#1420 HannaLore Hein
Listening to America
Listening to America
4.6 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 8 December 2020
⏱️ 55 minutes
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Summary
We present a fascinating conversation with HannaLore Hein, who in 2019 became Idaho's first woman state historian. Clay Jenkinson and Hein discuss her duties as a state historian and talk about an author from Idaho, Vardis Fisher. His first novel, Mountain Men, was used as the basis for the 1972 film Jeremiah Johnson. His book, Suicide or Murder: The Strange Death of Meriwether Lewis, published in 1962, is regarded as starting the longstanding controversy over the death of Meriwether Lewis.
Find this episode, along with recommended reading, on the blog. Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc. You can learn more about Clay's cultural tours and retreats at jeffersonhour.com/tours. Check out our new merch. You can find Clay's publications on our website, along with a list of his favorite books on Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, and other topics. Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Good day Thomas Jefferson our podcast listeners and welcome to this week's episode and thank you so much for listening |
| 0:08.3 | Clay, do you want to tell him who we talked to this was so cool |
| 0:11.1 | So this is kind of like it's own little mystery so David the Cantery |
| 0:15.3 | Texts me a couple of weeks ago and says hey, you know who Vartus Fisher is don't you well of course Vartus Fisher wrote a |
| 0:22.2 | book that's |
| 0:23.2 | really |
| 0:24.6 | Amazingly influential. It's not even a good book, but he wrote a book in 1962 called suicide or murder the strange depth of Mary |
| 0:30.2 | Whether Lewis and it it changed the whole world of Lewis and Clark studies because he normalized the idea that it might have been murder |
| 0:36.2 | And so suddenly everyone starts down that path and today we still are fighting the murder theory off even though |
| 0:43.7 | There's no evidence for it because Fisher |
| 0:46.6 | At a very important time in the Lewis Clark world sort of seeded this idea and it's been it's it's it's sort of |
| 0:53.6 | Rattles around the Lewis and Clark world to to this moment and so |
| 0:58.7 | The Cantery said there's this young woman named Hannah Laurie |
| 1:02.0 | Hein and she's apparently the state historian of Idaho. I don't know if you've ever heard of her |
| 1:06.1 | And I said no, I didn't even know there were state historians and season contact her |
| 1:09.9 | She and he said I'm gonna send you her newsletter because in in their newsletter |
| 1:13.7 | She writes about Vartus Fisher and I said well, that's interesting. What does she say about him? |
| 1:18.1 | And he said well among other things he committed suicide |
| 1:22.2 | anyway |
| 1:23.8 | Strange and it's sad very sad and so I contacted her and then it turned out when I looked her up as you did |
| 1:30.1 | She was a student of the great Patricia Limerick was one of my favorite people in the world |
| 1:34.4 | We're dear friends and so we're off and running we're friends now and she agreed to come on and we did this today on zoom for the first time you and I |
... |
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