Illinois Press Book Blog

Goofy Ridge. Mason. Nine miles northeast of Havana. The origin of the name is unknown. According to a local story, the name dates from the Prohibition era of the 1920s, when moonshine whiskey flowed freely in the area. As the story goes, one day several people with nothing better to do were sitting around drinking when one, inebriated, of course, bet he could shoot a walnut off someone’s head with a rifle. Another, equally inebriated, accepted the bet and placed a walnut on his head. When the rifle cracked, the walnut flew—through better luck than skill. Both parties withdrew, presumably to celebrate with another round, leading one witness to exclaim, “This is sure a goofy place!” According to another story, a man was chasing a naked woman through the woods in earlier times (what her being naked had to do with the story is unknown). Those who saw them said, “That’s a pretty goofy thing to do” (Orr, “Goofy Ridge”).

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From Place Names of Illinois by Edward Callary

Wing. Livingston. Seven miles northeast of Fairbury. Founded in 1883 by a man named Byrd. According to a local story, there was already a Byrd in Illinois so there ought to be a Wing as well (History of Livingston County [1991], 36). Post office established Sept. 28, 1881.

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From Place Names of Illinois by Edward Callary

The October 23, 2008, issue of The New York Review of Books includes a dual review of Lincoln and Douglas: The Debates That Defined America by Allen Guelzo and The Lincoln-Douglas Debates: The Lincoln Studies Center Edition, edited by Rodney O. Davis and Douglas L. Wilson.  

“Though based on the same basic transcripts that Lincoln and most subsequent scholars have used, Davis and Wilson have corrected the irregular paragraphing, arbitrary punctuation, and occasionally garbled transcriptions in the originals. The result is a definitive new edition that is far more readable and almost certainly more reliable.”

My hometown!

Park Forest. Cook, Will. Founded in 1946 as a residential community for returning veterans of World War II by Carroll F. Sweet and American Community Builders. The name was coined by Sweet, who, although recognizing that Forest Park was an existing Chicago suburb, reportedly remarked, “Just because there’s already a Forest Park doesn’t mean there can’t be a Park Forest.” The name was to have been temporary and used primarily for administrative purposes. In 1948, when a permanent name was discussed, suggestions included Westlyn, Brynhurst, Sauk Park, and Indianwood, the name of the golf course on which the community was built. Park Forest was the overwhelming choice, and the name was made permanent by a formal vote in 1950 (Randall, America’s Original GI Town, 87–88, 116).

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Special south suburban bonus entry:

Ford Heights. Cook. Village (1949). In 1987 the village of East Chicago Heights renamed itself Ford Heights in an effort to attract the Ford Motor Company stamping plant that was planning to relocate from an unincorporated area of Cook County. As the mayor explained, “We thought Ford might have a tender thing in their heart for us because we changed the community over to their name.” Ford, however, chose to relocate in Chicago Heights (Millenson, “Rich in Hope”).

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From Place Names of Illinois by Edward Callary

“A Woman Feeding Gulls,” a poem from David Wagoner’s book Traveling Light: Collected and New Poems, was featured on the October 5, 2008, edition of Garrison Keillor’s The Writer’s Almanac.

David Wagoner’s new book of poems, Map of the Night, was published July 21, 2008.

The University of Texas at Austin, in coordination with John Wiley & Sons, is testing an e-textbook program, reports today’s Inside Higher Ed.

“Many observers, both in academe and in the publishing industry, believe it’s only a matter of time before electronic textbooks become the norm in
college. . . . Beginning next semester, for the initial pilot phase of one to two years, the university will cover the electronic materials for the approximately 1,000 students enrolled in a handful of courses, in more quantitative subjects such as biochemistry and accounting. By purchasing in bulk on a subscription model, the university initially hoped for a ‘per student per book’ cost of $25 to $45.”

Foosland [FOOS luhnd]. Champaign. Village (1959) seven miles southwest of Gibson City. Founded in 1874 and named for William Foos, an absentee landlord who owned some 3,500 acres in Champaign county in the 1840s (Bateman and Selby, eds., Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Champaign County, 685). Post office established June 19, 1874.

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From Place Names of Illinois by Edward Callary

When I received an advance copy of my book, I first thought of James “Goober” Buchanan, who had written me recently at age 100 to say he hoped to live to see a copy. Mr. Buchanan, who had done music and comedy for medicine, minstrel, and vaudeville shows, repertory theater, and finally country music venues, a warm-hearted, gregarious, and very funny man, was one of my best sources of information about the world of entertainment. He wrote me numerous detailed letters about his experiences and the people he had worked with—such as Smiley Burnette, Pat Buttram, Tex Ritter, Lawrence and Rod Brasfield, Minnie Pearl, Ferlin Husky, Porter Wagoner, Lulu Belle Wiseman, and June Carter—who, with him, had gladdened the hearts of thousands of audiences over most of the twentieth century, and how they had shamelessly stolen material from one another. Alas, he died just 57 minutes before his 101st birthday. I grieve for him but rejoice in his active life and generous spirit and am thankful that I had the chance to memorialize him in this book.

I rejoice also in knowing that there are other old-timers in the music and humor business still with us and who will have a chance to see what I have written about them. I remember specifically two who were also helpful to me, Doc Williams, now 96, who at WWVA’s “Mountaineer Jamboree” for some 60 years headed a band that always did comedy, and Wade Mainer, now 101, who performed at many radio stations with Mainer’s Mountaineers and Sons of the Mountaineers and with his wife Julia and is still, with Julia, doing occasional folk and bluegrass festivals. I’m also glad that many more of the humorists whom I profiled are still out there and still evoking that most wonderful human thing—laughter.

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Loyal Jones is the author of nine books and dozens of articles on Appalachian culture. His new book,  Country Music Humorists and Comedians, will be published November 3, 2008.

Bug Tussle. Franklin. According to a local story, the community was named when a revival meeting attracted more june bugs than attendees, and the congregation spent most of the evening “tussling with the bugs.” Bug Tussell Church (also known as Union Hill Church) is one mile southeast of Christopher (Jurich, This Is Franklin County, 19).

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From Place Names of Illinois by Edward Callary

In honor of Carol Betts’s retirement, I offer up a glowing example of how authors really do value their copy editors (via the New York Times): What My Copy Editor Taught Me.