Leading the Way: Famous Kansans

Hawkins was a leading jazz tenor saxophonist and contributor to the inventive jazz style known as "bebop." Hawkins attended school in Topeka.

Musician, composer, actress, and poet, Eva Jessye was the first African American woman to succeed as a professional choir director. Jessye, best known as the choral director for the broadway show Porgy and Bess, was born in Coffeyville.

The progressive rock band with the hit "Dust in the Wind" introduced their on-stage program with "Good evening ladies and gentlemen. . .and welcome to KANSAS." The group was formed in Topeka.

Jazz band conductor, pianist, and composer, Stan Kenton recorded more than 50 albums. Born in Wichita, Kenton went on to pioneer Third Stream jazz, a mixture of classical music and jazz.

Nicknamed "Yardbird," Charlie Parker played alto saxophone, and his musical innovations helped develop the musical style "bebop." Parker grew up in Kansas City.

Mitsugi Ohno, a Manhattan resident, is the only glass artist in the world who has created a "Klein" bottle. This is a physical example of a mathematical equation to demonstrate a one-sided figure forming an enclosure with its outer surface.

Kiowa-Comanche artist Blackbear Bosin designed Wichita's Keeper of the Plains sculpture. Bosin lived in Wichita.

Stan Herd was the first known for outdoor murals. Herd has since become famous for his environmental art, where he creates his images on farm fields. Herd has lived in Dodge City and Lawrence.

Photographer, author, poet, composer, and filmmaker, Gordon Parks captured the face of the world for Life magazine. Parks was born in Fort Scott.

Historical novels set in Kansas are the trademark of Don Coldsmith. A resident of Emporia, Coldsmith is the most published author living in Kansas today.

William Inge was a radio announcer, newspaper drama critic, and university professor before winning a Pulitzer Prize for his play Picnic. Inge grew up in Independence.

Sara Paretsky, a popular writer of detective fiction, is known as the creator of V. I. Warshawski, private investigator. Paretsky grew up in Lawrence.

His first novel was publised when he was 26. Rex Stout featured his detective character Nero Wolfe in more than 70 mystery novels. Stout was from Topeka.

Laura Ingalls Wilder was inspired to write her stories about her family's life in a cabin on the prairie in southeast Kansas.