The southeast-Iowa novelist whose “State Fair” turned the Iowa State Fair into a Hollywood classic.
Phil Stong was born in 1899 in the Keosauqua area of southeast Iowa. Drawing on the world he knew, he wrote the 1932 novel “State Fair,” set at the Iowa State Fair.
The book was an immediate hit and became a 1933 film, a 1945 Rodgers & Hammerstein musical film, and a 1962 remake — cementing the Iowa State Fair in American popular culture.
Stong gave the Iowa State Fair its enduring place in the national imagination. He wrote dozens more books, but “State Fair” remains his lasting contribution.
He is a notable Iowa literary figure of the 20th century.
The southeast-Iowa novelist whose “State Fair” turned the Iowa State Fair into a Hollywood classic.
Phil Stong was from Keosauqua, Iowa.
1899–1957.
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