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West Virginia native and country music legend “Little” Jimmy Dickens has died at the age of 94. According to a press release from The Grand Ole Opry, Dickens passed away Friday afternoon as a result of cardiac arrest following a stroke he suffered on Christmas Day.
Born in Bolt, West Virginia on December 19, 1920, Dickens would go on to be the longest running member of The Grand Ole Opry. He first performed on the show in 1948 and last played on December 20, 2014–just a day after his 94th birthday.
“The Grand Ole Opry did not have a better friend than Little Jimmy Dickens,” said Pete Fisher, Opry Vice President & General Manager through a news release on the show’s website Friday evening. “He loved the audience and his Opry family, and all of us loved him back. He was a one-of-kind entertainer and a great soul whose spirit will live on for years to come.”
Dickens was well known for his diminutive size, rhinestone suits, 10-gallon hats – and ZANY novelty songs. Some of those included “Take an Old Cold Tater and Wait,” and “May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose.”
He was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1983 and inducted into the first class of the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame in 2007.
You can watch a West Virginia Public Broadcasting interview with Dickens from his West Virginia Music Hall of Fame induction below:
Country music icons, including fellow West Virginia native Brad Paisley, shared their thoughts on the loss of Dickens on social media as news of his passing began to spread:
It is with a heavy heart that I say goodbye to my hero and friend today. I loved you Jimmy.
— Brad Paisley (@BradPaisley) January 3, 2015
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This week, when an award-winning Asheville chef decided to launch a restaurant, she returned to a rich community tradition. Also, the popularity of weaving waxes and wanes. At the moment, it’s having a renaissance. And, during Lent, Yugoslavian fish stew is a local favorite in Charleston, West Virginia.
Continue Reading Take Me to More NewsWVPB had a conversation with Us & Them host Trey Kay earlier this week on the significance today of the 250th anniversary of America’s founding. This week, WVPB is hosting a special screening event at Marshall University with excerpts from Ken Burns’ The American Revolution, and Kay will lead a panel discussion. We once again hear from Kay, this time speaking with one of the panelists — Marshall University political science professor George Davis — about why revisiting the nation’s founding story still matters.
Continue Reading Take Me to More NewsWVPB will be screening excerpts of Ken Burns’ recent PBS documentary series "The American Revolution" this week at Marshall. Us & Them host Trey Kay will moderate the event, and he spoke recently with WVPB News Director Eric Douglas about why revisiting the nation’s founding story matters today. Also, a bill to temporarily delay moving a child to homeschooling during an active case of abuse or neglect hit a snag in the Senate on Monday.
Continue Reading Take Me to More NewsOne of America’s pioneering filmmakers had nothing to do with Hollywood but nevertheless left his mark on the emerging industry. Oscar Micheaux was a homesteader, who then turned his attention to making movies in the early 1900s. He was a Black man who made movies for Black audiences at a time when they weren’t allowed into mainstream, white-only theaters. And for several pivotal years in the 1920s, he operated out of Roanoke, Virginia.
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