Biography

Kirby was born into a military family. After completing high school he served a two-year mission

Mission (LDS Church)

A mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a geographical administrative area to which church missionaries are assigned. Almost all areas of the world are within the boundaries of an LDS Church mission, whether or not Mormon missionaries live or proselytize in the area...

 in Uruguay

Uruguay

Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...

 for his church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where he learned to speak Spanish. Upon his return he pursued a career in law enforcement

Law enforcement agency

In North American English, a law enforcement agency is a government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws.Outside North America, such organizations are called police services. In North America, some of these services are called police while others have other names In North American...

. His first work as a policeman was with the Springville, Utah

Springville, Utah

Springville is a city in Utah County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Provo–Orem, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 20,424 at the 2000 census, while the 2008 estimates placed it at 28,520. Just minutes south of Provo, Springville is a bedroom community for...

 police department (1979). While taking night classes at nearby Brigham Young University

Brigham Young University

Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...

 Kirby began writing columns for the local newspapers, first the Springville Daily Herald, and later the Utah County Journal (writing under the pen name Officer "Blitz" Kreeg).

In 1989 Kirby decided to leave police work and devote himself to full-time writing. He has written a column for the Salt Lake Tribune since 1994, and has written at least nine books.

Kirby is a popular convention speaker, and travels widely to appear at conventions and meetings.

His newspaper columns have won several regional awards.

Samples of his newspaper column humor are widely available online.

Writing style

Kirby, who is active in the LDS Church, often writes about its teachings and how its members interpret those teachings in their daily lives. Since most of the SL Tribune's readership is non-LDS, Kirby attempts to explain (usually in a humorous way) the LDS way of thinking to outsiders. He refers to himself as an "OxyMormon". This approach either alienites those LDS who feel their beliefs should not be satirized, or endears itself to the reader.

Personal

Kirby presently (2009) lives in Herriman, Utah

Herriman, Utah

Herriman is a city in southwestern Salt Lake County, Utah, United States. The population was 21,785 as of the 2010 census. Although Herriman was a town in 2000, it has since been classified as a fifth-class city by state law. The city has experienced rapid growth since incorporation in 1999, as its...

. He and his wife had three daughters.

Published books

Novels

• Dark Angel (2000)
• Brigham's Bees

Humor

• Wake Me for the Resurrection
• Sunday of the Living Dead
• Kirby Soup for the Soul (2003)
• Pat & Kirby go to Hell (or heck if you have the sticker edition)
• Happy Valley Patrol

Non-fiction

• END OF WATCH: Utah's Murdered Police Officers, 1853-2003 (University of Utah Press, Feb. 2004)