In this episode we speak with comic book creator and illustrator Gustav Carlson. His book series Eve of the Ozarks Girl & Goat follows the adventures of Eve, her Pa, and her best friend-- a silent goat Hieronymus.
Together, they fight the one-horned elk to save the bluff, try to cheer up the sad sap, and stop the thunderbird from making so much noise. Eve's father, Pa Duncan, can do no more than to shake his head, play his fiddle, and ground Eve when warranted.
They passed her between branches.
The wind helped as well carrying Eve where the trees couldn't.
Aside from her Paw Duncan, you'd think she was alone.
Born and raised on a goat farm on the top of a mountain in the Arkansas Ozarks, Gustav Carlson spent his days naming an increasing number of goats, partially in fear of bridge trolls who run rampant in the
hills but mostly because the name Gruff adequately described most of the goats he knew.
Since the trolls have now gone extinct and the goats Gruff are in his past-- he now draws comics to fill the constant void.
He plans to retire to Goat Island, a very real place. Carlson is now working on his new series Tourist Unknown.
Thank you to Gustav Carlson for voicing Pa Duncan & Thunderbird, and A&L intern Krista Hancock for voicing Eve.
Thank you to also to the following actors for lending your voices: Marty Burton, James Green, Kaitlin Strain, Alan Strain, Sparrow Strain, and Thom Strain.
Thank you to composer and musician Joseph Fuller, who created this marvelous original score.
Thanks to Mary Ellen Kubit for the website design.
A special thanks to Gustav Carlson for the cartoon portraitures of the actors and Arts & Letters Staff.
Thank you to Stickyz Rock 'N' Roll Chicken Shack for keeping music alive and well in Arkansas.
Generous funding for this episode was provided by theArkansas Humanities Counciland theNational Endowment for the Humanities. Listen to the song "Old Country" by Joseph Fuller
Executive Producer & Host: J. Bradley Minnick Producer: Mary Ellen Kubit Recorded by: Robin Miniter Interns: Krista Hancock, Marty Burton, and Kaitlin Strain
Copyright 2018 KUAR