Kirby began writing columns for the local newspapers the Springville Daily Herald and Utah County Journal under the pseudonym Officer John "Blitz" Kreeg[4] In 1989, Kirby quit the police force to write full-time.
[5][6] In September 2018, Kirby was suspended from the Salt Lake Tribune for three months without pay, following an internal investigation into a social media allegations by Courtney Kendrick, a Provo-based blogger (and occasional columnist at the Tribune's rival, the LDS Church-owned Deseret News) of inappropriate behavior toward her at a Mormon conference in July.
Kirby issued a written apology stating he was "sorry that my actions have offended people" and acknowledged that there was some truth to the allegations.
Since many of the Salt Lake Tribune's readers are non-Mormon, Kirby attempts to explain (usually in a humorous way) the Mormon way of thinking to outsiders.
[10] Despite this discordant reception, Kirby was once quoted favorably in the LDS Church's bi-annual General Conference.