[percy-l] The Walker Percy Weekend: Presenting the Presenters (June 3-5)

Henry Mills wppdirector at gmail.com
Wed May 11 13:10:50 EDT 2016


Dear Percy-L:

For those interested in the upcoming Walker Percy Weekend scheduled for 
the first weekend in June, here is information about the speakers and 
panelists.  Tickets are still available. See www.walkerpercyweekend.org 
for up-to-date materials.

Best wishes,

Henry Mills
Percy-L Administrator
Great Minds: Presenting the Presenters
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	FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE. MAY 10, 2016
For more information contact Missy Couhig | (504) 427-0421 | 
admin at walkerpercyweekend.org 
<mailto:admin at walkerpercyweekend.org?subject=Festival%20query>

*Presenting the Presenters*
*JUNE 3—5, 2016
ST. FRANCISVILLE, LOUISIANA*

In the one hundredth anniversary year of his birth, the Walker Percy 
Weekend welcomes renowned scholars from around the country to deliver 
lectures and panel discussions in atmospheric locations around St. 
Francisville's historic district.

*PRESENTERS AND KEYNOTE SPEAKERS*




*Jason Berry (*Walker Percy & Catholicism in the South*)***is a New 
Orleans author and documentary producer, renowned for his pioneering 
coverage of the Catholic Church crisis. /Vows of Silence/, Berry's 2004 
book with Gerald Renner, led to Pope Benedict’s demotion of one of the 
most powerful priests in Rome. In 2011 he published /Render unto Rome: 
The Secret Life of Money in the Catholic Church/, which won Best Book 
Award from Investigative Reporters and Editors. In 2014, he was 
co-producer of Frontline’s PBS release, “Secrets of the Vatican.”

*Ralph C. Wood* (Dostoyevsky and Percy) is University Professor of 
Theology and Literature at Baylor University. He focuses his scholarship 
on the cultural intersection of religion and literature. Among his books 
is /Flannery O'Connor and the Christ-Haunted South/). He spoke at the 
2014 Walker Percy Weekend on the worldview of William Alexander Percy.

*Patrick Samway, S.J.* (Walker Percy & Catholicism in the South)is a 
Roman Catholic priest and professor at St. Joseph's University in 
Philadelphia.  He is author of 1997's /Walker Percy: A Life/, the 
authorized biography of the novelist.

*Matthew Sitman* (Walker Percy & Politics)is an associate editor of 
/Commonweal/ magazine. Prior to joining Commonweal, he was the literary 
editor of /The Dish/, and taught political theory and American politics 
at the University of Virginia. He lives in Manhattan.

*Mary McCay* (The Moviegoer at 50)received her PhD in English and 
American literature from Tufts University. A distinguished professor 
emerita of English, she is the author of books on Rachel Carson and 
Ellen Gilchrist. She was the first director of the Walker Percy Center 
for Writing and Publishing.

*Jessica Hooten Wilson* (The Moviegoer at 50)is the associate honors 
director at John Brown University. She has published articles on 
Flannery O’Connor and Walker Percy and currently has two book 
manuscripts on O’Connor and Percy under review. She received a Fulbright 
Fellowship to teach U.S. southern culture for Charles University’s 
graduate program in American studies in Prague in 2014.

*Christopher R. Harris (*Adventures Between Daylight and Dark*)* For 
over twenty-five years Harris worked as a freelance photojournalist for 
major news media worldwide, documenting the news of the world for TIME, 
Life, Newsweek, the New York Times as well as many other major 
publications. In St. Francisville, Harris will present a 
thought-provoking and intimate collection of photographs taken over a 
12-year period of Walker Percy.
***

Individual tickets for the signature events of the 2016 Walker Percy 
Weekend are available now, with fewer than 50 remaining. To get 
yours visit www.walkerpercyweekend.org.

***

Walker Percy (1916—1990) wrote novels that explored the “dislocation of 
man in the modern age.” Most of his work was set in New Orleans and 
around South Louisiana, including the semi-fictitious Feliciana, which 
the author based upon West Feliciana and the other Florida parishes. 
Percy’s debut novel, THE MOVIEGOER, won the National Book Award for 
Fiction, and was included on Time magazine’s list of the 100 Best 
English language novels from 1923—2005. In later works, including LOVE 
IN THE RUINS,THE LAST GENTLEMAN, and THE THANATOS SYNDROME, Percy 
continued exploring the search for meaning in an increasingly 
materialistic society via masterfully wrought tales delivered with a 
poetic Southern sensibility and informed by the author’s deep Catholic 
faith.

Festival proceeds support the JULIUS FREYHAN FOUNDATION—an organization 
dedicated to restoring the historic Freyhan School building to serve as 
a community and cultural center for West Feliciana Parish.
FOR SCHEDULE, TICKETS AND ACCOMMODATION INFORMATION, VISIT 
WWW.WALKERPERCYWEEKEND.ORG 
<http://www.countryroadsmagazine.com/index.php?subid=31361&option=com_acymailing&ctrl=url&urlid=3826&mailid=329>
/* high-resolution photos available upon request. /
	


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