Katie Seigenthaler & Amy Frogge

media release: As Charles Strobel, beloved champion of the unhoused, reached the end of his life in 2023, he began to contemplate the last message he wanted to leave his family, friends, and community. With the help of his niece, Katie Seigenthaler, and his colleague, Amy Frogge, Strobel began to dictate The Kingdom of the Poor. He wrote, “Mark Twain, the great American folk hero and writer, has said, ‘The two most important days of your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.’ The following pages help to explain why I was born.”

The “why” of Charlie Strobel’s life, which was devoted to helping those without support systems and homes to call their own, was a simple belief that we are all poor and we are all worthy of love.

With a foreword by Ann Patchett, who calls the book "a manual for decency and kindness," The Kingdom of the Poor is the story of the people and experiences that led Strobel to this understanding and inspired him to live his life accordingly.

Charles Strobel (1943-2023) was the founding director of Room In The Inn, a continuum of care for the unhoused living on the streets of Nashville and beyond (https://www.roomintheinn.org). A Catholic priest, Strobel was known for his innovative advocacy on behalf of human rights and economic equity, his ecumenism, and his opposition to the death penalty. He also wrote Room In The Inn: Ways Your Congregation Can Help the Homeless.

Katie Seigenthaler, niece of Charles Strobel, is the co-author with Dr. Alex Jahangir of Hot Spot: A Doctor's Diary from the Pandemic, published by Vanderbilt University Press. She is a former journalist with The Chicago Tribune. A Nashville native, Seigenthaler lives in Racine, Wisconsin.

On a recent episode of The Today Show, Ann Patchett named Kingdom of the Poor as one of her top 3 non-fiction reads for the fall.