Andrew interviews award winning and prolific author, essayist, and commentator Robert Leo Heilman from Myrtle Creek, Oregon. Bob is the author of several books including Overstory Zero: Real Life in Timber Country, Children of Death, and The World Pool: A Literary Variety. He has also been a prolific contributor to guest columns in the News Review in Roseburg.
Bob has recently been the target of violence for his recent writings in his local paper that call out rightwing extremism. We discuss the duty Bob feels as a writer to speak openly about the dangers of the extremism and fear he sees in his community. Bob describes the changes he's seen living in Myrtle Creek for over four decades and the impacts of declining material living conditions on rural people and communities.
Find his book Overstory Zero: Real Life in Timber Country to read his direct experience living in timber country.