Being interviewed by John Busbee is such a delight. You can tell that John loves what he does, sharing and encouraging authors, musicians, actors, film-makers anything cultural.

He is a writer, director, musician, actor, radio host (Culture Buzz, KFMG-FM), has a weekly newsletter about anything cultural, and a monthly column in Cityview.

John has such a wide range of interests. Two surprising ones were introduced to me in Iowa History Journal. Instrumental in preserving the history of the six Littleton brothers who lost their lives as a result of service in the Civil War, he was very involved with the Littleton Brothers Legacy Project, which culminated in a monument to their memories. He also wrote a story about them for Iowa History Journal and is working on a novel about them.

More recently, I was intrigued to find John’s story about crinoids, in which he makes a case that the prehistoric “sea lily” should be Iowa’s official fossil. Crinoids have been a hobby since his youth.

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John Busbee and other man gave a program about the Littleton brothers at a local library. Afterwards I met John and asked when his book about the brothers would be available. During the conversation, I mentioned that I had a book in the publication process. He handed me his business card, asking me to let him know when it was available. He wanted  to do an interview about it!

Here’s the interview (14 minutes) at Mainframe Studios:

John Busbee wrote the Foreword for Leora’s Dexter Stories: The Scarcity Years of the Great Depression and also edited it. (Since his name is on the cover, he wanted a copy for his mother. He also hoped it would stimulate family stories of her own.)

Phone interview (17 minutes) aired August 11, 2021.