?
Preface: Was Edith Vonnegut’s death a suicide? Due to the gravity of a person leaving this life by suicide, shouldn't journalists cite her death certificate before writing about her death? And what about coroner Roy B. Storms.? To say he gave...
Football star Ernst Kuzorra and Rudolf Hardig, 800-meters runner, are in Nazi Party database
Ernst Kuzorra was an acclaimed German footballer. He played for Schalke 04, whom he led to six national championships and one national cup. Born Oct 16, 1905 Place Gelsenk. Gau. Westfalen-Nord Member no.5.415.713 Entry May 01, 1937 Rudolf Hardig was a...
Gert Fröbe (Goldfinger) held and then rejected membership in the Nazi Party
Karl Gerhart "Gert" Fröbe was an actor who appeared in more than 100 films. American audiences may best remember him as Goldfinger in the James Bond movie by that name. But likely most moviegoers do not know that Gert, born Feb. 25, 1913, Oberplanitz, Zwickau,...
Four members of the 1936 Summer – Winter Olympics registered with the Nazi Party
Searchable Nazi Party membership records preserved by the U.S. National Archives indicate that at least four German athletes who earned medals in the 1936 Summer and Winter Olympics belonged to the Nazi Party. The records do not explain why these athletes joined the...
Gustav Schwarzenegger Nazi Party enrollment date examined in database
A search of the DIE ZEIT database of Nazi Party membership records appears to add a new detail to the historical record concerning Gustav Schwarzenegger, father of former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The database lists Gustav Schwarzenegger, born Aug. 1,...
No Checks in the Mail: Edith Sophia Lieber Vonnegut: An Ambition Not Meant to Be
Excerpt, "No Checks in the Mail," Information taken from “Kurt Vonnegut: The Man in the Hole. A Life of Reinvention.” In-progress biography of Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. by Hank Nuwer Hank Nuwer, adjunct professor of journalism, University of Alaska, Fairbanks 1936,...
Archival Records Reveal Nazi Party Membership of Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s Relatives
Publicity photo of Wilbur H. Durborough and Captain Erwin Herber By Hank Nuwer, written for my Cordova Times (news outlet of Alaska) column: July 16, 2026. That bio chapter was edited for space. The full, updated, and complete version is below. Thank you. HN. ...