The legendary blogger and social commentator “Ol’ Remus” of the Yer Ol’ Woodpile Report passed away in July, 2020. His wife had passed away just a few weeks earlier. Now that nearly five years have elapsed, I think that it is high time to post a proper acknowledgment and requiem. This is especially for the benefit of SurvivalBlog’s newcomers, who may not have heard of him. “Ol’ Remus” was of course a nom de plume. Among other things, he was preparedness-minded. On that topic, he had these terse and oft-quoted words: “Stay away from crowds.” With operational security (OPSEC) in mind, he posted very little about his own family preparedness measures.
Yer Ol’ Woodpile Report was an old-school and mostly solo blog that was first posted sporadically, and later posted weekly. His true identity has never been publicly revealed. In an e-mail to me, he mentioned that he did in fact resemble the North Carolina man in a cotton mill, pictured above. That 1936 photo was by Arthur Rothstein. Ol’ Remus used a colorized version of a detail from that photo at the top of his blog template, with: “Ol’ Remus has a few words for you”:
The wit and wisdom of Ol’ Remus were remarkable. He had a deliciously dry sense of humor. Most of his observations were cogent and many of his predictions were quite accurate.
Mostly Archived
Thankfully, more than half of his blog posts are still archived on a website maintained by his family. But that archive is slightly hidden. I believe that he wanted only the diligent to find it. The archive is not keyword searchable, but you can scroll through it sequentially starting with post #405, in 2015. Post #631 — the last, in July, 2020 — was a brief obituary posted by his family. Additionally, some blog issues dating back to 2010 are available via snapshots in The Internet Wayback Machine.
His blog’s banner billed itself as: “Politics and Palaver; Science and Politics.” He delivered all of those, and more. Ol’ Remus was a sharp-witted observer of societal trends, often keyed to historical precedents — with some dating back to ancient Babylon. He had a keen graphic eye, and his blog posts were often punctuated with period photographs and magazine advertisements, mostly from the 1920s to the 1940s. Ol’ Remus had a compact and exacting writing style. He didn’t waste words. Nor did he pull any punches. His blog posts were always letter-perfect. I suspect that his wife was his editor. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that he once teased me about my sloppy overuse of sentences set in parentheses. Touché.
I only have one proviso for those who wish to plumb the depths of the Woodpile Report blog archives: Don’t begin reading it at 10 PM, or you’ll be up until dawn. It is quite captivating reading.
A Well-Read Man
Although he put on humble and self-deprecating “Aw-Shucks” airs, the depth of his scientific background was self-evident. The range of his knowledge was amazing. For example, we had a long-running string of correspondence via e-mail on particle physics and gravitational waves. I had mentioned both my father Donald Robert Rawles, who was involved in practical research on the former using cyclotrons and linear accelerators, and my niece Danielle Marie Rawles Wuchenich who is an expert in the latter, developing space-based laser interferometry. Our correspondence on this began just after news broke about the first successful LIGO test, in September, 2015.
Ol’ Remus was also very well-studied in history, sociology, and mechanical engineering. His knowledge spanned the gamut: steam locomotive engines, ballistics, henhouse construction, resistance warfare, radial aircraft engines, woods-walking, quantum physics, and a host of other subjects. It may sound clichéd, but he was a genuine Renaissance Man.
The Paintings
One striking feature of his Yer Ol’ Woodpile Report blog was the inclusion of uncopyrighted pre-1920s artworks. He very carefully gathered and color-corrected the best examples that he could find. With most of those, he posted brief biographical summaries of the artists. Because he put so much time into curating them, I’ve recently begun reposting these paintings in SurvivalBlog. I’m giving credit where credit is due: Those are the result of many hours of work by Ol’ Remus, not my own.
