By Sarah Kliff
More than 100 years ago, prominent St. Louis publisher William Marion Reedy helped St. Louis natives make their mark in the literary world through his magazines and publications. Although Reedy has become somewhat of an obscure figure in city history, his legacy lives on in Reedy Press, a new St. Louis publishing agency. With two titles already on the shelves, the press is fulfilling Reedy’s mission of publishing local authors.
“After we named [the press], we thought it was a little too obscure,” says Matt Heidenry, cofounder of Reedy Press. “But a lot of people have received the name really well. He’s probably the largest unknown that the city has to offer. There’s been plenty written about him, but his work has never been published in a volume.”
Heidenry sees the press as a response to local publishing needs. After working within Missouri Historical Society’s publishing operations, he realized the organization didn’t have the capacity to publish every book that came its way.
“I know that there were plenty of book ideas out there and not enough people to publish them,” Heidenry says.
With local books waiting to be published, Heidenry teamed up with Josh Stevens to found Reedy Press. The press is meant not only for works about St. Louis, but also to serve local institutions that would like to publish books but don’t have the means to do so.
One of its first titles, St. Louis German Catholics, was written by William Barnaby Faherty, an old friend of Heidenry’s. The work details the growth and development of a strong St. Louis ethnic community.
Reedy Press has also recently released Unending Struggle: The Long Road to an Equal Education in St. Louis, in which U.S. Circuit Judge Gerald W. Heany and Dr. Susan Uchitelle explore another important area of city history. They examine the St. Louis desegregation plan through interviews with teachers, administrators and former students.
Reedy Press has one more work in progress—Ghost Town, a collection of works by local photographer Eric Post.
