Featured Author

J. Wesley Brown

J. Wesley Brown Author

Wes Brown was raised in five different towns in North Dakota, but the consistent “home place” was Ridgeview, the farm where his mother was raised. Summer vacations were spent at Ridgeview with the cousins, aunts, and uncles for whom the prairie homestead was, indeed, home. Wes was teaching at St. Olaf College when he met student Ward Sutton. At St. Olaf College, Ward also met the Duke’s daughter, Sue Unkenholz. It was Wes’s honor to officiate the wedding of Ward and Sue at Ridgeview, the prairie homestead, and the setting for The Duke of Guacamole and the Earl of Escargot. About the Illustrator: Ward Sutton married the daughter of the Duke 30 years ago on Ridgeview Farm, in a service presided over by the Earl. His cartoons earned him the prestigious Herblock Prize (2018) and Berryman Award (2022). His illustrations appear in The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, and many other publications. He has created poster designs for Broadway, the Sundance Film Festival, and musicians (Pearl Jam, Phish, etc.). His alter-ego is Stan Kelly, weekly cartoonist for The Onion. Kelly’s cartoons spawned the viral “Sickos” meme, were collected in a book in 2016, and showed at Shepard Fairey’s LA gallery in 2024.

Titles by J. Wesley Brown

  • The Duke of Guacamole and the Earl of Escargot by J. Wesley Brown

    The Duke of Guacamole and the Earl of Escargot

    by J. Wesley Brown

    “The Duke of Guacamole and the Earl of Escargot will captivate young and old with the perfect blend of story, imagery, and vocabulary. A really fun read for young and old.”
    —Andie Michael, author of Dear Chap
    “In the noble tradition of Ogden Nash and Edward Lear, here is a small bit of the large talent of the Reverend Wesley Brown, previously reserved for his family and friends, and now available for the pleasure of all!”
    —Christina J. Norris, three-time winner of the Strategic Ohio Council
    for Higher Education (SOCHE) Excellence Award
    “Perhaps fewer of us these days have grandpas who spent summers on family farms. Still, many of us love to hear stories set ‘long, long ago,’ when our grandparents were children living in a world much different from today. Wes Brown says this entertaining piece distills his memories of childhood summers into one short story, but I hope more stories will follow.”
    —Bonnie Cochrane Hirsch, Author of Passing of Elders, and Spirit Level

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  • On Having the Time of Your Life by J. Wesley Brown

    On Having the Time of Your Life

    by J. Wesley Brown

    On Having the Time of Your Life contains sermons preached during the past fifty years to Protestant congregations in California, Hawaii, Minnesota, and Oregon, where J. Wesley Brown served churches and church-related colleges as a Professor of Psychology and Religion. His research and teaching in the field of developmental psychology are reflected in his sermons, which are grouped according to the liturgical seasons of the year in which they were first preached.

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