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General discussion

Southern Illinois--Well, actually, Molly ...

Nov 20, 2007 8:49PM PST

Oh, Molly, sweet, kind, lovable, ranting, raving, suffer-no-fools, Molly, you're making the same mistake many out-of-staters make when thinking of Illinois: You're thinking of Chicago--much to the downstate Illinoisans chagrin and ire.

No the Downstaters will be the first to tell you--with a southern drawl--that Chicago is not the be-all end-all of Illinois. Take a look at a US map. Illinois extends further south than West Virginia and almost as further south than Virginia, Missouri and Kentucky. Drive an hour or two (tho not in "rush" traffic) south (or west even) of Chicago and the area gets quite rural.

Tom's southern Illinois accent was quite correct.

-- Ken from Chicago (where we have no accent, well, except for recent visitors and a few Southsiders)

Discussion is locked

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First hand expereince...
Nov 20, 2007 9:03PM PST

Ken is dead on...I lived in Marion, IL for a number of years (through high school) and let me tell you, they like to think they are further south then Mississippi. Accent is correct, and they have all the "southern" values that other states below the Mason-Dixon line have. Once you get south of Champaign, things change drastically.

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Marion - former home of Pete Rose
Nov 21, 2007 6:35AM PST

He was in the prison there I believe.

Yep, I too can back up these observations on my homeland. But then, I did say them on the show.

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Really?
Nov 21, 2007 9:40AM PST

I'd be surprised if he was there, as the Marion pen is a pretty high security prison. I wouldn't think they would send tax evasion folks there, but who knows.

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Pete Rose
Dec 14, 2010 2:04PM PST

I lived about a mile from where Pete was incarcerated at Marion Federal Penitentiary.
He was in what I have heard referred to as the "trustee camp", a minimum security camp on the prison grounds.
I heard a story about him visiting Helen's, a local bar and liquor store while living there, but I don't have any corroboration for that story.

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Interesting to travel north to south . . .
Nov 21, 2007 8:39AM PST

I lived in Winthrop Harbor, on the border with Wisconsin, and on a few occasions would travel down the full length of the state. It really was amazing to pull over at a gas station in the southern parts and suddenly hear an accent!