Roald Tweet had a way with words, with listeners, with his comforting voice, and his patient, relentless curiosity and compassion will be felt in the Quad-Cities for years to come. The 87-year-old Augustana College professor emeritus of English died on Wednesday after a brief illness (congestive heart failure and Covid-19), and the tremendous loss reverberates throughout the community. “He was my teacher from the time I was seventeen till now,” said Ann Boaden (Augie Class of ’67), a longtime English professor who retired in 2016. “His brilliance, his puckish wit and playfulness, his persistence... Read More

Kai Swanson of Augustana College, Rock Island, related Wednesday: “It is with a heart made heavy by a thousand light memories that I inform the Augustana community of the passing of Roald Tweet, professor emeritus of English.” Tweet, 87, died today after a brief illness. He became a member of the Augustana English Department in 1960, and remained there until his retirement in 1999; he chaired the department from 1967 until 1984. In 1998, he was appointed to the Conrad Bergendoff Chair in the Humanities, the second person (after Dorothy Parkander) to hold the College’s first endowed position. Tweet... Read More

This weekend, YouTube and the National Independent Venue Association are doing an awesome thing for local music venues nationwide, and I’m sure many of you have heard about the star-studded Save Our Stages Fest. It’s the kind of huge, publicity-grabbing event that gets a ton of attention with people in markets across the country. Which is a good thing, because it’s for a good cause, and it needs to get in front of a large group of people to make that positive impact. I do not begrudge that at all, and I wholeheartedly encourage people to check it out, and any other event of that... Read More

Quad-Cities author Connie Wilson is celebrating the days of the presidential debate, and a few other special days, by offering people FREE copies of her e-book, “Bee Gone.” Wilson’s ebook will be free on Amazon.com the following days: Debate Dates These are the dates of the debates: 1) Sept. 29 – 1st debate 2) October 7 – VP debate 3) October 15- debate #2 4) October 22 – Debate #3 5) October 23 – RBG FREE day According to Connie, here’s a description of the book: Bee Gone: A Political Parable is a rhyming, illustrated short e-book that examines... Read More

A native of China, Xixuan Collins has lived in Iowa since 1997, but has only written in English since 2015. Her debut novel, “Flowing Water, Falling Flowers” from the Rock Island-based Midwest Writing Center Press, will be released in October. “I’m still not sure I actually have the confidence even now as a writer,” Collins, 52, said recently. “But I have taken a lot of workshops through MWC and have learned a lot about the craft of writing fiction. Through MWC, I also met some amazing writers and writing instructors, and their encouragement and affirmation have helped me greatly. “I... Read More

Starting freshman year of high school can be a challenge for most kids, especially during a global pandemic. The transition is a bit smoother for 14-year-old Lucy Lareau, Moline, who is marking the imminent publication of her fourth graphic novel, written with her mother Liz. Lucy is on a mission to inspire elementary-school girls to raise their voices and make a difference, through her two-year-old series, the Geeky F@b 5.  Her new book, “Food Fight for Fiona,” which addresses student hunger and food production, will be published Sept. 15 by New York City-based Papercutz. “This book is... Read More

MACOMB, IL — Western Illinois University alumna and Macomb school teacher Adrienne Graham grew up playing school in Maywood, IL, and telling stories with her sister. Now, she’s a first-grade teacher in Macomb who recently published her own book, “The Color of Friendship,” focusing on children learning about diversity. Graham, who graduated from Western in 2014, with a teacher education degree, and in 2018, with a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction, is in her seventh year of teaching for the Macomb School District. This past year, she decided it was time... Read More

Join the Library’s youth services department on the Facebook Live every Wednesday beginning in September at 10:00 am for some storytime fun! We’ll read stories, sing songs, share interactive games & fingerplays, and hopefully, brighten up your day. We also love to say “Hi!” to our storytime friends who are watching live, so grownups (or kids if they have their grownup’s permission) are invited to drop a name in our Storytime Live comments for a fun shout-out. Each storytime video will remain on the Library’s Facebook at www.facebook.com/davenportlibrary/... Read More

HEY LOCAL WRITERS!  QuadCities.com is starting up the QuadCities.com Virtual Writers Gallery, featuring local authors and their works! If you’re interested in being a part of it, email Sean@QuadCities.com with up to three .jpgs of your book covers and 1-2 paragraph descriptions of the books, a picture of you, a short 3-4 sentence bio of yourself and your website, facebook page or patreon link ASAP! Also, if you’re interested in doing a podcast reading of up to five minutes of your work, let us know, because we’re going to include those as well in a NEW podcast called As Read... Read More

Join the Library’s youth services department on the Facebook Live every Wednesday beginning in September at 10:00 am for some storytime fun! We’ll read stories, sing songs, share interactive games & fingerplays, and hopefully, brighten up your day. We also love to say “Hi!” to our storytime friends who are watching live, so grownups (or kids if they have their grownup’s permission) are invited to drop a name in our Storytime Live comments for a fun shout-out. Each storytime video will remain on the Library’s Facebook at www.facebook.com/davenportlibrary/... Read More