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Continue reading →: Randy Newman: Southern Historian?
By Colin Woodward Last month, I saw Randy Newman perform with the Conway Symphony Orchestra at the University of Central Arkansas. I’ve always liked Randy Newman. If you know anything about music, chances are you can name at least one of his songs. I recall hearing “I Love L.A.,” which…
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Continue reading →: Movie Review: Fury
By Colin Woodward Fury (2014) Plot: A tank unit fights its way across Germany during World War II. Along the way, these grizzled, hard-bitten troops teach a wet-behind-the-ears recruit that war is bad. That plot summary contains cliches. It was meant to. This movie is a cliche. Someone needs to…
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Continue reading →: Me and Johnny Cash, Part III: Dyess
By Colin Woodward (note, this story was read on the show Tales from the South last month) Turrell March 2014. I’m in Turrell, Arkansas, pumping gas and wearing women’s boots. It’s cold, and the cars are making slashing sounds as they drive through the mushy pavement of a Citgo station.…
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Continue reading →: Hemingway and Faulkner: Seeing Writers in Their Houses
By Colin Woodward I’ve been lucky enough to visit the Hemingway house in Key West and the Faulkner house in Oxford, Mississippi. The two houses are an example in contrast, which is fitting, considering that Faulkner and Hemingway have been seen as a classic example of literary opposites. Both modernists.…
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Continue reading →: Marc Maron: My New Hero
By Colin Woodward Lately, I’ve become something of a Marc Maron fanatic. I first saw him on Conan years ago. I didn’t know who he was then, but he was interesting. I remember him discussing the infantilization of America and mocking older men who wore white baseball caps all the time.…
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Continue reading →: Southern Historian’s 2014 History Book Recap
By Colin Woodward It’s tough to get reading done, let alone quickly. But in 2014, I managed to get through a few books. Some I started a long time ago and finished last year, others I read just in 2014. Here’s a recap. They are not books published in 2014…
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Continue reading →: Writing a Book, Part III: Awards
By Colin Woodward I am old enough to remember Roberto Benigni winning two Oscars in 1998 for his terrific film, Life is Beautiful. One of the awards was for Best Actor, the other for Best Picture (foreign). Benigni’s reaction was, without putting it mildly, beyond ecstatic. He made your average…
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Continue reading →: What’s Next for Book Two: Johnny Cash
By Colin Woodward The ink is barely dry on my first book, Marching Masters: Slavery, Race, and the Confederate Army during the Civil War. But, I’ve already begun work on a second book. The subject of it will be Johnny Cash. The book is an outgrowth of an exhibit I…
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Continue reading →: Jim Guy Tucker and the Vietnam War
By Colin Woodward Where I work, I’m the lead archivist on the Governor James Guy Tucker, Jr., processing project. The project hopes to process the personal and political papers of Tucker, which are housed at the UALR Center for Arkansas History and Culture. Tucker’s papers consist of about 600 boxes…
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About
Colin Woodward is a writer, historian, archivist, and recovering podcaster. His latest book is Country Boy: the Roots of Johnny Cash, winner of the Ragsdale Award for best book on Arkansas history, 2022. He has also written for the Civil War Times, Civil War Monitor, Arkansas Times, Style Weekly (Richmond, Va.), and other publications. He is a frequent contributor to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas. He lives in Richmond.
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