12voltman59
Apr 2, 2007, 3:21 AM
I have talked some about doing a book--and that I would make a post about it. I hope that I have not posted about this before--I did go back two months on the forum and did not see anything---but this would be an update as to how things are going anyway--it is another of my major rambles, so bare with me---hope ya find this to be interesting----
The book project I have embarked upon is a non-fiction book dealing with individuals who in some fashion or another--spend time on or near the Ohio River or otherwise have some sort of connection with the river.
My working title is: "River Rats: Modern Tales of Life on the Ohio River"
(Don't worry--to call someone a River Rat is not a put down---it is a compliment--kind of an insider thing--like many here like to claim the word "queer")
I will limit my coverage of those I interview to the region known in these parts as "The Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky" area. So far--my interview subjects range a distance--based on "river miles" from Cincinnati of about 80 miles from a point in the east near Ripley, OH/Maysville KY (the home of the Clooney family) to Vevay, Indiana in the west.
My own experience on the Ohio began when I was three years old. My dad bought our first boat--an old wooden inboard Chris-Craft "cabin cruiser."
We spent about five seasons down boating on the Ohio and even though I was but a young child--I do have some memories of that time and the river has held a special place in my heart since those days-- we are talking about more than 40 years now.
Even when I was on the ocean in the Coast Guard--I missed the rivers. I don't know why I am drawn to them, but they do have a lure and an appeal that I simply cannot explain.
There are of course, many metaphors relating rivers to life itself--and of course the fact that they do indeed provide life.
The history of the Ohio is rich and varied in terms of human history alone. For untold generations --it served as a means of transit for native peoples dating back the the paleolithic era when the first known humans came to live in what we now call the Ohio River Valley up through to the "mound building" peoples --then to the "modern era Indians" like the Shawnee, the Miami and the Iroquois.
Then the first white men came--trappers and surveyors--later settlers. The river played a role in the Underground Railroad and in the Civil War. The river was a major source of trade and commerce for a new nation and it of course helped cities like Cincinnati become major ports.
Today--the river is still used for commerce with river tow boats transporting large bulky items like coal, gasoline, petrochemicals, grains and corn from the farms in the area. And of course today, people spend time on the river simply for fun.
As a writer--I had been searching about for a number of years to do some sort of major writing project above and beyond the work I have done as a journalist covering school board meetings, car crashes, and other such things.
I had a notion that I would do a novel or short stories but never have felt quite comfortable with fiction--so I have been thinking the past several years about trying my hand at a non-fiction work.
For the past decade or so--there has been a recurring festival in Cincinnati called The Tall Stacks Music, Arts and Heritage Festival. The event has taken place about once every three or four years---now it takes place every three years.
The festival organizers bring Riverboats like the Delta Queen, American Queen and other paddlewheel river boats that work the Ohio, Mississippi, Tennessee and other rivers and it is quite a sight--at least to my mind to see those great riverboats--some of them still powered by steam and propelled thanks to the paddlewheel and not shafts and propellers under the hull of the boat.
They also bring in some great top flight musical talent to perform over the course of the five day event. There are many displays of Ohio River history as well located throughout the festival site.
It was while spending time at last fall's Tall Stacks that made me think I would write a book about the river. The nature of what the book would take also gelled for me while I was down at the festival over the course of the five days.
I decided I wanted to interview people who do something on the river in some way and that I would also include information about the history and lore of the river in the Cincinnati area.
So--I have officially started the book by having one interview done--with Linford Detwiler--the husband part of a favorite Cincinnati based musical group called Over the Rhine. OtR performed at Tall Stacks last fall and during an intro to a song--Linford talked about how when he had first come to Cincinnati--he would spend time down on the river in those days and he also spoke of how as a child in a small southeastern Ohio coal mining town--he often would look at the river and wish it was taking him some place other than where he was -a place that can be rather bleak and depressing. He likened his desire to how Huck Finn wanted to light off down the river.
It is also through being a fan of OtR that I have met some people who own some river excursion boats and are river boat captains. They are going to introduce me to just about anyone and everyone who makes a living down on the river in the "Port of Cincinnati."
As it also happened--via the Tall Stacks Myspace site--I found this family who spend time partying on the river come the sumer season. I am going to spend a day with them this summer and interview the various members of that clan.
I have also schduled, via the Huntiington WVA office of the US Army Corps of Engineers, to interview the "Lock Master" of the Capt John Meldahl Lock and Dam Structure located about 30 river miles upstream from Cincinnati.
I am also interviewing the crew members of the Coast Guard patrol boats, the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office Marine Patrol Division and officers with the Division of Watercraft of both Ohio and Kentucky who patrol the river in the Cincy area along with some members of the Fire/Rescue boats for Boone and Kenton Counties, Kentucky.
I am interviewing some people--who when they were kids---lived at the wicket damn structure that was once stood a bit upstream from the Meldahl that had been built in the late 1800s and served the river till it was replaced in the early 1960s by the Meldahl---this site is now a major Clermont County Park with a museum and interpretative center in the buildings that once house the mechanics relating to the wicket dam stucture.
