Ohio River Valley Girl
About the Book
Hop in your DeLorean and visit a time with no internet, no phones, and no existential dread. Your Hoosier homegirl weaves a tale of growing up neuro-spicy and music-obsessed in a unique midsized city on the Ohio River in the 1970s and ’80s. From the arrival of her ancestors in the 19th century to her own exodus from Evansville in 1990, come along for a joyride of indelible memories recounted in meticulous detail, drawing from journals, letters, and a wide range of emotionally loaded pop music. Part oral history, part memoir, and part Gen-X manifesto, this collection of life stories walks a mile in the Keds of a brainy, curious, anxious, sensitive, perfectionist, ambitious, boy-crazy girl in a changing world.
Why
Although the official act of writing this book began in 2023 after the death of a colorful former boyfriend, I’ve actually been preparing for it most of my life by journaling extensively and saving every letter and card I ever received. I always felt the importance of preserving my experiences—not because I am important, but because I’m observant (a trait I learned from mid-century mystery heroine Trixie Belden). Inspired by the work of Laura Ingalls Wilder, I have always thought future generations would want to know what it was like to grow up in the 1970s and ’80s in a unique and quirky river city in the middle of the United States.
My father, his mother before him, and her mother before her died with dementia. I’m still not convinced that I will meet the same fate, but I’m not convinced that I won’t, either. Getting this all down in writing comforts me with the thought that no matter what happens, all will not be lost. I specifically recall writing my journals so that when I was “old,” I could continue to enjoy my youth. I guess that’s where I’m at. Fortunately,
I’ve been to paradise, and I’ve also been to me.
So there’s plenty of material.
