Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Tim Queeney

@timqueeney.bsky.social

10K followers 12K following 280 posts

Writer w/nonfiction book “Rope” from St. Martin’s Press. Order Bit.ly/RopeBook & from Icon Books in the UK Bit.ly/4lons7H Painting dilettante. That annoying night sky fan always pointing out the Big Dipper. Gulf of Mexico. www.timqueeney.com

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Tim Queeney @timqueeney.bsky.social · 23h

Porter Square Books is at 1815 Mass Ave in Cambridge. PorterSquareBooks.com The book cover cookie is by the amazing cookie artist minibookwellington. Follow her on Instagram for more examples of her incredible artistry.
#ropebook stmartinspress.bsky.social

Tim Queeney @timqueeney.bsky.social · 23h

Come to the fabulous Porter Square Books in Cambridge Mass for my conversation with journalist Carol Hills about my book Rope on Wednesday Oct. 8 @ 7 pm. There will also be rope demonstrations and a book cover cookie giveaway! See the next post for a great combo of 2 things I love: books & cookies!

1 1

Reposted by Tim Queeney

Melissa Jo Peltier @melissjpeltier.bsky.social · 3d

Buy my friend @timqueeney.bsky.social fascinating new book, ROPE. There were germs, guns & steel…but rope was foundational to human civilization too!
www.barnesandnoble.com/w/rope-tim-q...

1 2 14

Tim Queeney @timqueeney.bsky.social · 3d

Taylor Swift grasps the significance of rope! For her "The Life of A Showgirl" album, she posed backstage at a Broadway theater in a rope dress! Now her fans will be buying rope, learning knots & reading Rope the book(or at least buying it for their dads!😉) #ropebook stmartinspress.bksy.social

Taylor Swift posing backstage at a theater wearing a rope dress.

2 1 7

Reposted by Tim Queeney

Anti-Fascist Collective… @wtafc.bsky.social · 4d

220 1.5K 3K

Tim Queeney @timqueeney.bsky.social · 4d

The Trump clown show.

Tim Queeney @timqueeney.bsky.social · 5d

My interview on Jonathan Crain’s Substack. He asked great questions and I tried to come up with some good answers! #ropebook stmartinspress.bsky.social

open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

The Threads That Bind Civilization: An Interview with Author Tim Queeney

Tim Queeney’s father left behind more than memories—he left a knot.

open.substack.com

Tim Queeney @timqueeney.bsky.social · 7d

Had a great chat with host Carolyn Beeler on the radio show (and podcast!) “The World” about my nonfiction book Rope and rope’s long and surprising history! Theworld.org/segments/2025/09/30/the-long-and-surprising-history-of-rope
#ropebook stmartinspress.bsky.social

A program page for the World radio program and a segment on the history of rope

Tim Queeney @timqueeney.bsky.social · 9d

Petey loves to wear his USA handkerchief (which he blows his snot into - how insulting to the USA!) in a way to suggest military service medals. Fraudsters will fraud.

Reposted by Tim Queeney

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 17d

👀

230 1.8K 5K

Tim Queeney @timqueeney.bsky.social · 19d

Had a fun conversation with Tommy Mischke on the GarageLogic podcast about sailing, not fishing(!) and, of course, my book Rope!
At garagelogic.com/episode/rope/

StMartins.bsky.social

Rope – Garage Logic

Mischke talks cowboy tornados, organic dating, and big biker gals. He also dives into the listener phone directory, and then ends the show with the book, "Rope,

garagelogic.com

Tim Queeney @timqueeney.bsky.social · 19d

Thanks, Melissa, for the great shoutout for Rope! @melissjpeltier.bsky.social

Melissa Jo Peltier @melissjpeltier.bsky.social · 20d

My friend @timqueeney.bsky.social’s new book, ROPE is ready for preorder- check out the NYT review!

IF TIM QUEENEY'S "Rope" were a movie, it would be a spinoff — an attempt to elevate a sidekick to a starring role. Queeney argues that modern society fails to appreciate how vital cordage was to the rise of civilization, and "Rope" begs us to pay more attention to his favorite character.Humankind has fashioned rope from pretty much everything at some point in history: hemp, honeysuckle, coconut husks, milkweed, walrus hide, pig bristles.
(Nowadays, there's also metal "rope.")
And while some uses are obvious, rope also acts as a multiplier that enhances the power of other tools.
"It was rope that
made the spear a thing," Queeney notes, by allowing us to bind stone points to wooden shafts. "Without rope, humanity would be stuck with throwing rocks at its prey." The oldest known scrap of rope, dating back 50,000 years, was braided by Neander-thals.
Since then, rope has been a bit of a Zelig, popping up for dozens of important historical developments. Rope fishing nets have harvested the seas for millenniums. They powered the sails of ships during the Age
of Exploration. No pyramids or cathedrals would reach toward the heavens without ropes to hoist blocks. The Incas used knotted ropes to record written language, as did other cultures. Even the Boston Massa-cre, a spark for the American Revolution, began as a skirmish in a rope-making shop near Boston Harbor:
It's an impressive résumé, but Queeney gets a bit huffy that history books don't make rope the headliner: "It was everywhere in every society, but taken as such a basic element that when pyramids are the topic, stones are the focus.When the topic
is "the history of ships sailing the world, spices and empires capture the debate." Well, yes. Has anyone ever watched a frigate glide by or gazed upon Khufu's monumental tomb and marveled over all the ropes required? Not every actor can be the romantic lead.
Rope only really gets top billing in its darker applications - when it's used to whip, torture or lynch people. I w…

