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.Domingo Sarmiento, the Argentine exile traveling down the Mississippi River by steamboat in 1847, had been impressed by…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.Charles August Ficke of Davenport was a man of two minds. One of the minds was long on moral responsibility. "Each…
-
CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.If you want to know where to invest your money in order to get the best return, you might look to a successful man like…
-
CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.Back in 1934, C. R. Medd of Moline was the proud operator of Mildred's Four-Star Dairy, named for C. R.'s wife and four…
-
CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.If you don't agree that central Illinois' prairies and rivers form a living Eden, perhaps you are looking from the…