Marideth Sisco obit

Former Quill reporter, 'These Ozarks Hills' host Marideth Sisco dies at 82

 

She was not on the list.

Marideth Sisco, Missouri Master Storyteller, author, musician, and longtime West Plains Daily Quill reporter and columnist, has died at age 82.

The death was confirmed to the Quill on Monday morning by close friends.

Sisco was also known for her radio commentary, “These Ozarks Hills,” aired on KSMU, and her work with Blackberry Winter on the soundtrack of the 2010 blockbuster film, “Winter’s Bone.” The movie was based off a novel by another noteworthy West Plains author, Daniel Woodrell, who died in November.

A full tribute celebrating Sisco’s life and legacy will be printed in an upcoming issue of the Quill.

Sisco and her music were featured in the Oscar-nominated film Winter's Bone. In 2023 she was a featured artist at the 2023 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, where she performed both in song and as a storyteller.

Sisco was born in Missouri on June 15, 1943, to Marguerite Elenor (Gentry) Sisco (1920–1966) and Paul Holtz Sisco (1923–1966). Her interest in music started when she was three and a great uncle taught and encouraged her to sing. Her family moved frequently when she was young, including time spent in Kansas, Washington state, Montana and California. As she grew older she became tired of moving around and returned to live with her grandmother in Butterfield, graduating from high school in Cassville, Missouri in 1961.

After high school, Sisco attended Missouri State University (then known as Southwest Missouri State College) in Springfield, Missouri, where she studied performance and orchestration. But she left before finishing a degree after being told that as a woman she would not be successful in the field and was instead encouraged to switch to music education.

In 1965, Sisco left the Ozarks and moved to California, where she hoped to break into the music business as a singer, but lack of success and a hand injury that left her unable to play guitar derailed that goal. In 1976 she left California, helping her aunt and ailing uncle return to Missouri, but with the intention of moving back west, which she never did.

After returning to Missouri, Sisco received a BFA from Missouri State University and later an MA from Antioch University. She also began a 20-year career as a journalist at the West Plains Quill in West Plains, Missouri, where she worked as an investigative and environmental writer. She also authored the "Crosspatch" gardening column.

Upon her retirement from journalism in 2005, she returned to songwriting.

Currently, Sisco hosts "These Ozark Hills," a local culture and folklore radio program on Ozarks Public Radio at KSMU-FM, which is based out of Missouri State University. As a singer, she performs both solo and with The Blackberry Winter Band.

Through a chance encounter at a singing party, Sisco was involved in the Oscar-nominated 2010 film Winter's Bone, based on the book by Daniel Woodrell. In the film's production she served as a musical consultant and singer, as well as appearing in the film as a singer. Her scene in the film was written specifically to feature her singing.

Sisco also contributed to the film by singing "The Missouri Waltz" for its opening scenes, though she reworked it to remove racist language from the song. Following the release of the film she toured with the Blackberry Winter Band to promote the soundtrack, referring to it as Amazing Geriatric Hillbilly tour. They played in 27 cities in the United States and Canada.