This type of dam was very different than the modern ones-the only permanent part of the whole construction was the lock section so the ships could be raised or lowered to match the river level. The dam itself was a series of iron plates that were lowered to the bottom of the river or raised as needed and this took lots of manpower to operate. They had a complete town to support those old style dams.
I am also interviewing people with knowledge of river history as well and I just found one more person on Friday night at an art event in Cincy.
So--my book will begin with stories of people relating to the history of the river and the towns and cities of the area-moving on to those who work on the river today--to a number of musicians, who like the one I mentioned above--the river has played a role in their music. One group I am interivewing is called "Jake Speed and the Freddies" --their music is all sort of an old timey sound with many songs written about life on the "old O-hi-O." Then I wiil finish up the book by talking to people who simply come to the river to party---
I also hope to spend a day or so on the river on board one of the tow boats that carry the large bulk goods-those things have always got my respect on the river-they are like a quarter mile long and even though they don't move all that fast---they take miles to stop them and as they move along--their weight is so vast that they suck the water of the river towards them.
I also hope to get aboard one of the riverboats like the Delta Queen--my preference since her "homeport" is Cincinnati even though she now runs out of New Orleans so I can interview her captain.
It does seem that things are falling into place on this and that "the stars are aligning" to help make this project a success.
Most of the interviews will be done this summer when people are back on the river and I will be working the interviews in and around other things I have going on---
I am going to be a busy bee this summer and beyond---I may not be here as much as in the past once things really get busy ---I wil try to get here when I can though---
As yet--I do not have a publisher but I am confident-that once I have a few more interviews done and "put a package" together so I can take it to publishers--I will get the book "sold" and get a publishing contract.
I have also found a great photographer I hope I can get to do some or all of the photo work for the book who is based in Cincy--I found her via MySpace as well.
The one thing that I bring to the table beyond my skills as a journalist, an interviewer and amateur historian, is that I am now pretty well hooked into a number of organizations and events around Cincy where I can promote my book beyond bookstore appearances, such as events put on by an organization called The Ohio River Foundation that I have done thngs for and with, a yearly concert (The Rivertown Breakdown) featuring just about every musical group in the Cincy area who do river themed music organized by Jake Speed taking place at The Southgate House---a great music venue in Covington, Ky that helps fund one of those "clean up the river" programs.
I plan to have this book out in time for the next Tall Stacks in 2009. Publishers love when an author is big on self-promoting. By the time I get this book published--I wll have a space at one of two major former factories in Cincy that have been turned into art galleries/studios where I will be displaying my artwork. That will be another venue to hawk my book.
I know with my years of journalism experience and my love of the River and of history--the combination will help insure my success in this project.
Thanks for staying with me---hope ya found this to be an interesting project.
The book project I have embarked upon is a non-fiction book dealing with individuals who in some fashion or another--spend time on or near the Ohio River or otherwise have some sort of connection with the river.
My working title is: "River Rats: Modern Tales of Life on the Ohio River"
(Don't worry--to call someone a River Rat is not a put down---it is a compliment--kind of an insider thing--like many here like to claim the word "queer")
I will limit my coverage of those I interview to the region known in these parts as "The Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky" area. So far--my interview subjects range a distance--based on "river miles" from Cincinnati of about 80 miles from a point in the east near Ripley, OH/Maysville KY (the home of the Clooney family) to Vevay, Indiana in the west.
My own experience on the Ohio began when I was three years old. My dad bought our first boat--an old wooden inboard Chris-Craft "cabin cruiser."
We spent about five seasons down boating on the Ohio and even though I was but a young child--I do have some memories of that time and the river has held a special place in my heart since those days-- we are talking about more than 40 years now.
Even when I was on the ocean in the Coast Guard--I missed the rivers. I don't know why I am drawn to them, but they do have a lure and an appeal that I simply cannot explain.
There are of course, many metaphors relating rivers to life itself--and of course the fact that they do indeed provide life.
The history of the Ohio is rich and varied in terms of human history alone. For untold generations --it served as a means of transit for native peoples dating back the the paleolithic era when the first known humans came to live in what we now call the Ohio River Valley up through to the "mound building" peoples --then to the "modern era Indians" like the Shawnee, the Miami and the Iroquois.
Then the first white men came--trappers and surveyors--later settlers. The river played a role in the Underground Railroad and in the Civil War. The river was a major source of trade and commerce for a new nation and it of course helped cities like Cincinnati become major ports.
Today--the river is still used for commerce with river tow boats transporting large bulky items like coal, gasoline, petrochemicals, grains and corn from the farms in the area. And of course today, people spend time on the river simply for fun.
As a writer--I had been searching about for a number of years to do some sort of major writing project above and beyond the work I have done as a journalist covering school board meetings, car crashes, and other such things.
I had a notion that I would do a novel or short stories but never have felt quite comfortable with fiction--so I have been thinking the past several years about trying my hand at a non-fiction work.
For the past decade or so--there has been a recurring festival in Cincinnati called The Tall Stacks Music, Arts and Heritage Festival. The event has taken place about once every three or four years---now it takes place every three years.
