Quincy native author wins award for second best book published in Missouri in 2023

At its annual conference in September, The Missouri Writers Guild named “Half the Town Burned: The Great Wooldridge Fire of 2022” the second-best book published in Missouri in 2023. The book was written by Quincy native Tim Scherrer.

“The Great Wooldridge Fire” is the true story of a wildfire that wiped half of a Missouri village off the map on Oct. 22, 2022, and triggered the largest statewide fire mutual aid in Missouri history.

The “Show Me” Your Best Award is sponsored by Ozark Studies Institute. This award is for a work of fiction, nonfiction or poetry published in book form.

The Missouri Writers Guild, founded in 1915, seeks to educate and encourage writers in their interest and appreciation of the writing craft, to foster and recognize significant additions to the written language and to support and promote all genres of the literary arts.