The Life of John Rollin Ridge

Cherokee Journalist, Novelist & Author

J. B. Hogan gives a talk on "The Life of John Rollin Ridge" aka Yellow Bird, by his Cherokee family. Ridge's novel, "The Life and Adventures of Joaquin Murieta" was the basis of the movie "Zorro".

Come and enjoy local author and historian, J. B. Hogan, give an historical account of the life of John Rollin Ridge who lived and attended school in Fayetteville.  He moved to California and became a popular journalist, novelist and poet.  His book, "The Life and Adventures of Joaquin Murieta" was the basis for the movie, "Zorro"!

J. B. Hogan is a poet, fiction writer, and local historian. He has been published in a number of journals including the Blue Lake Review, Crack the Spine, Copperfield Review, Lothlorien Poetry Journal, Well Read Magazine, and Aphelion. His twelve books include Bar Harbor, Mexican Skies, Living Behind Time, Losing Cotton, The Apostate and, most recently, Forgotten Fayetteville and Washington County (local history). He lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

 Local history awards:

 2024 Fayetteville Storyteller Award for Forgotten Fayetteville, Fayetteville Historic District Commission (FHDC), May 9, 2024.

 Award for Best Community History Published in a County or Local Historical Journal in 2023 for “Fayetteville: Mecca for Writers,” Arkansas Historical Association, April 2, 2024.

 Award for Best Community History Published in a County or Local Historical Journal in 2021 for “Fayetteville and the Influenza Epidemic of 1918,” Arkansas Historical Association, April 22, 2022.

 Tom Dillard Advocacy Award, Arkansas Historical Association, 2021.

 DAR Historic Preservation Recognition Award, 2019 (awarded April 8, 2023).

 Distinguished Citizen Award, Washington County Historical Society, 2019.

 Mayor's Award for Outstanding Service in Historic Preservation (for The Square Book, Anthony J. Wappel with J. B. Hogan) and Best Practices Award, Fayetteville Historic District Commission, 2018.

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