Revisiting Rose's Last Scrap

[Rudy Taylor]

References have been made several times on the forum about Rose Nix Leo who died in 2002 at the age of 108.

I was Rose Leo's greatest fan. I read her column for three decades previous to her passing and we exchanged post cards and letters on many occasions. I find it amazing that she and I never met in person, yet we held a close friendship.

We bought the Flint Hills Express in 2001 and by that time Rose had retired from writing her column, "Rose's Last Scrap." I actually assumed she was gone from this earth since I hadn't heard anything from her, yet I didn't recall reading anything about a funeral. But she surely couldn't' still be alive because I sent her a 100th birthday greeting in 1994!

I was at the Parsons Sun getting our newspapers printed on Wednesday, July 10, 2002, when my cell phone rang. The person on the other end said, "I'm looking for the publisher of the Flint Hills Express."
   
She caller was a producer for Weekend Edition at National Public Radio in Washington. She said word had reached NPR that Rose Nix Leo, the oldest journalist in America, had died, and I confirmed by saying we had an obituary in that day's edition.

After exchanging conversation for 10 minutes about Rose, the producer asked, "Is there any possibility that you could go to either Kansas City or Tulsa and let us interview you on Weekend Edition?

Of course, being an old radio guy, that thrilled me, and I headed for Tulsa the next day and recorded an interview with Scott Simon, the show's host. I'm a real fan of NPR so I was quite familiar with Simon who, this day, makes frequent appearances on Sunday morning television panel shows.

The program aired on Saturday morning and, according to NPR, it was carried on Armed Forces Radio around the world, as well as BBC affiliates in Europe. The show boasts more than 20 million listeners, and on this particular Saturday morning they would hear quiet conversation about a lady in Elk County, Kansas, who wrote such beautiful pieces in her hometown newspaper. Remember, this lady wrote her first article for the local paper in 1913 when she was only 17 years old! She wrote regular columns until she was 104.

So, I thought the forum family might like to listen to the interview which can be accessed on the internet by going to <npr.org> then navigating to Weekend Edition Saturday and finding the date July 13, 2002.

Or, you can simply paste the following address on your Internet browser and it should work.

I thought it was so nice that 20 million listeners got to hear all about our friend, Rose Nix Leo, who lived such a simple yet rewarding life in Howard, Kansas.

A note of explanation: During the interview, both Scott and I were struck by a poem entitled, "Time," both of us thinking Rose wrote it.  But it was something Rose had picked up many years before and she just like to quote it. She never claimed to write it, even though local friends credited her with it.

The next week, NPR had to do a brief retraction about "Time," noting that it was actually written by Henry Van Dyke nearly a century ago. Among those 20 million listeners was a handful of literary historians who quickly pointed out the error.

Here's the address: Just paste it in your browser and listen:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1146620

[kfclark]

Rudy, what a wonderful interview. Thank you for sharing.

I think the Van Dyke poem is worth repeating.

Time is too slow for those that wait,
too swift for those that fear,
too long for those that grieve,
too short for those who rejoice. 
But for those who love- time is eternity.

[Dee Gee]

Great report on a very interesting woman,  Thanks Rudy for sharing this with us.

[Ole Granny]

Rudy, Thank you for sharing with the forum.  Memories are so special.

[W. Gray]

Rudy,

I noticed the announcer said the Flint Hills Express was in Howard County, Kansas.

Rose did have a Howard County connection through her grandfather who was a Howard County commissioner.

I also would like to say that her first publisher was Thomas E. Thompson.

[Rudy Taylor]

Good info, Waldo. Yes, I remember that Scott Simon used the "Howard County" reference.  He obviously
made a mistake but there was irony in the statement since Howard County surely was the original name.

[Jody]

LARRY HATTEBERG  INTERVIEWED ROSE ON HIS KAKE PROGRAM,AS ONLY lARRY CAN.

[frawin]

Rose, and her husband, John, were our neigbors when I was growing up.  I still often see her son Frank if he happens to be in Piedmont at Lila's when we are home.  I remember that when Rose turned 100, she wanted to take a ride on a motorcycle.  Someone did take her for a ride.  I believe that picture was in the paper (now Flint Hills Express) at the time.

Myrna

[Rudy Taylor]

Larry Hatteburg and Rose became very good friends over the years. And, yes, I do remember the motorcycle story because she wrote about it in her column.

[Jody]

Imade a copy of this thread and sent it to my friend ,Larry HATTIBERG.  Ialways kept Larry  informed about  Rose and other Howard things.  I