Iowa History Journal Issue 3 Now Available

Monday, June 15th, 2009 | Iowa History Journal | No Comments

Issue number 3, May 2009, of the Iowa History Journal is now available.

Inside the issue:

• Still Iowa’s Sweetheart, Donna Reed
• Newburg’s Major Leaguer, Jackie Collum
• Meredith’s Publishing Empire
• Andy Williams of Wall Lake
• Indian Tribes in Iowa
• What’s in a Name – Council Bluffs
• Columns by Iowans

Illinois vs. Missouri, 
The battle for Reagan

Friday, June 12th, 2009 | Movie Scripts | No Comments

States jockeying for film that stars Lowell Park

An article appeared in the Sauk Valley Newspaper last weekend detailing the latest details of Mike’s Lowell Park movie script. Fundraising for the movie is going very well and things are almost in place.

The article is as follows:

You might think that a movie about Ronald Reagan’s days in Lowell Park, taken from a book titled “Lowell Park” and itself titled “Lowell Park,” would be filmed in Lowell Park.

Well, not so fast.

The Show Me state also is vying for a piece of the action.

It all comes down to the money, and who’s willing to put up more of it.

L.A.-based Empire Film Group plans to turn a local author Mike Chapman’s book, about a college student who time-travels back to the area and meets a young lifeguard named Dutch Reagan – into a major motion picture.

Empire estimates it will cost about $5 million to produce the film. Although the company already has a script – written by Chapman – and plans to release the film in time for Reagan’s 2011 centennial celebration, Executive Producer Jim Townsend said he won’t officially announce that the movie is a go until the full $5 million has been raised.

The group would prefer to shoot it in Dixon, Townsend said.

Continue reading…

Speaking to Des Moines Kiwanis Club, May 28th

Tuesday, May 26th, 2009 | Speaking | No Comments

Mike Chapman will present a speech entitled “The Legacy of Nile Kinnick” on Thursday, May 28, to the Kiwanis Club of Des Moines. The meeting will be held at Westminster Presbyterian Church, located at the corner of Beaver Avenue and Allison Avenue (map). The speech will start at 8:30 a.m.

Nile Kinnick was the subject of a three-part series in the first three issues of Iowa History Journal, of which Mike is the publisher. Mike will have copies of all three issues for sale at the talk, as well as copies of his book, Iowans of Impact, which was published in 1983 and features Herbert Hoover, John Wayne and Nile Kinnick on the cover.

Tags: Nile Kinnick

Glen Brand Hall of Fame to Honor Mike

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009 | Wrestling | No Comments

From the Dan Gable International Wrestling Institute and Museum‘s website:

April 17-18 three great wrestlers, two legendary coaches and a contributor who has devoted nearly 40 years to promoting wrestling will be inducted into the Glen Brand Wrestling Hall of Fame of Iowa, Class of 2009.

Along with Leon “Champ” Martin, Franc Freeman, Jim Craig, Vic Marcucci, and Eric Voelker, Mike Chapman is being inducted and honored for his numerous contributions to the sport. He has devoted four decades to promoting the sport. He has been named National Wrestling Writer of the Year five times, and in 2007 was given the Order of Merit by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma, for lifetime achievement. He has written 13 books on wrestling, and has given speeches all over the nation. He is the founder of WIN magazine, the Dan Hodge Trophy, and the Dan Gable International Wrestling Institute and Museum. A native of Waterloo, he lives here part-time.

Along with the inductions that weekend are MATMAN Wrestling Clinics, featuring Randy Lewis, Olympic champion, and Steve Knight, former Pan-American Games champion.

A schedule of events for the weekend is as follows:

Friday, April 17: Steve Knight Coaches Clinic, 7-9 p.m. – $25, includes free tour of museum and social afterwards and admission to hall of fame inductions on Saturday.

Saturday, April 18: Randy Lewis Kids Clinic, 9:30-11:30 a.m. – $20 per wrestler, limited to first 20 who sign up; includes free tour of museum and admission to hall of fame inductions

Saturday – Inductions to Glen Brand Wrestling Hall of Fame of Iowa, 1 p.m.

More information can be found on the Museum’s website here.