She taught English in Monmouth for 44 years, her new memoir Mr. Vonnegut and Me is her 11th book, and one of her best stories involves a student who sneezed 100 times every time she gave a speech.
Susan Van Kirk joined Galesburg’s Morning News on Wednesday, May 13, 2026. Listen to the full interview above.
Topics covered in this interview:
- The story behind the title — who Mr. Vonnegut is and why he ended up in a book challenge at Monmouth High School
- What the memoir is really about — 15 human interest stories from a classroom full of teenagers
- The sneezing student who went on to earn a PhD and train CEOs in public speaking
- What’s new in this second edition — a rewritten introduction and follow-ups with former students decades later
- Where those students ended up — including an engineer at Nvidia in Silicon Valley
- 44 years in the classroom — what drew her to teaching and what kept her there
- The Galesburg teacher who inspired her to teach in the first place
- Two mystery series, 10 novels, and no writer’s block
- The night she played electric guitar in a fraternity rock band at age 61
- What’s next — two novellas and another Endurance Mystery in the works
Susan Van Kirk will be signing copies of Mr. Vonnegut and Me (And Other Incredible Tales from a Teaching Life) — along with her mystery novels — this Saturday, May 16, from noon to 2 p.m. at Wordsmith Bookshoppe in Galesburg. Copies are also available at Market Alley Wine and Flowers R Us in Monmouth.
