Matt was born in Columbia, Missouri and is an 8th generation Boone Countian. He is an alumnus of Hickman High School and the University of Missouri. A lifelong love of Columbia inspired him to preserve a growing collection of over 170 books about Columbia and Boone County. A related project is collecting and cataloging books and ephemera from Columbia’s historic publishers, especially those manufactured by the E.W. Stephens Publishing Company, once Columbia’s largest business. Matt specializes in Columbia, Boone County, and Missouri history: particularly natural history, black history, indigenous history, LGBT history, and cultural history more generally (especially architecture, music, art, theater, and cemeteries). When not playing music or writing about local history, he enjoys hiking, caving, camping, and floating, in the forest and prairies of Mid-Missouri.
Since 2011 Matt has worked for Shakespeare’s Pizza, as a truck driver and distribution manager, visiting and selling locally produced frozen pizza in all 115 Missouri counties, as well as Kansas, Illinois, and Nebraska. He is a professional percussionist and has worked, since 2012, at the Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre in historic Arrow Rock, Missouri. Matt has performed with the Maples Repertory Theatre, Central Methodist Theater, University of Missouri Theater, Stephens College Theater, Columbia Entertainment Company, Talking Horse Productions, Maplewood Barn Theater, Columbia Community Band, Columbia Jazz Orchestra, Columbia Civic Orchestra, Columbia Chorale, The Tipper Gores, Columbia Handbell Ensemble, and the 9th Street Philharmonic.
