Cynthia Swanson writes literary suspense, often using historical settings. Her debut novel, “The Bookseller,” was a New York Times bestseller, and her second novel, “The Glass Forest,” was noted in Forbes as one of “Five Novels with a Remarkably Strong Sense of Place.” She lives with her family in Denver. Find her at cynthiaswansonauthor.com. Swanson’s […]
Kevin Simpson
Kevin Simpson is a co-founder of The Colorado Sun and a general assignment writer and editor. He also oversees the Sun’s literary feature, SunLit, and the site’s cartoonists.
A St. Louis native and graduate of the University of Missouri’s journalism school, Kevin began his career in sports at the St. Cloud (MN) Daily Times in 1978 before moving to the Rocky Mountain News a year later. In 1984, he joined The Denver Post and spent 33 years there as a sports writer, city desk reporter, city columnist and long-form writer.
He was part of two Pulitzer Prize-winning teams at the Post and his individual work has been recognized with a wide variety of awards.
Email: kevin@coloradosun.com Twitter: @KevinJourno
Posted inNews
Last year, a teen chose surgery that left him only half of his brain. Today he’s a national chess master.
GOLDEN – Griffin McConnell hunches over the laptop in his bedroom, surrounded by posters and artifacts of a teen’s favored cultural distractions, and peers at his singular obsession. A chess board fills the touchscreen, along with a Zoom image of a young student on the other end of the internet connection, soaking in strategic lessons […]
Posted inColoradans, News, Politics and Government
President’s signature makes it official: Colorado’s Amache site now part of National Park Service
The decades-long effort to ensure lasting recognition of Colorado’s Granada War Relocation Center — also known as Camp Amache — finally reached the finish line Friday as President Joe Biden signed legislation making it a national historic site. In a White House ceremony, the president’s signature gave final approval to the bill that will place […]
Posted inHousing, News
In housing-starved Kit Carson, Coloradans band together to find a solution
The sprawling, multi-level home commanding a corner lot on Kit Carson’s Main Street had seen better days. A double-whammy of passing time and pervasive asbestos long ago put to rest any thoughts of even a massive remodel. So Amy Johnson, whose relatives once inhabited the stucco home nearly a century ago, resolved to start from […]
Posted inColoradans, News, Politics and Government
Amache is on the verge of earning national park status — and its place in history — after U.S. Senate approves bill
Nearly 80 years after a presidential order created incarceration camps on American soil to hold people of Japanese descent, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed legislation Monday night designating the site of Colorado’s Granada War Relocation Center – also known as Camp Amache – a national historic site. The vote marks the last key step toward […]
Posted inHealth, News
With sports bets in the billions, Colorado still lags on tackling problem gambling
Only a matter of months after his 12-step meetings in a church basement transitioned to Zoom calls with the pandemic lockdown, a former sports bettor named Robby started seeing the next generation of problem gamblers begin to show their faces on his computer screen. He noticed the first new members once legalized sports betting launched […]
Posted inEnergy
Xcel Energy will no longer route its massive Power Pathway project near the Sand Creek massacre site
Proposed routes for electrical towers and power lines on a massive project that could have infringed on the cultural integrity of the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site have been removed from consideration after a variety of feedback – including from Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes, Xcel Energy confirmed Tuesday. The project, called Colorado’s Power Pathway, […]
Posted inClimate, Coloradans, News, Wildfire
Amid the charred ruins of Colorado wildfires, a sense of community evolves with the rebuild
About this story: Sun staff writer Kevin Simpson wrote and compiled this account with contributions from Jason Blevins, Jennifer Brown, Tamara Chuang, Shannon Najmabadi and Olivia Prentzel. Kiki Turner stood in front of the house where she grew up, now a pile of ashes in a scorched and flattened neighborhood. She could see for miles, […]
Posted inCulture
From cheeseburgers to Ma Barker’s boy, heavyweight boxers and bears, Colorado has no shortage of roadside attractions
Probably once a week, a client wanders into the Key Bank branch on Speer Boulevard, just west of Interstate 25 in Denver, and while taking care of financial matters ultimately veers the conversation to … cheeseburgers. Specifically, they want to talk about the Humpty Dumpty Barrel Drive-In, the first eatery of its kind in the […]
Posted inNews
“Where do we go to escape this?” The Marshall fire is Colorado’s new reality.
SUPERIOR – Out one window was bright sunshine. Out the other, wildfire smoke billowing over pastures. Brenda Leighton started grabbing things as she scrambled through her house of 18 years in Superior’s Sagamore neighborhood. A couple pieces of jewelry. A few mementos. It was her first-ever evacuation. One she never imagined. “When I opened my […]