{"id":222,"date":"2021-11-30T21:36:47","date_gmt":"2021-11-30T21:36:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/exhibits.truman.edu\/childrenslitfest\/?page_id=222"},"modified":"2026-09-08T18:41:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T18:41:16","slug":"dean-hughes","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/exhibits.truman.edu\/childrenslitfest\/dean-hughes\/","title":{"rendered":"Dean Hughes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2>\n\t\t\tDean Hughes \t<\/h2>\n<figure data-animation-delay=\"0\" data-animation-duration=\"1\" itemscope itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\">\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/exhibits.truman.edu\/childrenslitfest\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2022\/01\/Dean-Hughes.jpg\" alt=\"Dean Hughes in a suit and glasses sitting amongst children at a table.\" title=\"Dean-Hughes\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<figcaption>1986 festival book signing with Dean Hughes<\/figcaption>\n\t<\/figure>\n<figure itemscope itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\">\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/exhibits.truman.edu\/childrenslitfest\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2022\/01\/Hughes.png\" alt=\"Black script signature of Dean Hughes.\" title=\"Hughes\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\n\t<\/figure>\n\t<p>Dean Hughes was born in 1943 Utah. As an adult he taught English at Central Missouri State University and creative writing at Brigham Young University, being also a husband to Lorraine Hughes and a father to their three children, Tom, Amy, and Robert. In the meanwhile, he cultivated a passion for his own writing. To <em>Meridian Magazine<\/em>, he described his journey:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I was 34 when I finally sold that historical novel,\u00a0<em>Under the Same Stars<\/em>, to Deseret Book, so I had been trying for 17 years and it was the fourth book I had written. All this was ever so much more complicated than this summary may imply, and the truth is that I quit a dozen times but then couldn&#8217;t ever &#8216;stay quit.&#8217;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<figure data-animation-delay=\"0\" data-animation-duration=\"1\" itemscope itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\">\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/exhibits.truman.edu\/childrenslitfest\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2022\/01\/PS-3558-U3-N85-1981.jpg\" alt=\"Book cover of students holding various signs and a big one at the top that says &quot;Nutty for President&quot; and another that says &quot;by Dean Hughes.&quot;\" title=\"PS-3558-U3-N85-1981\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\n\t<\/figure>\n<figure data-animation-delay=\"0\" data-animation-duration=\"1\" itemscope itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\">\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/exhibits.truman.edu\/childrenslitfest\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2022\/01\/PS-3558-U3-N83-1985.jpg\" alt=\"Book cover of a child in weather gear skating down hill with people in either skating or standing on the snowy hill behind him. The title is in red,&quot;Nutty and the Case of the Ski-Slope Spy&quot; and in black is &quot;by Dean Hughes.&quot;\" title=\"PS-3558-U3-N83-1985\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\n\t<\/figure>\n<figure data-animation-delay=\"0\" data-animation-duration=\"1\" itemscope itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\">\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/exhibits.truman.edu\/childrenslitfest\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2022\/01\/PS-3558-U3-N824-1985.jpg\" alt=\"Green book with four kids standing clustered near each other, one holding a fashlight. A fifth kid is climbing through the window behind them and in black text below is, &quot;Nutty and the Case of the Mastermind Thief&quot; and &quot;by Dean Hughes.&quot;\" title=\"PS-3558-U3-N824-1985\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\n\t<\/figure>\n<figure data-animation-delay=\"0\" data-animation-duration=\"1\" itemscope itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\">\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/exhibits.truman.edu\/childrenslitfest\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2022\/01\/PS-3558-U36-N86-1993.jpg\" alt=\"Red book with stage curtains and a kid standing in front looking frightened with a man standing in a costume with &quot;Nutty&#039;s Ghost&quot; in white and green and &quot;Dean Hughes&quot; below it.\" title=\"PS-3558-U36-N86-1993\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\n\t<\/figure>\n\t<p><em>Under the Same Stars<\/em> is a historical fiction. While focusing mostly on this genre throughout all of his books, Hughes has acknowledged both a humorous and serious side to every story. He mentioned in a <em>Something About the Author<\/em> bio that he wants to write &#8220;entertaining&#8221; works, but also:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>My goal is to write some works that are truly fine pieces of art. I love writing. I love the freedom, the creativity and the wonderful feedback I get from kids, librarians and teachers. I want to make young people think and feel and care-there are too many forces pushing them in the opposite directions.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Hughes knew even back when he was a kid how meaningful books could be, the way he still knows it today. As he put it himself:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>When I was kid I always told people I wanted to be a writer when I grew up. Well, I&#8217;ve accomplished the first part: I&#8217;m a writer. Now if I can just grow up.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<figure data-animation-delay=\"0\" data-animation-duration=\"1\" itemscope itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\">\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/exhibits.truman.edu\/childrenslitfest\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2022\/01\/PS-3558-U36-E53-1993.jpg\" alt=\"Black and white book with two kids in painterly style in the center and &quot;End of the Race&quot; in red and blue, and &quot;Dean Hughes&quot; in blue text below.\" title=\"PS-3558-U36-E53-1993\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\n\t<\/figure>\n<figure data-animation-delay=\"0\" data-animation-duration=\"1\" itemscope itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\">\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/exhibits.truman.edu\/childrenslitfest\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2022\/01\/PS-3558-U36-M5-1983.jpg\" alt=\"Pink and yellow book with a girl lounging on pile of chestnuts with a book next to her. Another person is on her left with only a head and arm poking out, and getting hit in the head with the chestnut. Bills are falling from the sky and a rainbow and a pot of gold is to the right of the lounging figure. Above the illustration is the text, &quot;Millie Willenheimer and the Chestnut Corporation&quot; and a box towards the bottom of the illustration is &quot;Dean Hughes.&quot;\" title=\"PS-3558-U36-M5-1983\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\n\t<\/figure>\n<figure data-animation-delay=\"0\" data-animation-duration=\"1\" itemscope itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\">\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/exhibits.truman.edu\/childrenslitfest\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2022\/01\/PS-3558-U36-F3-1982-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Kid in a brown suit with a blue shirt holding his thumb up in front of a mom and two kids on a horse. In white over the front child is &quot;Facing the Enemy&quot; and &quot;Dean Hughes.&quot;\" title=\"PS-3558-U36-F3-1982\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"http:\/\/exhibits.truman.edu\/childrenslitfest\/sandy-asher\/\"  target=\"_self\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u2190 Sandy Asher\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"http:\/\/exhibits.truman.edu\/childrenslitfest\/lensey-namioka\/\"  target=\"_self\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLensey Namioka \u2192\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dean Hughes 1986 festival book signing with Dean Hughes Dean Hughes was born in 1943 Utah. As an adult he taught English at Central Missouri State University and creative writing at Brigham Young University, being also a husband to Lorraine Hughes and a father to their three children, Tom, Amy, and Robert. In the meanwhile,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-222","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Dean Hughes - The Children&#039;s Literature Festival<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/exhibits.truman.edu\/childrenslitfest\/dean-hughes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dean Hughes - The Children&#039;s Literature Festival\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dean Hughes 1986 festival book signing with Dean Hughes Dean Hughes was born in 1943 Utah. 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