Our Daily Show Interview! Don Mathenia- Love & Blood in the Heartland Out Now!
Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
GRAFTON - Riverbend native Don Mathenia has released his first book, “Love and Blood in the Heartland.”
Mathenia shared that his book is a compilation of poems, songs, artwork and memories from throughout his life. He began “writing in earnest” during his college years in the mid-60s, and the book details his life growing up, teaching, and living in the Riverbend region.
“I’m excited about the book. I’ve had so many people encourage me throughout the years to get a lot of these things published,” Mathenia said. “It’s all over the map, and that’s the way I like it. I think of something, I get an idea, I grab a piece of paper, and I just start writing stuff down. Some of it’s philosophical, a lot of it’s just funny.”
Mathenia’s first published poem — published by Blackburn College’s “The Vortex” literary and fine arts magazine when he was a student — is included in the book, all the way to his more recent reflections on life as a widow and drives down the River Road.
He was born in Pearl, Illinois, and lived there for two years until a major flash flood event in 1947, which destroyed his family’s home. There are several poems about his childhood in Pearl and then, after the flood, the family’s move to Staunton.
Mathenia has vivid memories of his childhood, including watching “Bambi” at the Pearl movie theater as a toddler and walking along the streets, which were paved with mussel shells. Mathenia joked that the “star of the book” is his dog, Snippy, his “buddy” who grew up alongside him. He expressed his hope that these memories of Pearl aren’t forgotten, even though the town has faded from the maps.
“A lot of the stories are centered around my growing up in Pike County. I was actually born in Pike County. My dad pastored a church in Pearl, Illinois,” Mathenia shared. “Pearl was actually a booming town at the time. There’s not much left of it now, but a lot of river towns that’s happened to…I hope that doesn’t get lost in the shuffle somewhere. That needs to be preserved.”
Mathenia went on to marry “the love of [his] life,” Rosetta, his high school sweetheart. He became a teacher in Carrollton and taught for almost 30 years, loving every minute.
“I loved teaching. I loved the students. That was my mission. It didn’t feel like work,” he remembered. “You definitely don’t go into teaching, especially when I did, to get wealthy. My first teaching job was $5,000 a year. That’s hard to believe now. But anyway, I loved it.”
Throughout all of this, Mathenia kept writing. He wrote several gospel songs and other lyrics that he performed at church and in secular settings, including, once, to a crowd of 2,000 people. His writing has served as a way for him to express emotions, capture memories, and, often, record humorous observations.
“There’s funny things, too, like a poem I wrote about turkey buzzards,” he said. “God bless the turkey buzzard, happiest critter I know. Floats around, eats dead stuff by the road. I mean, what a life, right?”
All of these poems, lyrics, artworks and more are available in Mathenia’s new book, which you can find on Amazon. He will also be offering book signings in Carrollton, Jerseyville, Grafton, Staunton, and other local towns throughout the summer, to be announced soon.
To purchase your own copy of “Love and Blood in the Heartland,” click here.
More like this:
