# Del Staecker

> Del Staecker is an American author who spent three decades as a nonprofit fundraiser - helping build the Country Music Hall of Fame and drafting the Donor Bill of Rights - before trading his career for an isolated cabin near Riggins, Idaho, where he ran a white-water rafting company and wrote his first novel longhand. Since 2008 he has published more than twenty books across suspense, crime, satire, philosophical fiction and World War II memoir, winning multiple Military Writers Society of America medals and being named the U.S. Navy's 'Writer on Deck' in 2012. A Life Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a three-time chair of the Hammett Prize reading committee, he now writes full-time in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

- **Role:** Full-time author, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
- **Organizations:** Hellgate Press, Lionheart Group Publishing, International Association of Crime Writers, Military Writers Society of America, Royal Society of Arts
- **From:** Blue Island, Illinois, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Honors graduate, The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, Wheaton College, University of Puget Sound
- **Known for:** Wrote the Donor Bill of Rights, later endorsed by organizations including Independent Sector and United Way of America, Chairman of the National Society of Fundraising Executives (1990-1992), Led fundraising for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, the Ringling family estate (Ca' d'Zan) restoration, and Tampa Children's Hospital

## Career timeline

- **1972** — Graduates from The Citadel with honors and enters the U.S. Army
- **1975** — Assists with Operation Babylift during his Army service, helping relocate Vietnamese children
- **1990** — Becomes chairman of the National Society of Fundraising Executives (through 1992); pens the Donor Bill of Rights
- **1992** — Establishes his own fundraising consulting company
- **2006** — Leaves the fundraising profession, moves to a cabin near Riggins, Idaho, and runs a white-water rafting company while writing
- **2008** — Publishes his first novels, The Muted Mermaid and Shaved Ice
- **2009** — Publishes The Lady Gangster; wins Silver Medal from the Military Writers Society of America
- **2012** — Named 'Writer on Deck' by the U.S. Navy; finalist for MWSA Author of the Year
- **2015** — Publishes Sailor Man; wins MWSA Gold Medal and a Foreword INDIES finalist nod
- **2019** — Publishes Job 2.0: God and Lucifer Battle Again for a Single Soul
- **2022** — Publishes Tard; wins the TAZ Award for fiction
- **2024** — Publishes Another Southside, his first book with Lionheart Group Publishing
- **2025** — Publishes Reasonable Facsimile: An Anthology and Broadwalk Blues

## Achievements

- Wrote the Donor Bill of Rights, later endorsed by organizations including Independent Sector and United Way of America
- Chairman of the National Society of Fundraising Executives (1990-1992)
- Led fundraising for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, the Ringling family estate (Ca' d'Zan) restoration, and Tampa Children's Hospital
- Named 'Writer on Deck' by the United States Navy (2012)
- Life Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (London)
- Knight of Honor, Order of St. John of Jerusalem (Knights Hospitaller)
- Multiple Military Writers Society of America medals (Silver 2009, Silver 2010, Gold 2015, Silver 2019)
- Gold, Branson Stars and Flags Book Awards (2009)
- Foreword Reviews INDIES Finalist for Sailor Man (2015)
- TAZ Award for fiction for Tard (2022)
- Three-time chair of the Hammett Prize reading committee, International Association of Crime Writers

## Latest updates

- **2025** — Published Reasonable Facsimile: An Anthology and Broadwalk Blues
- **2024** — Published Another Southside, his first title with Lionheart Group Publishing

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/del-staecker
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-06