Rory Martin - Rural Citizen Online Bookstore
Rory Martin was born and bred in Memphis, Tennessee. Convinced that the Memphis
school system was not up to par, Rory's parents moved the family to Batesville,
Mississippi, just before Rory began high school. In spite of the elder Martins' good
intentions, Rory says that his education, like that of so many young Southerners, was
influenced heavily by distorted Yankee views of history and Southern culture. As a result,
Rory ignored his Southern heritage and culture (as so many other young Southerners are
doing these days) until finally coming head to head with it in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
"Several years ago" states Rory, "I was invited to a conference
in Harrisonburg, Virginia, called the Davis Conference, in honor of [CSA president
Jefferson Davis] birthday. One of the speakers was a rather reticent gentlemen named Dr.
Michael Hill, who was president of an organization called the Southern League. What he had
to say really got me to thinking about my own heritage, culture and history, and I became
interested in doing and learning more."
Out of Rory's burning desire to learn about and study the true history of the
South, the Rural Citizen Online Bookstore was born. Rory quickly realized that there were
very few reliable sources of information dealing with Southern heritage, history, and
culture and decided to do what he could to remedy the situation. He and his wife Carol
went on line with the Rural Citizen in March of 1996. "While this doesn't pay the
house-note, it is gradually progressing," says Rory. The Martins have recently begun
to advertise in some of the larger magazines about the War Between the States in order to
reach a wider audience.
In September of 1996, only a few short years after first learning about the
Southern League, Rory was asked to be chairman of the Virginia organization. Under his
leadership, Maryland and West Virginia have been added to the territory covered by the
Southern League of Virginia and the State newsletter, The Virginia Patriot, began
publication. The second annual Southern Heritage Conference was held in Roanoke, Virginia,
and Rory is already making plans to expand next year's event to a full-day affair.
Virginia residents for the past three years, Rory and Carol live with their
daughter Charity on seven acres outside of Front Royal.
Rory considers it an honor to be part of the Dixieland Ring. "I feel that
groups of Like-minded Southrons coming together in this way is one of the keys to success
in restoring the South and its people" says Rory with an emphatic "God Save the
South!"
We here at the Dixieland Ring naturally agree with Rory Martin.
A personal note . . .
Back in July of '96, (it seems much longer ago than that), I started my personal homepage
"Southern Country." I didn't know that there were any Southern sites on the
Internet. I was searching for a midi file of "Dixie." Dixie Net popped up. I
wrote to George Kalas and he mentioned my site on Dixie Net. What an honor! There were not
so many Southern sites at the time. The next morning I had a letter from Rory Martin. Rory
introduced himself and informed me that he had installed a link on his page to Southern
Country. This was a great honor for me. Rory was one of the first sites to respond when
the Dixieland Ring was started. I respect and admire Rory Martin and I'm sure you will
too.
Jack B. Harris
