by Sophia Waldridge

Everyone has a past that’s different, but English 10 teacher and wrestling coach Evan Myers, sports performance wrestling coach Daniel Struck, and English 9 teacher David Kummer all have similar backgrounds.

All three Red Devil teachers are published authors.

Myers said he has been writing for six years. He began writing in 2011. He went to Purdue University and got his bachelor’s degree, and when he was in the Army he did three years of military journalism from 2015 to 2018.

During his years he went to Fort Meade Defense Information School and latre worked at Greenfield Daily Reporter in Greenfield, Indiana. Myers says he started writing and got interested in it because of  the Superman comics he read during his teen years.

I started loving writing because of the way Clark Kent wasn’t only helping people by being a hero, but also by telling them stories and the hard truths.”

English Teacher and Author Evan Myers

“I started loving writing because of the way Clark Kent wasn’t only helping people by being a hero, but also by telling them stories and the hard truths.”

Myers has some pieces of wisdom for journalists about interviewing and writing.

“When writing make sure you know spelling, punctuation and titles, because if not it could turn disrespectful. As for interviewing, making conversation, and connecting with your source makes it feel less like an interrogation and more like a conversation; it establishes trust.” 

 Myers has written three books: Dusk on the Western Range, The Oldest Sport, and The Cottage at Prince Lake.

Struck started writing his book in 2023 and it took him two years to complete. He described the process of writing his book as “a good decision” because he thought of it while attending the Olympics and felt as if a travel book for coaches would be a good read.

He read Myers’s first book and really enjoyed it because it was fantasy and loved the second book because it was about a wrestling program like theirs. Struck said Myers pushed him to be a good writer and publish his book, Climbing for Gold: See the World Through Wrestling, so he did.

He has really good advice for upcoming writers: “Start with journaling. It helps with practice and seeing how you do with first drafts, and also write one liners. I spent 30 years working with one liners because they help spark my memory for when I’m ready to write a full book.”

Kummer wrote as a kid but took writing more seriously in high school and has been writing ever since. “I’ve been writing so long that I feel old, but not as old as Myers,” he joked.

After he graduated he made local connections so he could be able to publish. Kummer believes that people who want to write should read as much as they are able, and writing the first draft matters.

“Once you start writing the first draft you can go from there.” 

Kummer has published three books: The Silent Forest, The Band, and The Misery House. The final book in the Silent Forest trilogy, The Empty Room, will be published later this fall.