ROPE
How a Bundle of Twisted Fibers
Became the Backbone of Civilization
TIM QUEENEY
For 3 Days Only!
February 5th-7th
25% Off!
WITH CODE: PREORDER25

1 4

Reposted by Tim Queeney

George Conway 👊🇺🇸🔥 @gtconway.bsky.social · 22d

280 1K 3.2K

Reposted by Tim Queeney

George Conway 👊🇺🇸🔥 @gtconway.bsky.social · 24d

440 10K 29K

Tim Queeney @timqueeney.bsky.social · 24d

A twist of fate, indeed! My nonfiction book Rope is reviewed in the Sunday New York Times Book Review! #ropebook
StMartinsPress.bsky.social
NYTimes.bsky.social

New York Times review of the nonfiction book Rope on September 14, 2025

Reposted by Tim Queeney

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · Sep 8

There are between one and two billion cars on the world's roads today; central to the control of all of them is the steering wheel. But as @timqueeney.bsky.social explains, the steering wheel evolved well away from any highway. It first appeared in the Enlightenment as a way to steer vessels at sea👇

The Symbol of the Open Road Was Born at Sea - Unseen Histories

Tim Queeney, author of the book Rope, explains the history behind the steering wheel.

www.unseenhistories.com

1 2

Tim Queeney @timqueeney.bsky.social · Sep 7

Book signing on Martha’s Vineyard! Come to Edgartown Books on Tuesday, Sept. 9 and get your copy of Rope signed and let me know your favorite knot! #RopeBook EdgartownBooks.bsky.social stmartinspress.bsky.social

Tim Queeney @timqueeney.bsky.social · Sep 4

The iconic automobile steering wheel born at sea? Iconbooks.bksy.social

www.unseenhistories.com/the-history-...

The Symbol of the Open Road Was Born at Sea - Unseen Histories

Tim Queeney, author of the book Rope, explains the history behind the steering wheel.

www.unseenhistories.com

Reposted by Tim Queeney

Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · Sep 1

Platner: No one cares that you pretend to be remorseful as you sell out to lobbyists. Symbolic opposition does not reopen hospitals. Weak condemnations do not bring back Roe V Wade. Maine deserves better than Susan Collins.

590 7.1K 28K

Tim Queeney @timqueeney.bsky.social · Sep 1

Thanks, Maine readers! Rope takes the top spot in the Portland Press Herald’s nonfiction bestseller list for August 31. #ropebook
Longfellowbooks.bsky.social
StMartinsPress.bsky.social

Reposted by Tim Queeney

Mrs. Betty Bowers @mrsbettybowers.bsky.social · Aug 29

SARAH PALIN: "There are going to be death panels!"

RFK JR: "Technically, it's just me."

160 2.3K 11K

Reposted by Tim Queeney

Brendan O'Meara @brendanomeara.bsky.social · Aug 27

Very nice of the author @timqueeney.bsky.social to write this kind and insightful review of "The Front Runner."

He's got a really cool book out called "Rope," and I'm eager AF to read it and speak with him about it.

timqueeney.com/more-than-ju...

More Than Just a Sports Biography | Tim Queeney

Most sporting stories have a lifetime. A decade or maybe two after an athlete leaves the field or the court or the track, the memory of their exploits fades until only the historians of that sport are...

timqueeney.com

1 2

Reposted by Tim Queeney

Dan ain't Q @danaintq.bsky.social · Aug 24

Kid Rock: I will no longer sell my music in California.

Scott Baio: I will no longer act in California.

Governor Newsom: My policies are working.

1.2K 4.6K 32K

Tim Queeney @timqueeney.bsky.social · Aug 24

Be sure to catch my appearance on the 207 TV show talking about Rope. Rob Caldwell interviews me on the deck of the cutter Frances www.mainesailingadventures.net.
Broadcast on WCSH Portland & WLBZ Bangor tomorrow, Aug. 25 @ 7pm. Or stream it: www.newscentermaine.com/207

StMartinsPress.bksy.social

Tim Queeney @timqueeney.bsky.social · Aug 21

Viva la vida.