FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Austin, TX – The Texas Talking Book Program has announced a free, online event with Dr. Ken Roberts, author of The Cedar Choppers: Life on the Edge of Nothing, at 6:00 p.m. (central) on Tuesday, Dec. 10. 

In this special, live discussion open to the public, Dr. Roberts will discuss his career as an author as well as his 2018 book from Texas A&M University Press. The Cedar Choppers weaves together the lively, gritty story of the largely Scots-Irish migrants with roots in Appalachia who settled on the west side of the Balcones Fault during the mid-19th century, subsisting on hunting, trapping, moonshining and, by the early 20th century, cutting, transporting and selling cedar fence posts and charcoal.

Talking Book Program Author Talks meet via Zoom; however, all that is needed to participate is a telephone. Zoom links and telephone access numbers will be emailed to all registrants in advance. Attendees using a smart phone will use the “one-tap” Zoom number provided to join the discussion; for those using a land line, a direct telephone number will be provided.

To RSVP, please email tbpRAL@tsl.texas.gov, or call the Talking Book Program at 1-800-252-9605 by Dec. 1.

Attendees will also have the opportunity to ask Dr. Roberts questions about his book and career. Questions may be submitted by Dec. 1 via the online form at https://bit.ly/RobertsQ. 

Registered patrons of the Talking Book Program may also request The Cedar Choppers via BARD download or on digital cartridge. The book is also available for purchase from the Texas A&M University Press and local bookstores.

Dr. Ken Roberts retired from Southwestern University, where he was a professor of Economics for more than 30 years. His teaching and research focused on the effects of agricultural change on poor farmers in developing countries, especially Mexico and China. His work on the cedar choppers in central Texas continues in that vein, but unlike farmers who fled the land in response to lower prices and mechanization, these folks hung on. Roberts and his family have lived on a ranch outside Liberty Hill for the past 45 years. Learn more about the book and the author at www.thecedarchoppers.com. 

The Talking Book Program, part of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, provides a free library service for qualifying Texans with visual, physical or reading disabilities. TBP is also part of the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, administered by the Library of Congress. The TBP collection consists of more than 100,000 titles, and registered patrons may borrow books and magazines in digital audio, Braille and large print, free of charge. To learn more and apply, visit www.TexasTalkingBooks.com. 

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The Texas State Library and Archives Commission provides Texans access to the information they need to be informed, productive citizens by preserving the archival record of Texas; enhancing the service capacity of public, academic and school libraries; assisting public agencies in the maintenance of their records; and meeting the reading needs of Texans with disabilities. For more information, visit www.tsl.texas.gov.

Susan Floyd
Communications Officer
512-463-5514
info@tsl.texas.gov