This is topic I feel stupid for asking this, but . . . in forum Discussions About Orson Scott Card at Hatrack River Forum.


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Posted by Verily the Younger (Member # 6705) on :
 
Is there a real-life counterpart for the Hatrack River? (The river, not the website.) I know what the Wobbish and the Hio and the Mizzipy are supposed to be, but there doesn't seem to be any real river called the Hatrack. So was this a re-naming of an existing river, or is the river itself fictional?
 

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Posted by Sartorius (Member # 7696) on :
 
In my secret mind I call Raccoon Creek, which skirts my home and floods the township road every few weeks, the Hatrack River. It doesn't swallow people , though, it leaves that to the driveway.
 

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Posted by Orson Scott Card (Member # 209) on :
 
I deliberately placed it in eastern Ohio where there are many small rivers flowing south into the Ohio River, but none that fits exactly the description of Hatrack River. Madeup place, and an area that had no big towns at all - too mountainous, too hard to farm.
 

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Posted by Edgehopper (Member # 1716) on :
 
Youngstown, home of the second most insane Democrat in modern times (Jim Traficant), is probably the closest decent sized town. It's kind of funny that none of the modern Ohio cities exist in the series...
 

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Posted by Telperion the Silver (Member # 6074) on :
 
Lake Woebegone.
 

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Posted by Sartorius (Member # 7696) on :
 
There are mountains here in Ohio?
 

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Posted by Goo Boy (Member # 7752) on :
 
Say, Verily, thats an awfully fangirlish screen name . . .
 

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Posted by Verily the Younger (Member # 6705) on :
 
Quiet, you.

Okay, now that I know the Hatrack is fictional, the inevitable follow-up question: What made you decide to call it the "Hatrack"? Is there a fascinating story behind that, or is it just some random word you chose for the sound instead of the meaning? Like "Dada"?
 

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Posted by Orson Scott Card (Member # 209) on :
 
I liked the idea of a river that gave off tributaries in an alternating left-right pattern so it would look like a hatrack on a map. And thought it would be a fun name for a place named by American pioneers.

Yeah, Youngstown is closest on that side of the river.

Carthage City is exactly on the site of Cincinnati.
 

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Posted by Don Driscoll (Member # 4488) on :
 
Hmmm... I was born in Youngstown and I never though of it as a potential Hatrack (My mom went to school with Trafficant, by the way). Maybe I know too much about the town as it exists now. I guess it's claim as a "large" city ended when the Steel industry left in the 70s. The suburbs around Youngstown (where I grew up) are very nice now, by the way. I've always thought of it as being in Kirtland, OH given the early history of the Mormon Church there.

I also agree with Sartorius - mountains in Ohio?

-Don
 

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Posted by RedHddBoy (Member # 7561) on :
 
My father-in-law owns a farm in Eastern Ohio, southeast of Zanesville. I rather imagine it to be alot like the English countryside. It really couldn't be described as 'mountainous'. But the hilly, dirt roads are enough to stir up some motion sickness. There are tons of streams and hills and smaller sized farms tucked into quaint little valleys. OSC paints a perfect picture of the area. Though I prefer my Boston-area home.
 

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Posted by HesterGray (Member # 7384) on :
 
Hooray for Youngstown! (I have to cheer. I go to Youngstown State!)


 

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Posted by Dead_Horse (Member # 3027) on :
 

quote:

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I deliberately placed it in eastern Ohio where there are many small rivers flowing south into the Ohio River, but none that fits exactly the description of Hatrack River. Madeup place, and an area that had no big towns at all - too mountainous, too hard to farm

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