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Rock Island Lines
Monday thru Friday 11 AM

A series of award-winning stories about our region's traditions, institutions, and people, past and present. Rock Island Lines is written and read by Roald Tweet, Professor Emeritus of English at Augustana College.

The stories in these three-minute modules are rooted in a specific place; a "kidney-shaped limestone island plunked down in the middle of the Mississippi River." It's the logical site for a storyteller. It is from the rich heritage of our region that Tweet spins his histories, biographies, and "stretchers."

Roald has spent much of his life travelling up and down the river, with forays overland, east and west, talking to the people, reading their journals, and enjoying the humor and history of America's heartland. His observations about life around Rock Island strike responsive chords across the region. It's a viewpoint that will enrich and enliven your day.

Listen below or subscribe on iTunes or RSS. 

Sponsored by
Quad City Bank & Trust

Latest Episodes
  • Community
    This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.Habits die hard. Men and boys once stood along the levees and landings near Rock Island to watch steamboats come and…
  • Community
    This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.Often it happens that Rock Islanders tell their own stories best. Here is one from Dr. Alex Stone, a retired…
  • Community
    This is Roald Tweet, on Rock Island.One January morning, Rock Islanders woke to fourteen inches of snow. It fell fast, blowing into drifts on the downwind…
  • Community
    This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.If you're on a tight budget and can't afford that nine-thousand-dollar cruise around the world in 80 days, drop over to…
  • Community
    This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.Earlier this summer, Father James Grubb celebrated the 40th year of his ordination with a solemn High Mass at his…
  • Community
    This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.When Bailey Davenport won the race for mayor of Rock Island in 1861, he already had several unofficial titles. Some…
  • Community
    This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.In 1856, Rock Island became a battleground in the transportation wars. In May of that year, the tracks of the Chicago…
  • Community
    This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.The Swedish immigrants who came to the Rock Island area by the hundreds in the 1880s and ‘90s to work for John Deere…
  • Community
    This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.You may have heard of Huckleberry Finn who once lived a hundred miles or so downstream of Rock Island. Huck never told…
  • Community
    This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.Early each March, we Rock Islanders who plan to attend the spring concert begin taking our places in the amphitheater…