Larry Lehmer

Larry Lehmer is founder and president of When Words Matter, Ltd., a company specializing in preserving personal, business and organizational histories. It is located in Des Moines, Iowa.

He has over 30 years of writing experience, including 24 years as a senior editor, reporter and newsroom manager at the Des Moines Register, a paper that has won 16 Pulitzer Prizes, the top award in journalism.

Larry is a past member of the Association of Personal Historians, the Society of Professional Journalists and Investigative Reporters & Editors, Inc.

He is also the author of The Day the Music Died: The Last Tour of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens (Schirmer Books), which was nominated for the Gleason Music Book Award. As a result of the book’s success, Larry worked with the E! cable television network in producing an episode of its Mysteries and Scandals series and was a contributor to a VH1 documentary on Buddy Holly.