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40) Thomas Schlafly
Founder, The Saint Louis Brewery
(Rank in 2006: 29)
When InBev announced it was buying Anheuser-Busch, Tom Schlafly decided to buy InBev. Predictably unsuccessful, Schlafly penned a poem that reads, “You cannot go wrong with a Schlafly Belgian ale / Finally, you can read my lips / This brewery’s not for sale.” Schlafly’s a pesky gnat to those who cross him. Remember when the Saint Louis Art Fair declined to sell his company’s brews? He responded with his own art extravaganza—which now is held on the same weekend as the art fair every year. He sits on a number of boards, but Schlafly’s deepest interest is in his post as chair of the city’s public library foundation and his membership on the library’s board.

In 2009: Schlafly will be the same feisty fellow he’s always been, expanding his beer empire, fighting for the library and the city, and exasperating his critics.

41) Rabbi Susan Talve
Founder, Central Reform Congregation
As founder of the city’s main Jewish congregation, Rabbi Susan Talve’s got real religious mojo. She’s established healthcare and child-care programs. She’s a social and political connector and a champion of the region’s underrepresented communities. A fierce supporter of women’s rights (including a woman’s right to choose), Talve made a gutsy move last November when she risked the wrath of then-Archbishop Raymond Burke by hosting the ordination of two women priests (who were subsequently excommunicated). Her actions courted the ire of every ecumenical group in the city, but they also proved that Talve is a formidable power in the city’s religious community.

In 2009: Look for Talve to continue supporting social causes—regardless of their popularity—as she pursues her higher ideal of service.

42) Tom Irwin
Chairman, Civic Progress
Tom Irwin learned about politics directing the Bi-State Development Agency, setting policy for the Regional Chamber and Growth Association and working for former Mayor Vince Schoemehl. Civic Progress recognized Irwin’s drive and in 2007 asked him to improve the group’s visibility and broaden its influence to include regional matters. The organization still lacks visibility—old habits die hard—but its push for a new bridge across the Mississippi is certainly a step in the right direction. Irwin also brought the power of Civic Progress to bear on keeping a bid to end affirmative action off the November ballot.

In 2009: Irwin needs to ensure the bridge project doesn’t stall, as well as stop St. Louisans from either 1) rolling their eyes at CP’s continued irrelevance or 2) expecting it to solve every problem under the Arch.

43) Darlene Green
Comptroller, City of St. Louis
Whether motivated by principles or politics, it was a brash move this summer for Darlene Green to return a $5,050 donation to McEagle Properties boss Paul McKee. Some politicos suspect she was setting the table for an ’09 mayoral run, but then again, Green has never been afraid to go it alone: In December 2006 she criticized the city when it handed over $15 million in tax credits to developers of the City One Centre. She also refused to vote on BJC’s 2007 request for a parcel of Forest Park (she relented only after BJC agreed to make $500,000 worth of improvements to North Side parks). But even by those measures, the return of five grand is a pretty bold statement—or perhaps the start of a campaign promise …

In 2009: Is Green willing to give up her post as comptroller to challenge the mayor?

44) Lynn Beall
President and General Manager, KSDK-TV
In an interview in 2000, Lynn Beall reflected on the Information Age and consumers’ media demands: “It puts an even higher responsibility on outlets like NewsChannel 5.” That same year, KSDK-TV launched ksdk.com, which today logs 11 million page views per month. The mutability of Web 2.0 life only heightens the responsibility Beall cited, especially once domestic devices and delivery channels truly embrace the interactive power of the mobile Web. Still, when online offerings finally introduce the TV newscast to the fate currently befalling the daily newspaper, we suspect Beall will have positioned KSDK to face the challenge—and she’ll have done
so yesterday.

In 2009: Beall will continue to helm KSDK in the battle with ratings archrival KMOV—and with the future of her medium.

45) Jill McGuire
Executive Director,
Regional Arts Commission
Talk about strength in numbers: In 2005, local arts organizations like the Repertory Theatre and Dance St. Louis contributed more than $560 million to the local economy. That was more than the Cards, Rams and Blues—combined. Of course, that number, courtesy of a Regional Arts Commission–funded study, would’ve been radically different were it not for Jill McGuire. Under her reign, the RAC has become one of the city’s cultural powerhouses, awarding roughly $65 million in arts funding since its 1985 inception. This year alone, the commission awarded $3.6 million, which, incidentally, is about twice what the Cards pay Yadier Molina.

In 2009: A good chunk of the RAC’s funding comes from the region’s hotel tax. Now that “staycation” has entered the American lexicon, will RAC be affected?

46) Charlie Brennan
KMOX Radio Host,
The Charlie Brennan Show
Charlie Brennan’s broadcast credentials alone are impressive. Over the past 20 years, the host of the top-rated KMOX show has interviewed President Bill Clinton, Bob Hope and David Letterman. But it’s Brennan’s work beyond the broadcast booth that makes him stand out among his media peers. He’s used his program to beautify the city and to send care packages to thousands of troops in Iraq. As founder of Rediscover St. Louis, he’s added plaques at 27 historic downtown sites, and he continues to educate people about the city with his books and radio program.

In 2009: Count on Brennan to keep on keeping on: grilling the powerful about timely issues and continuing his role as one of the city’s most vocal boosters.

