Poets, Painters, Paupers, Fools: Indiana's Stein Family

Robert C. Kriebel

Jan 1990 · Purdue University Press

About this ebook

Robert C. Kriebel's sympathetic biography of the prominent nineteenth-century Lafayette family weaves the story of four fascinating individuals into the web of state and national history and culture. The family members include John A. Stein, the distinguished state politician who devoted years to the founding of Purdue University; the indomitable mother, Virginia, who pursued a career in the local library when left widowed and penniless; the talented, albeit disreputable, Orth Stein, who achieved prominence as a journalist and illustrator but was also tried for murder; and the sheltered Evaleen Stein, who achieved local fame as a poet and author of children's books.

About the author

Robert C. Kriebel was employed 40 years in a variety of writing, editing, and executive positions at the Lafayette, Indiana Journal and Courier. In retirement, he continued to contribute a Sunday column on local history, a column that ran from 1977 to 2011. Kriebel is the author of five books on Indiana biography, and one about the life and the work of American jazz bandleader, Woody Herman. From 1989 to 1991 he was an Advisory Board member and book reviewer for the Indiana Magazine of History. In 1889, Kriebel received a Certificate of Commendation from the American Association for State and Local History for his role in preserving the history of Indiana.