This has been a winter to remember. The text message came about 3 p.m. A man who signed up to work at a nearby church taking in homeless can’t make …
Hauling Ties in an Early Ozark Blizzard
This story was told to me by the man who lived it, Darrow Doyle Faubus, named for the famous attorney Clarence Darrow. During his retirement Doyle became a singer and …
Alford Forest: New Lease on Life
How to escape a pandemic, urban stress or summer’s heat? A river offers a safe, forever cool retreat. Ozark streams present recreation constantly renewed by huge springs, some of the …
Brinktown Picnic and Beyond
While soaring with uplifting music my mind floats back to Maries County, one of the smallest, sweetest bailiwicks in the Ozarks. To the south of the Missouri Rhineland, Cathy’s mother …
Monuments New, Old and Possible
The last few days I’ve been finishing a book review for the oral history journal, a collection of essays History, Memory and Public Life, Routledge 2018. Potentially tedious because it’s somewhat …
Biking from the Ozarks to Finland
A month ago I was on one of the most spectacular cycling trips in the world, the Finnish Archipelago, some 20,000 islands stretching west toward southern Sweden across the Baltic …
Big Timber
Several years ago David Dunstedter and I produced an oral history CD using environmental sound and music with Ozark interviews. We still have copies available for those interested. Edna Staples …