Our conversation this week is with Travis Rountree. He's an Assistant Professor of English at Western Carolina University, scholar of rhetoric and public memory, and a natural connector of people and ideas.
Travis teaches us about the power of retelling stories. How and what we remember can obscure a narrative, sometimes causing immense lasting harm. When a story is told so many times and has so many versions it becomes hard to see through the smoke. So how do we get to the truth? We talk about retelling and Appalachian narratives using his awesome work on a 1912 courtroom shootout in Hillsville, VA. Travis also discusses his advocacy for people who feel like they have to hide, particuarly through the LGBTQ Oral History Project and Sylva Pride. His capacity to care for others is mighty. He's a a true citizen-scholar and devoted teacher, and uses his own power so one day we can tell a different story about our world. And his version is one we want to make true.
Mentioned in this episode:
Later: My Life at the Edge of the World by Paul Lisicky
Lawless by Matt Bondurant (Book)
Letter to Emily by Marilyn Jody
Go Down Moses by William Faulkner
Barren Ground by Ellen Glasgow
A Parchment of Leaves by Silas House
All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson
