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.A straight line may be the shortest distance between two points, but that does not automatically make it easy to draw,…
-
CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.When the Chicago White Sox walked out of an Iowa cornfield and thought they were in heaven in the movie Field of…
-
CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.When Stephanie Tashiro was a young girl growing up in Davenport, Iowa, she wondered why her paternal grandparents never…
-
CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.By the time Private Basil Messler left Camp McClellan in Davenport on March 23rd, 1864 and headed south for his stint…
-
CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.Whenever I watched the encampments of Civil War reenactors at McClellan park in the Village of East Davenport, it was…
-
CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.I don't recall that any state has had as hard a time choosing an official state song as Iowa. We're all familiar with…
-
CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.By the time Billy Sunday brought his crusade to Rock Island in 1919, to wage eight weeks of war against the liquor…
-
CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.For those of you who might be tempted to vacation in Minnesota one of these summers, may I direct you to Alfred…
-
CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.Try this out if you don't believe me: ask a group of Rock Island senior citizens whether they would have preferred…
-
CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.Archeologists have shown us how often a prime piece of real estate is used over and over again by newer civilizations.…