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.I am sorry to report that the Guinness Book of World Records has just rejected an application to list the Upper…
-
CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.The Fountain of Youth and the Seven Cities of Gold turned out to be harder to locate in the American landscape than…
-
CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.Once upon a time, energy was fun to watch. Steam engines, water wheels, windmills, steamboat paddles, and the…
-
CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.Pity poor Davenport, having to live twelve miles away from Walcott, Iowa. For the past 150 years Davenport has tried to…
-
CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.Now and then, most of us get the urge to help Mother Nature out. Wait. Before you lift a finger, you might want to…
-
CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.Stephen Beck Hanks of Albany, Illinois, might have become a legend on the Upper Mississippi River—perhaps even an…
-
CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.The statute of limitations has finally expired, so it is safe to tell you what happened to the Ark, and to encourage…
-
CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.Just south and east of Albany, Illinois, back a bit from the Mississippi River, sits a huge pinkish granite boulder, a…
-
CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.It was one of the largest construction projects that had ever been undertaken in Rock Island back in February of 1870.…
-
CommunityThis is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.High on the limestone bluffs of Calhoun County, Illinois, near where the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers meet sits a…