Here’s the speech I recently gave at the Sioux Empire Fair on August 1, 2026. Good afternoon. Welcome to the Sioux Empire Fair on this beautiful summer day. I am Diane Diekman, U.S. Navy captain, retired, and president of the Battleship South Dakota Memorial here in Sioux Falls. Have any of you visited the Battleship […]
NASHVILLE TRIP REPORT My long-awaited journey to Nashville, Tennessee, to research the life of Hargus “Pig” Robbins has come and gone. Attending Bill Anderson’s 65th anniversary celebration at the Saturday night Grand Ole Opry on July 18 was a special treat. Perry Steilow and I traveled 2,333 miles in his snazzy blue Chevy Silverado during […]
NEWS The second oldest child of late country star Charlie Rich and songwriter Margaret Ann Rich has died, reports the Tennessean. Charles Allan Rich, Jr., 71, passed away July 14 at his home in Cookeville, Tennessee. Born and raised in Arkansas, he was known to family and friends as Allan, later performing and recording as […]
NEWS Nissan Stadium in Nashville contained a sold-out crowd on June 27 to see Alan Jackson host the final performance of his career. Country Now reports that the farewell concert was witnessed by more than 80,000 fans across Nashville, with livestream viewing events at Belmont University’s Fisher Center, the Country Music Hall of Fame’s CMA Theater, […]
NEWS This photo didn’t arrive in time to include it in my trip report about the BIO (Biographers International Organization) conference. So here I am, reading my three-minute excerpt of Randy Travis: Storms of Life on the stage of the CUNY Graduate Center in Manhattan. WSM announcer Bill Cody, 67, died June 9 after being placed […]
BIOGRAPHY CONFERENCE IN NEW YORK CITY For a year, I have been looking forward to the BIO (Biographers International Organization) conference in New York City. It always opens with authors reading three-minute excerpts of their new biographies. Randy Travis: Storms of Life didn’t quite make the window last year, and I had to wait. These […]
NEWS The Nashville Palace at 2412 Music Valley Drive near Nashville is celebrating a former employee of forty years ago. “In honor of the Storms of Life album and years of Randy Travis and The Nashville Palace, the front room will be renamed, forever and ever, The Randy Travis Room,” says Barrett Hobbs, owner of […]
NEWS David Allan Coe (1939-2026) David Allan Coe, born in 1939 in Akron, Ohio, died in a hospital on April 29 at age 86. According to PEOPLE, he was sent to reform school at age 9 and spent much of the next two decades in correctional facilities. After being released in 1967, he went to […]
NEWS Country Music Hall of Fame songwriter Don Schlitz, 73, died April 16 at a Nashville hospital after a sudden illness, reports MusicRow. Born (in 1952) and raised in Durham, North Carolina, he moved to Nashville at age 20. His first cut came in 1978 when Kenny Rogers recorded “The Gambler.” He wrote fifty top […]
NEWS On March 29, Ray Stevens fell and broke his neck. He was briefly hospitalized and is now recovering at home. According to a press release, he will wear a neck brace for the next month, and he “remains fully mobile and in good spirits as he continues his recovery.” Get-well wishes can be sent […]