Ozark’s RFD – The ‘River of Used to Be’ redux
Published 6:00 am Wednesday, January 7, 2026
It was in the early 1990s, at a quarterly meeting of the Ozarks Writers League at Branson that I was approached by regional publisher W.C. Jameson about publishing a collection of my newspaper columns.
I was familiar with Jameson’s series of buried treasure books, as well as a 1992 collection of his own Ozarks essay in “A Sense of Place.” Living in Conway, Ark., Jameson was a geography professor at the University of Central Arkansas and an avid student of Ozarks culture and lore, as well as the founder of a new venue for Ozarks writers, Seven Oaks Press.
Would I send him some examples of my work? Of course I would. That’s the dream of any small-time newspaper columnist. But pulling together enough for a book was a challenge. The only copies I had of past works were in old newspapers, not in manuscript form.
But, we did have the newspapers and access to a text scanner. That made the process possible, though not easy, and in time I had a complete manuscript for Jameson to read.
But, it still wasn’t a book.
Taking my raw manuscripts required multiple steps of reading, editing, gleaning and organizing — all requiring discussions with my publisher and his editors — as well as writing all of that front and back matter, and coming up with cover art. None of that was particularly difficult, but it was time consuming — not unlike birthing a baby.
When I got down to writing an introduction to my compiled works, I characterized my Ozarks influences as follows:
“The protective nuzzling of a bluetick hound named “Frosty,” warm summer evenings catfishing at Potter’s Ford on the Pomme de Terre River, Jersey cows that gave rich, yellow milk, the sweet smell of lespedeza hay thrown from the barn loft in winter, the serenade of whippoorwills , and the heavy, calloused hands of old-timers who shared the wisdom of their seasons — it is these and ten-thousand more experiences that made me an Ozarker and are reflected on in “River of Used to Be.”
Months after Jameson suggested it, my first book became a reality in 1994.
All of the selections in “River” were originally published in the Buffalo Reflex, written for and about folks in my native Ozarks. After two printings of 500 copies each,“River” is no longer available to new generations of readers, and Jameson’s Seven Oaks Publishing Company no longer exists.
Readers asked me over the years how they might get a copy of “River,” and all I could do was point them to used book stores. Mindful of their interest, though, I have elected to offer a number of a selected essays from “River” in upcoming weeks. Few will be exactly as originally published. Hopefully, readers will find my tales improved in the retelling, but essentially the same as when published more than three decades ago. On tap for the remainder of January are reflections on clearing brush, drinking from Greasy Creek and coon hunting. I look forward to you going back to those days with me.
