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.It is hard to believe that this November, after forty-nine years of teaching English literature at Augustana College in…
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CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.Had the Illinois Department of Transportation been better historians, they never would have tangled with the women of…
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CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.The cities around Rock Island have contributed their share of performers to the nation's media—to Hollywood, Broadway,…
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CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island."No prophet is without honor, save in his own country," says the Good Book. In the past ten years, Rock Islanders have…
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CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.You remember the opening number of Fiddler on the Roof? "Tradition," Tevye cries, frightened by the changes the Russian…
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CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.Of the thousand or more island sprinkled on the Upper Mississippi River, only one is fit for that Biblical wise man:…
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CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island. As with most rough river towns along the Upper Mississippi, Rock Islanders have had their share of sin. In 1903,…
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CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.When it comes to saints, we Scandinavian Lutherans around Rock Island have a poor track record. We have only one—Saint…
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CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.The Rock Island Lines steam engine passenger trains have been silent for more than forty years now, but I can still…
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CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.We all know people who have grown up to fit their names. At least one town near Rock Island did just that.By 1843,…