Kathleen Holt
Coordinator, HPPR Radio Readers Book ClubKathleen Holt has served High Plains Public Radio—in one way or another—since its inception in 1979. Currently “quasi-retired,” she volunteers as Coordinator of the HPPR Radio Readers Book Club. As a former HPPR staff member, Holt worked with a board committee to establish Legacy and Endowed Funds to provide for public radio into the future. Holt’s community development projects have upgraded the signals for many of HPPR’s translators, including KCSE (Prowers County, Colorado) and KONQ established with a partnership with Dodge City Community College to bring full time public radio to the area. “The thing I love best about the book club is re-connecting with many HPPR supporters across the High Plains, while also meeting new public radio friends across the five-state region," Holt says. "It’s not only about friends, but those friends are readers ready to explore the issues we all face living and working in our region.”
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If I close my eyes, I can still hear my dad. It was the 1950s, and every evening our family gathered around the dinner table. There were six of us—Mom and Dad, three girls, and one brother. We were not a quiet family. Suppertime was noisy, full of stories about school, chores, neighbors, and whatever had happened that day. -
The HPPR Radio Readers Book Club's 2026 Fall Read, Wind & Weather, explores our enduring relationship with the natural world through four remarkable books that move us through the seasons—and through the power of the atmosphere itself. -
Welcome to this special edition of the HPPR Radio Readers Book Club’s celebration of Route 66 – 100 Years on the Mother Road. This iconic road has been called everything from the Mother Road to America’s Main Street to the Will Rogers Highway. -
With many thanks to the host poets of Season Two of Poets on the Plains, we welcome five new host poets to Season Three. You may remember that toward the end of each season, each host poet selects a successor, sometimes from the list of featured poets in the season and sometimes a surprise newcomer. Today’s opening features High Plains Morning host Jenny Inzerillo in an interview with Kansas Poet Laureate and Poets on the Plains founder Traci Brimhall. -
The HPPR Radio Readers Book Club 2026 Spring Read: 100 Years on the Mother Road came to a close with a panel discussion held on Historic Route 66 in Amarillo at ChapterHouse Books on Saturday, May 2, 2026. -
Percy "PJ" James Pronger, III, March 9, 1954 — April 25, 2024. The HPPR Radio Readers Book Club is sad to hear of the passing of valued contributor P. J. Pronger of Amarillo. PJ's Radio Readers Book Bytes covered a biography of Edward R. Murrow, a person he admired as we admired P.J.’s participation in our book club. We will miss P.J’s voice and insights. -
Route 66: Then and Now is included this season as a bonus selection, inviting participation from the Radio Readers community rather than a single guided discussion. Because Route 66 is such an iconic road, many listeners carry their own memories—of family trips, roadside stops, relocations, or return journeys made decades apart. -
Humorist, actor, and social commentator Will Rogers was one of the most recognizable voices of early 20th-century America. A native of Oklahoma and a keen observer of American life, Rogers often traveled Route 66 as it emerged as a national artery. -
Route 66 has legendary status in my family. I’m Kathleen Holt, born, raised and still living in Cimarron, Kansas, but my father’s family made their way from his birthplace in Oklahoma building parts of Route 66 during and after the Dust Bowl, sprinkling aunts, uncles and cousins from the Midwest to California where they made their fortunes building roads. -
In this graphic memoir, artist and writer Shing Yin Khor sets out on a deeply personal journey along Route 66, interrogating what the “American Dream” means for those who have historically been excluded from it. Blending travelogue, history, and memoir, Khor explores roadside attractions, ghost towns, and personal memories while reckoning with identity, racism, and representation.
