About the Author

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Jim Merkel loves St. Louis, possibly because one branch of his history-loving family moved there before the Civil War. A longtime local journalist and author, he has written five books about the Gateway City, including Hoosiers and Scrubby Dutch: St. Louis' South Side. He covered South St. Louis and St. Louis City Hall for the old Suburban Journals of Greater St. Louis from 2001 to 2009.