Fred Kroner has been telling East Central Illinois’ stories for over 50 years. However, upon retiring from the News-Gazette, his passion for community and connection still fired.

In 2020, Fred released his first memoir, from the Heart to the Heartland. As an editor, I reviewed the stories Fred wanted to tell, offered comments to improve the narrative, and caught grammatical and spelling errors. Then, I put on the book designer hat: laying out the book, designing the cover, and using Amazon publishing services to get the book out for sale.

Fred is currently working on another fictional story, which I am editing. He enjoyed working with me the first time, so I will lay out the book and publish it again for him when the time comes.