The festival organizers bring Riverboats like the Delta Queen, American Queen and other paddlewheel river boats that work the Ohio, Mississippi, Tennessee and other rivers and it is quite a sight--at least to my mind to see those great riverboats--some of them still powered by steam and propelled thanks to the paddlewheel and not shafts and propellers under the hull of the boat.
They also bring in some great top flight musical talent to perform over the course of the five day event. There are many displays of Ohio River history as well located throughout the festival site.
It was while spending time at last fall's Tall Stacks that made me think I would write a book about the river. The nature of what the book would take also gelled for me while I was down at the festival over the course of the five days.
I decided I wanted to interview people who do something on the river in some way and that I would also include information about the history and lore of the river in the Cincinnati area.
So--I have officially started the book by having one interview done--with Linford Detwiler--the husband part of a favorite Cincinnati based musical group called Over the Rhine. OtR performed at Tall Stacks last fall and during an intro to a song--Linford talked about how when he had first come to Cincinnati--he would spend time down on the river in those days and he also spoke of how as a child in a small southeastern Ohio coal mining town--he often would look at the river and wish it was taking him some place other than where he was -a place that can be rather bleak and depressing. He likened his desire to how Huck Finn wanted to light off down the river.
It is also through being a fan of OtR that I have met some people who own some river excursion boats and are river boat captains. They are going to introduce me to just about anyone and everyone who makes a living down on the river in the "Port of Cincinnati."
As it also happened--via the Tall Stacks Myspace site--I found this family who spend time partying on the river come the sumer season. I am going to spend a day with them this summer and interview the various members of that clan.
I have also schduled, via the Huntiington WVA office of the US Army Corps of Engineers, to interview the "Lock Master" of the Capt John Meldahl Lock and Dam Structure located about 30 river miles upstream from Cincinnati.
I am also interviewing the crew members of the Coast Guard patrol boats, the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office Marine Patrol Division and officers with the Division of Watercraft of both Ohio and Kentucky who patrol the river in the Cincy area along with some members of the Fire/Rescue boats for Boone and Kenton Counties, Kentucky.
I am interviewing some people--who when they were kids---lived at the wicket damn structure that was once stood a bit upstream from the Meldahl that had been built in the late 1800s and served the river till it was replaced in the early 1960s by the Meldahl---this site is now a major Clermont County Park with a museum and interpretative center in the buildings that once house the mechanics relating to the wicket dam stucture.
This type of dam was very different than the modern ones-the only permanent part of the whole construction was the lock section so the ships could be raised or lowered to match the river level. The dam itself was a series of iron plates that were lowered to the bottom of the river or raised as needed and this took lots of manpower to operate. They had a complete town to support those old style dams.
I am also interviewing people with knowledge of river history as well and I just found one more person on Friday night at an art event in Cincy.
So--my book will begin with stories of people relating to the history of the river and the towns and cities of the area-moving on to those who work on the river today--to a number of musicians, who like the one I mentioned above--the river has played a role in their music. One group I am interivewing is called "Jake Speed and the Freddies" --their music is all sort of an old timey sound with many songs written about life on the "old O-hi-O." Then I wiil finish up the book by talking to people who simply come to the river to party---
I also hope to spend a day or so on the river on board one of the tow boats that carry the large bulk goods-those things have always got my respect on the river-they are like a quarter mile long and even though they don't move all that fast---they take miles to stop them and as they move along--their weight is so vast that they suck the water of the river towards them.
I also hope to get aboard one of the riverboats like the Delta Queen--my preference since her "homeport" is Cincinnati even though she now runs out of New Orleans so I can interview her captain.
It does seem that things are falling into place on this and that "the stars are aligning" to help make this project a success.
Most of the interviews will be done this summer when people are back on the river and I will be working the interviews in and around other things I have going on---
I am going to be a busy bee this summer and beyond---I may not be here as much as in the past once things really get busy ---I wil try to get here when I can though---
As yet--I do not have a publisher but I am confident-that once I have a few more interviews done and "put a package" together so I can take it to publishers--I will get the book "sold" and get a publishing contract.
I have also found a great photographer I hope I can get to do some or all of the photo work for the book who is based in Cincy--I found her via MySpace as well.
The one thing that I bring to the table beyond my skills as a journalist, an interviewer and amateur historian, is that I am now pretty well hooked into a number of organizations and events around Cincy where I can promote my book beyond bookstore appearances, such as events put on by an organization called The Ohio River Foundation that I have done thngs for and with, a yearly concert (The Rivertown Breakdown) featuring just about every musical group in the Cincy area who do river themed music organized by Jake Speed taking place at The Southgate House---a great music venue in Covington, Ky that helps fund one of those "clean up the river" programs.
I plan to have this book out in time for the next Tall Stacks in 2009. Publishers love when an author is big on self-promoting. By the time I get this book published--I wll have a space at one of two major former factories in Cincy that have been turned into art galleries/studios where I will be displaying my artwork. That will be another venue to hawk my book.
I know with my years of journalism experience and my love of the River and of history--the combination will help insure my success in this project.
Thanks for staying with me---hope ya found this to be an interesting project.