THE SF CHRON of 26 February featured a front-page story on Boontling called “Famous Last Words — Boontling speakers sad to see celebrated local dialect fade away.” And, above the fold, a color photo of our very own Rod DeWitt with an explanatory caption reading, “Rod DeWitt says his goodbyes to his friends at the Redwood Drive-In in Boonville. At 54, DeWitt is the youngest of a group of pals who gather regularly to shoot the breeze in the town’s old Boontling dialect.” Much of the story by Kevin Fagan quotes Wes Smoot harpin’ (speaking) Boont and goes on to say Smoot, beginning his eighth decade, is one of only 11 persons fluent in the lingo. Three Bay Area radio stations immediately called your beloved community newspaper for Smoot’s home phone number and, from what I can gather, the affable Boonville retiree, a show biz natural, was soon harpin’ Boont to the brightlighters (city folks).
For login info, please check your email after signing up. If it's not there, check your spam folder. If it's still not there, e-mail us.
Rather pay with a check? No problem— e-mail and let us know.
Or, sign in here if you're already a subscriber.