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John Lyman Book Award
Yesterday, I learned that my new book, Shantyboats and Roustabouts: The River Poor of St. Louis, 1875-1930 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2023), has won the North American Society for Oceanic History’s John Lyman Book Award in the category of US Maritime History. On behalf of the thousands of shantyboat wayfarers and roustabouts who…
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Double Murder Mystery on the Mississippi: Part 1
The little terrier crouched by the corpse and howled and wailed.
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When Raggers Were All the Rage
“The ‘ragger’ is a local type. . . He is to St. Louis what the Bowery Boy is to New York.”
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Shantyboats and Roustabouts Wins James V. Swift Medal
Perhaps no one contributed more to preserving the history of life on the rivers than James V. Swift, a longtime columnist of the Waterways Journal who wrote the “Old Boat Column” for many years. As the Journal’s Vice-President and business and advertising manager, he supported a number of river organizations, and he indexed the Waterways…
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“Heaven on Earth”: Shantyboats Go to Hollywood Again
Film director Russell Mack’s Heaven on Earth (Universal Studios, December 1, 1931), based on Ben Lucien Burman’s 1929 novel, Mississippi, reintroduced American moviegoers to the world of the Mississippi River poor. The movie was released eleven years after King Vidor’s silent shantyboat film, The Jack-Knife Man. When Mack scouted filming locations, Harry Pollard, director of…
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The Music Story Behind “Jones County Jubilee” and the “Free State of Jones”
I recall vividly how chills ran up and down my spine when I read the tombstone inscription, “They were summarily executed by the Confederate Cavalry During the War Between the States for their honest convictions, April 14, 1864.” Looking back, I think it was the starting point for my song, “Jones County Jubilee,” even though…
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LSU Press Facebook Live Author Event
Please join us tomorrow (Jan. 25) afternoon at 2pm when LSU Press hosts an online Facebook presentation and Q & A session on my new book. LSU Press Facebook Live Author Series on “Shantyboats and Roustabouts” | Facebook
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Shantyboats and Roustabouts Author Interviewed on Bookmarked, Jan. 3, 2023
On January 3, 2023, I appeared on Priscilla Vance Leder’s Bookmarked program on KZSM Radio in San Marcos, Texas. We covered a wide range of engaging issues raised by my new book, Shantyboats and Roustabouts: The River Poor of St. Louis, 1875-1930. Click on the start button if you’d like to listen to the conversation.
Lost River Stories
Invisibles of the Mississippi Valley.
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Lost River Stories 