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 <pre><code>Photo of John Rupkey by Gerty Tonjum</code></pre>
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 John Rupkey is a philosopher, rabble rouser, and the unofficial history keeper of Wolf Spider Island’s past. After years spent as a Christian Brother, he came out as gay, found community on the island, and became a central figure in the fight to save the Latsch Island boathouses. <a href="https://www.backchannelradio.org/episodes/episode-02-extra-song-of-myself">Listen to John Rupkey read a poem by Walt Whitman that helped inspire his pseudonym.</a><h3>BONUS MATERIAL:</h3>

Photo of John Rupkey by Gerty Tonjum John Rupkey is a philosopher, rabble rouser, and the unofficial history keeper of Wolf Spider Island’s past. After years spent as a Christian Brother, he came out as gay, found community on the island, and became a central figure in the fight to save the Latsch Island boathouses. Listen to John Rupkey read a poem by Walt Whitman that helped inspire his pseudonym.BONUS MATERIAL:

Photo of John Rupkey by Gerty Tonjum
 
 
 
 
 

 
 


 











 John Rupkey is a philosopher, rabble rouser, and the unofficial history keeper of Wolf Spider Island’s past. After years spent as a Christian Brother, he came out as gay, found community on the island, and became a central figure in the fight to save the Latsch Island boathouses. <a href="https://www.backchannelradio.org/episodes/episode-02-extra-song-of-myself" rel="noopener noreferrer">Listen to John Rupkey read a poem by Walt Whitman that helped inspire his pseudonym.</a>BONUS MATERIAL:

Episode 02: The Gospel According To John

Back Channel Radio is a storytelling project committed to preserving and sharing oral histories from beyond the mainstream. This first season, “A Wolf Spider Island Story,” chronicles the legal battles a group of river rats had to wage to keep their small boathouse community on the Mississippi River afloat.

Society & Culture

Documentary

History

Places & Travel

Back Channel Radio is a storytelling project committed to preserving and sharing oral histories from beyond the mainstream. This first season, “A Wolf Spider Island Story,” chronicles the legal battles a group of river rats had to wage to keep their small boathouse community on the Mississippi River afloat.

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Episode 02: The Gospel According To John

Episode 02: The Gospel According To John