Roald Tweet
Writer and Narrator of 'Rock Island Lines'Beginning 1995, historian and folklorist Dr. Roald Tweet spun his stories of the Mississippi Valley to a devoted audience on WVIK. Dr. Tweet published three books as well as numerous literary articles and recorded segments of "Rock Island Lines." His inspiration was that "kidney-shaped limestone island plunked down in the middle of the Mississippi River," a logical site for a storyteller like Dr. Tweet.
It was from Rock Island’s rich heritage that Dr. Tweet spun his histories, biographies and "stretchers." Among his favorite topics were railroads and riverboats, which he combined on a CD in celebration of the Grand Excursion in 2004. "Rock Island Lines with Roald Tweet" received awards from the Illinois Historical Society as well as the Towner Award from the Illinois Humanities Council.
Dr. Tweet was professor emeritus, retired from the Augustana College English department, where he was professor and Conrad Bergendoff Chair in the Humanities. A writer and radio personality, Dr. Tweet was also an accomplished woodcarver and whittler.
Dr. Tweet left us in November of 2020, but his legacy lives on. You can hear many of his Rock Island Lines in podcast form here and also in a forthcoming book from WVIK and East Hall Press.
-
CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.When I was growing up in southern Minnesota, the circus still came to town regularly each August to set up in field at…
-
CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.Many Rock Islanders must have opened Mark Twain's Life on the Mississippi back in 1883, and turned the pages to see…
-
CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.Up in Jackson County, Iowa, just south of Dubuque, they used to brag that keeping track of the county seat was even…
-
CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.Nick Pyevich of Silvis, Illinois, may not have been as well-known as other working folk heroes such as Paul Bunyan,…
-
CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.My advice is, avoid Chicago in October. That's when most of the apartment leases are up, and everyone is on the move.…
-
CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.When David Macrae reached Keokuk on his steamboat trip up the Mississippi River in 1870, he decided to head out toward…
-
CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.As David Macrae boarded the steamboat for a trip up the Mississippi River to St. Louis in the spring of 1870, he…
-
CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.What a great state, that Illinois. When she decides to move, nothing gets in her way. Certainly not Mother Nature. Not…
-
CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.After the English gentlewoman, Isabella Lucy Bird, had satisfied her desire to see the American Wild West by visiting…
-
CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.Apparently, during the first half of the 19th century, it was impossible to be a genuine English gentlewoman without a…