The Flint Hills Special is authored, designed, and produced by Kansas historian and writer, Greg Hoots.  Hoots has authored a half-dozen books since his first hard-copy Flint Hills Special premiered in 1998.

The first edition of the Flint Hills Special was published in 1998.

In addition to his 2008 book, The Complete History of Lake Wabaunsee, Hoots authored three titles for Arcadia Publishing’s Images of America series between 2009 and 2011 which included Wabaunsee County, Topeka, and Flint Hills. 

Greg Hoots

Hoots specializes in photographic digitization of historic images, particularly focusing on collections from the Kansas Flint Hills region.  His collection, over twenty years in the making, includes almost 10,000 photographs.  Hoots produced his final hard-copy edition of the Flint Hills Special in 2012.

The final edition of the Flint Hills Special was published in 2012.

Hoots authored and managed three grant projects between 2014 and 2016 which digitized Kansas photograph collections, which included their placement on the Kansas State Historical Society’s website, Kansasmemory.org.

The short documentary film, Volland Memories, The Kratzer Films, was produced by Greg Hoots in 2015.

In 2015 Hoots curated the opening exhibition at The Volland Store, In Focus: The Photography and Film of Otto Kratzer, funded in part by Humanities Kansas. In addition to the exhibit which included thirty of Otto Kratzer’s photographs dating from 1905 to 1955, Hoots produced, directed, and scripted a short documentary film, Volland Memories: The Kratzer Films. 

Hoots lives in Kansas City, Kansas with his wife, Cheryl and their cats.

You may contact the author by emailing: flinthillsspecial@gmail.com.