Quoting Him
With the help of my readers, I also plan to post some of the memorable quotes from Ol’ Remus. Please e-mail me your favorites, and I will post them as SurvivalBlog Quotes Of The Day. I’ll start off with this one:
“Things are rarely what they seem. Records confirm the Bolshevik leaders were on Germany’s payroll during World War I in a sort of “work release program”, their mission was to bring down the Czar and take Russia out of the war, which they did… Much has been made of England and its allies’ failure to declare war on both the Soviet Union and Germany. It suggests World War II in Europe was a contest between National Socialism and International Socialism, and the Western Allies made their choice. All this, and the propaganda from both sides, would lead a reasonable person to conclude ideology was the driving force of the war. It was no such thing. The wars in Europe and the Pacific were about what wars are always about, control of peoples and resources. The socialist wave crested during the years between [1919 and 1939]. These were years of unending crisis, each more dire than the one before, each nudging the hapless populace of Europe closer to a decisive catastrophe…” – Ol’ Remus, Yer Ol’ Woodpile Report: The Sting, September 23, 2014.
In the left bar of his blog site, Ol’ Remus posted this Policy proviso:
“Ol’ Remus offers his opinions as-is, where is. He rarely cites support for his opinions so they are, in that sense, unwarranted. He comes by them largely by having lived and watched and listened rather than by argument or persuasion. His opinions, not having been arrived at by debate are, therefore, not particularly vulnerable to debate. He entertains opposing opinion but he feels no inclination, much less obligation, to discuss or defend his own. Whatever usefulness or amusement readers may find in them is their own business.
Woodpile Report is from the Hermetic School of websites. There is no advertising, no partnerships, log-ins, popups, subscriptions, print version, Disqus, feedback section, tip jar or shop. There are no trackers, cookies, LSOs, analytics or widgets. Posted links are cleansed of superfluous identifiers…”
He indeed had no advertisers. There was just one fictitious ad posted on his blog page, with no link:
In the blog’s left-hand bar, this gem was enshrined:
Liberalspeak
You’re about to be lied to by a Liberal when they say …
growing support for
mounting opposition to
the reality is
the larger question is
the more important question is
the bigger issue is
broader implications
our nation’s children
linked to
touched by
raising awareness
on some level
a new study shows
in denial
marginalized
the American People
sends a message
reaching out
inappropriate
off our streets
history shows
the failed …
arguably
greater diversity
disenfranchised
people of color
insensitivity
social injustice
cycle of poverty
most vulnerable
disproportionately
economically disadvantaged
disparate impact
oppressed minorities
the struggle for
solidarity with
outreach
shared values
root cause
working families
underserved populations
diverse backgrounds
vibrant community
too many
too often
assistance
give back
a positive step
positive outcome
non-partisan, non-profit
speaking truth to power
making a difference
statistics show
emerging consensus
a poll by the highly respected
reaffirm our commitment to
voicing concern
are speaking out
giving voice to
empower
enhance
making bad choices
have issues
divisive
inclusive environment
common-sense laws
Though it was much in vogue at the time, Ol’ Remus did not post a blogroll. But at the bottom of his blog’s right-hand bar, Ol’ Remus kindly linked and designated SurvivalBlog as: “The gold standard of survival sites.” Coming from him, I consider that the highest compliment that I’ve ever received.
A Truth-Teller
Ol’ Remus had a gift for encapsulating truths. Sometimes these were bold and forthright truths that hitherto had just been heard as the whispers of others. For example, he wrote:
“Middle class America is no less violent than any other people. They seem passive because they’re results oriented. They rise not out of blood frenzy but to solve the otherwise insoluble. Their methods of choice are good will, cooperation, forbearance, negotiation and finally, appeasement, roughly in that order. Only when these fail to end the abuse do they revert to blowback. And they do so irretrievably. Once the course is set and the outcome defined, doubt is put aside. The middle class is known, condemned actually, for carrying out violence with the efficiency of an industrial project where bloody destruction at any scale is not only in play, it’s a metric. Remorse is left for the next generation, they’ll have the leisure for it. We’d like to believe this is merely dark speculation. History says it isn’t.”
In summary, I’d say that Ol’ Remus had a blog that was nothing short of an American anthem.
It was an honor to be his acquaintance. He is greatly missed. I urge my readers to take the time to dig into the archives of Yer Ol’ Woodpile Report. – JWR