Tim Tyson reading, Live From Prairie Lights, June 8, 2004

Tyson, Timothy B.

Englander, Julie

WSUI (Radio station : Iowa City, Iowa)
Prairie Lights (Iowa City, Iowa)

WSUI (Radio station : Iowa City, Iowa)

Tim Tyson reads from his memoir, “Blood Done Sign My Name.” Tyson describes his childhood in Oxford, North Carolina, and the murder of an African American man by Tyson's white neighbors when he was eleven years old. The men were all acquitted, and several acts of arson were committed in Oxford as a result of the decision. In a question and answer session, Tyson addresses the event when, performing research for his Master's thesis many years after the event, he approached the man charged with the murder for an interview. Tyson discusses that, even after all the years in between, it was apparent that the man still thought he had done no wrong, that he had been defending his family's honor. Tyson, who admits that “this story has been burning a hole in my brain since I was 11,” had thought that he was finished with the story when he submitted his Master's thesis. He discusses his decision to release his memoir so many years after the fact, and the attention that his book has received since its publication. Tyson explained that he felt that the people of Oxford were partly to blame for keeping quiet about the murder, and claimed that events such as the murder were “inevitable” in the “racial caste system” that had been established in America.

Live From Prairie Lights was a live public radio program broadcast from Prairie Lights, an independent bookstore in Iowa City, Iowa. The program showcased new and established writers from around the world.

Authors
Writing

Biography

race relations
murder
memoir

2000-2010

United States -- Iowa -- Iowa City

00:59:23

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