Dean Hughes Ep. 479 The Cultural Hall

9:10 Mission in Beirut

18:44 Serving In Nauvoo

19:50 Non-Members in Nauvoo

23:54 “Muddy and River”

27:39 United Order Up

35:12 Sharing a Deseret Book Review

37:21 How to deal with the critics

41:06 Wisdom from beyond his years

Dean Hughes published his first book with Deseret Book more than forty years ago.  Not long after that first book appeared, he sold a manuscript to a national publisher, and since then he has stayed busy in both markets.  He has now published more than one hundred books, along with stories, articles and even nonsense poems.

Dean has written fiction as well as non-fiction for all ages: children, young adults and adults. Among Latter-day Saints, he is best known for Children of the Promise, a series of historical novels set in World War II.  His young adult novels, Soldier Boys and Four-Four-Two, published by Simon and Schuster, have received national critical acclaim. 

He has received many awards, including the Association for Mormon Letters and Whitney Lifetime Achievement awards.  

Two of his recent books, Muddy (Deseret Book, 2019) and River (Deseret Book, 2020), probe the challenges of living in polygamy in the nineteenth century, and in establishing the United Order in Orderville, Utah. 

Dean has served as a bishop and in many other Church callings.  He is married to Kathleen Hurst Hughes, who served as First Counselor in the General Relief Society Presidency.  Together, they have served senior missions in Nauvoo, Illinois and Beirut, Lebanon.  They have three children and nine grandchildren, and a great grandson who has taken possession of their hearts.  They live in Midway, Utah.