Texas Talking Book Program Author Talk: Ken Roberts

Join the Talking Book Program for an author talk on Tuesday, December 10 at 6:00 p.m. (Central) with Texas author Ken Roberts. Note that this time is a bit earlier than our usual author talks.

Reader’s Advisory Librarian, Laura Jean will talk with him about his career as an academic as well as his book, CEDAR CHOPPERS: LIFE ON THE EDGE OF NOTHING. A Q&A chat will follow.

Promo image of stage with red curtain and old fashioned chrome microphone, photo of smiling Ken Roberts, with TBP and TSLAC logos and text mirroring post caption.

Our Author Talks meet via Zoom, however all you need to participate is a telephone! If you have a land line, you will use the telephone number. If you have a smart phone, you will use the “one-tap” number to join the discussion. We will also email a Zoom invitation to those who prefer to use a computer. This information will be sent to all patrons who RSVP a week prior to the author talk.

We would also like to offer you the opportunity to ask Dr. Roberts questions about his book. Please submit questions by December 3. We will choose questions based on the responses to this form and they may be asked during the event!

Submit Questions Here

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

Please indicate if you would like us to mail you a digital cartridge or if you prefer to download his book from BARD. Also, please let us know if you would like a reminder via email or phone-call (or both).

CEDAR CHOPPERS: LIFE ON THE EDGE OF NOTHING by Ken Roberts (DBC 18531)

During his pre-teen years, Ken Roberts had his first encounter with cedar choppers west of Austin, which provoked the question, “Who are these people?”. THE CEDAR CHOPPERS: LIFE ON THE EDGE OF NOTHING is his entertaining, and informative answer. Based on interviews with several generations of cedar choppers and others, Roberts weaves together the lively, gritty story of these 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. Strong language and some violence. 2018.

We look forward to having you join us on Tuesday, December 10!

1 thought on “Texas Talking Book Program Author Talk: Ken Roberts

  1. I am a descendant of the Cowans a Scotch Irish family that has been traced back to John Cowan when he left Ireland in around 1710. My great grandpa, James Oscar Cowan, married Laura Nichols daughter of Samuel Nichols and Cornelia, and they lived on Bull Creek and had 14 children but one, Donnie, died young. The others lived to marry and have children. The story I have is that Great Great Grandpa Nichols died and left the tract of land know as Four Point to Laura his daughter. She died when I was 3 years old. I can remember her because she live with my Grandpa Troy (TW) and Granny Levie before she died in 1951. Laura then divided the property and gave it to her adult children. She kept a couple of acres for herself and her oldest sons built her a rock house. It was located next to the Four Point Assembly of God built on land donated by Sam Nichols. So all her children and their families lived next to each other and that was and is Four Point. I was born into this clan in 1948 and there was still a lot of cedar chopping going on. In fact, when my dad could not find work, he kept me (I was the oldest) from school and I hauled out what he chopped. I was only a little girl about 9-10 years old. I am almost 77 years old now but can remember the past quite well. There were a lot of things still going on as I grew up: the clannishness, the roughness, gun wearing and shooting, no welcome to outsiders (I have a story about when my now husband moved into Granny Laura’s house in 1953 and he had rocks thrown at him at the bus stop.) I have a lot more stories if you would like to hear them,

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