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.
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CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.If you are one of those who can never make your helpings of roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy come out even, you…
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CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.Folks around Princeton, Iowa, can never quite remember whether the new home of Glen Suiter's River Bank and Trust was…
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CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.I grew up in a strict Lutheran home. We all called the tail end of roasted chicken "the Pope's nose." But on one thing,…
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CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.Domingo Sarmiento was born in 1811 to a poor family in San Juan, Argentina. Unable to afford formal schooling, he was…
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CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.Domingo Sarmiento, the Argentine exile traveling down the Mississippi River by steamboat in 1847, had been impressed by…
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CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.Sometimes it takes an outsider to see our American customs for what they really are. As an example, I give you Domingo…
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CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.William F. Cody spent his childhood years in LeClaire, Iowa, just upstream from here, but he wandered eventually to…
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CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.In June of 1955, Jack Fleck of Davenport decided it was time to take on Goliath, not with a sling and stone as in those…
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CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.The other day I came across a 1912 full-page newspaper ad for the Rock Island Brewing Company touting their…
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CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.The small community of LeClaire, Iowa, at the head of the Rock Island Rapids, may well hold the record for turning out…