By Randy L. Schmidt Karen Carpenter is almost as famous for her anorexia nervosa death as for being lead singer of the duo, The Carpenters, in the 1970s. Little Girl Blue: The Life of Karen Carpenter encapsulates two decades of research by author Randy Schmidt. He became fascinated with Karen when he watched the made-for-TV […]
MARTY ROBBINS 35 YEARS AGO AT THE INDY 500 On May 30, 1976, Marty Robbins drove the pace car for the Indianapolis 500. Former winners usually filled that role, although actor James Garner had driven the previous year. “When it was first suggested to me that I was being considered, I didn’t think I had […]
Update on publication of Twentieth Century Drifter: The Life of Marty Robbins: I should be receiving the copyedited manuscript in June, with several weeks to go over that to agree/disagree with the copyeditor’s changes and to make any other changes I want. The next time I’ll see it will be in September, in page format. […]
This periodic newsletter commemorates the lives of Faron Young and Marty Robbins. The University of Illinois Press published Live Fast, Love Hard: The Faron Young Story in 2007 and is publishing Twentieth Century Drifter: The Life of Marty Robbins in the spring of 2012. The remaining 900 copies of Live Fast, Love Hard will have the covers stripped, and they will be […]
This periodic newsletter commemorates the lives of Faron Young and Marty Robbins. The University of Illinois Press published Live Fast, Love Hard: The Faron Young Story in 2007 and is publishing Twentieth Century Drifter: The Life of Marty Robbins in the spring of 2012. The manuscript will be assigned to a copy editor in April. (Finally!)
FARON YOUNG ON SAINT PATRICK’S DAY 1970 The night I met Faron Young, he and the Country Deputies came to Sioux Falls as part of the Hap Peebles monthly Opry package show. I walked downtown from Augustana College, stayed for both shows, and collected autographs. When Faron learned I planned to walk the three miles […]
FARON YOUNG BIRTHDAY In two days we celebrate Faron Young’s 79th birthday–and we wish Faron could be here to celebrate with us. He was born in a tiny rental house in Shreveport, Louisiana, on February 25, 1932. MARTY ROBBINS AT THE 1975 DAYTONA 500 On February 16, 1975, Marty ran the Daytona 500. “I wanted […]
By Gregory L. Vistica Secretary of the Navy John Lehman largely orchestrated the Reagan military buildup of the 1980s. To obtain funding for a massive force of aircraft carriers and new strategic homeports, designed to counter a perceived Soviet threat, Lehman suppressed intelligence reports and studies that described a defensive, submarine-based Soviet navy. So says […]
By Christopher Corbett Polly Bemis became a nationwide news sensation when she arrived in the town of Grangeville, Idaho, in 1923, coming out of the mountains for the first time in fifty years. The 70-year-old Chinese woman, who had never heard of trains or automobiles or electricity, wanted dental work and eyeglasses. About emigrating from […]
MARTY ROBBINS AND FARON YOUNG ON THE OPRY Today’s date is normally reported as when Marty Robbins joined the Grand Ole Opry. Since January 19, 1953, was a Monday, it may be the day he signed a contract. His first performance was Saturday, the 24th. At that time, Faron Young, already an Opry member, was […]