47) Craig D. Schnuck et famille
Supermarketeers
While other local dynasties self-destruct, Schnuck Markets continues to exemplify an increasingly rare business model: a family outfit that’s deeply committed to the community. Indeed, the six siblings who now run the company—Craig D. Schnuck, Mark Schnuck, Nancy Schnuck Diemer, Scott C. Schnuck, Terry Schnuck and Todd R. Schnuck—belong to and sometimes chair a dizzying array of boards. Meanwhile, Mark helms The DESCO Group, the family’s multifaceted real-estate powerhouse. But the family’s real bread and butter is the supermarket chain, which next year will celebrate its 70th anniversary and employs more than 15,000 people at more than 100 stores. In dreadfully hungry times, the Schnucks are feeding a lot of people.

In 2009: Downtown gets a Schnucks—an urban-concept store, at 9th and Olive, opens this spring.

48) Thomas George
Chancellor,
University of Missouri–St. Louis
As a stellar jazz pianist, award-winning scientist, editor and visiting professor at Seoul’s Korea University, it’s hard to imagine how Thomas George finds time to man the helm at UM–St. Louis. Yet that’s precisely what he does, raising funds by the boatload and remaining deeply involved in the community. George chairs or serves on the board of nearly 20 St. Louis organizations and has greatly expanded the university’s donor base—even as he reserves time for research, performances and mingling with students in his trademark uniform of T-shirt and shorts. We wish more university administrators displayed such joie de vivre.

In 2009: Look for a new general manager at KWMU following Patty Wente’s very public ouster. Also in the cards: a potential KWMU move to midtown’s Grand Center.

49) Sherman George
Former Fire Chief,
St. Louis Fire Department

Sherman George can’t go to lunch these days without someone stopping by his table. “You fought the good fight,” they tell the retired George. Then comes the inevitable question: “When are you going to run for mayor, Chief?” It wasn’t supposed to end like this. But then came that sticky conflagration of race, promotions and a standoff with City Hall. Ultimately, George retired after being demoted to deputy chief. But in the bizarre calculus of city politics, George—now viewed by many north of Delmar as a noble alternative to what they see as Room 200’s machinations—has seen his political power grow since leaving the department.

In 2009: Expect George to support the causes and candidates he believes in, but don’t hold your breath for a mayoral bid.

50) Joyce Meyer
Founder, Joyce Meyer Ministries
(Rank in 2006: 46)
After making Time’s 25 Most Influential Evangelicals list in 2005, Joyce Meyer’s holding on for all she’s worth. And apparently, she’s worth quite a bit—or at least her ministry is. Preaching the so-called “prosperity gospel,” the evangelist attracted federal scrutiny in 2007 when Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, instructed Meyer and five other televangelists to submit information about their personal finances. The investigation is ongoing—but Meyer’s ministry has reportedly made a good-faith effort to provide information and institute internal reforms in advance of the review’s completion.

In 2009: Look for Meyer, the author of more than 70 books, to continue her streak on The New York Times’ bestseller list and continue expanding her ministry and outreach abroad, regardless of the investigation’s outcome.

51) Michael R. Allen
Assistant Director, Landmarks Association of St. Louis
It was a mystery: A group of shadowy companies was snapping up North St. Louis properties. As many scratched their heads, Michael Allen went to work, thumbing through tax and property records. His findings, which eventually landed on A-1 of the Post-Dispatch, were startling: Using a series of LLCs, WingHaven developer Paul McKee was buying hundreds of properties, with plans to radically transform the city’s North Side.

Of course, readers of Allen’s blog, ecoabsence.blogspot.com, knew of McKee’s plans long before the city’s only daily took notice. Smart, eloquent and sometimes even lyrical, Allen’s blog has become something of a virtual salon for the city’s preservationist set. What’s more, between that online community, his KWMU commentaries, his role as assistant director of the Landmarks Association of St. Louis and his near preternatural ability to ferret out information, Allen has fashioned himself into one of the city’s better info hubs.

Allen started his crusade early, when as a teenager he began researching City Hospital and sending articulate letters of protest to the Post-Dispatch. Now 27, he’s as passionate as ever about the built environment, and at least three kinds of power have layered themselves onto his thin, pale frame: the power to spread ideas, the power to make connections and the power to unearth secrets.

Savvy and tenacious, he’s already a thorn in Jack Danforth’s holy side, protesting the limits of the “lid” plan and demanding, in that quiet, disarming but very clear way of his, other options, including a Memorial Drive parkway. He and his colleagues made a push to get Chuck Berry’s home on the National Register of Historic Places, and he’s fighting brick thievery as well as suspicious fires in St. Louis Place. He almost single-handedly derailed McKee’s plans for North St. Louis, and he’s fiercely protective of Old North, where he’s restoring a house.

Deceptively mild and bookish, Allen has a surprising grasp of Byzantine city politics and feuds. Watch for the slight curl of satisfaction in his lip when he announces some new political development; he’ll have known about it weeks earlier and perhaps forced its curve.

In 2009: When Allen tilts at windmills, they turn out to be turbines. Now he’s galloping into distressed neighborhoods in North County and the Metro East, ramping up his media presence and bringing younger blood to old historic preservation fights.

52) Albert Pujols
First Baseman, St. Louis Cardinals
(Rank in 2006: 26)
Despite the Cards’ ups and downs this season, El Hombre continued to put up Hall of Fame numbers and pose a threat each time he towered over the plate. For a Cardinals Nation in need of stability, fans and players need look no further than first base—as long as Pujols stays healthy. Off the field, he continues to make his mark with the Pujols Family Foundation and Pujols 5 Westport Grill.

In 2009: When next year’s All-Star Game rolls into Busch Stadium, we can only hope that the world’s gaze falls on No. 5, not on the current eyesore to be known someday as Ballpark Village.

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Related: Watch Malcolm Gay discuss this feature.