[percy-l] "The South passes by," written by Ronda Rich

Thomas Gollier tgollier at gmail.com
Mon May 27 19:09:02 EDT 2019


I'm not a Southerner either, but I do recall someone writing that where I
as born, Jacksonville, IL, had somehow
snuck above the Mason-Dixon Line.  When I read:

      "You Southerners are so invested in your culture. You have a strong
sense of who you are and what matters."
       And so it shall be, as long as strangers keep talking and sharing
their stories.

it recalled a passage in one of Percy's essays I've been reading.

      If you want to be another Faulkner, you have to spend a good deal of
time hunkered down on courthouse lawns
      listening to old-timers talk about the way things were. I qualify
under none of these canons, having been born
      and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, in a new house on a new golf
course. The only stories I ever heard were
      jokes in the locker room. ["Diagnosing the Modern Malaise"]

I don't think a willingness to talk and share stories with strangers is not
especially Southern, nor do I think its requires
any particular culture to thrive.  It's just a willingness to interact
existentially with another person, on the spot, in what
is always a unique here and now.

Meanwhile, though, thanks for posting Rhonda Rich's observations. I've been
away from that culture of my upbringing
for a long time, and I've lost sight of it some extent.


On Sun, May 26, 2019 at 7:54 PM honeyjbc1 <honeyjbc at gmail.com> wrote:

> What a charming story.
>
> I can't match it.
> I am not a southerner.  I never met Percy. I didn't really read him with
> pleasure until a half dozen years ago. Then I became a fanatic.
> I wrote a book about letters I have written notable people. One section of
> it is about my experience with reading Percy.
>  I did write Jay Tolson.  And he did answer me.
> I almost feel I have met Percy because of how generous Mr. Tolson has been
> with me. And he was his biographer. So I guess you could say I met Percy by
> proxy.
>
> Thank you, Ronda Rich for this charming post.
>
> Janet Cantor
> Philadelphia, Pa.
>
> On Sat, May 25, 2019 at 6:00 PM Henry P. Mills <wppdirector at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Dear Percy-L:
>>
>> Please find a short, pleasant reading diversion below offering a flash of
>> a glimpse of a flicker of the Deep South as “place” and in certain of its
>> “living characters" — perhaps as others on the list have experienced them,
>> and certainly as present in Percy's life experiences and his fiction.  I
>> myself am born and bred a Mississippian and find many impressions of what
>> Ronda Rich describes quite familiar.  Of course, to be true, the South is
>> much more complex in whole nature and across time.
>>
>> Does anyone wish to share impressions of any Percy fictional character
>> (or of Percy himself) that reflect or contrast with Ronda Rich’s thoughts
>> below?
>>
>> All best "Southern" wishes,
>> Henry Mills
>> Percy-L Administrator
>>
>>
>> ---
>> RONDA RICH: The South passes by
>> By Ronda Rich
>>
>> https://www.henryherald.com/features/ronda-rich-the-south-passes-by/article_bf576a13-ca46-59b2-be02-07cf2ea137ba.htm
>>
>> If you sit long enough in the lobby of the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, the
>> South passes by.
>>
>> Sometimes, it'll even walk right up to you, grab a seat and sit awhile.
>> Or perhaps just stand for a bit of conversation like the stately, older
>> gentleman who sauntered over to our table, his classic trench coat slung
>> over his shoulder and a cup of coffee in his hand. His hair was thick and
>> silver and his pleasant face lined with experience that we would be given
>> the pleasure of glimpsing.
>>
>> "Where y'all from?" he asked, a friendly smile stretching across his face.
>>
>> This is not strange to me. I am Southern to the marrow of my bones. My
>> husband "Tink," though, is from a world where there are perimeters. This
>> means that a stranger does not look you in the eye when he passes you on
>> the street, he does not offer a casual word while standing in the grocery
>> line and he never, ever walks up to you in the lobby of a fine hotel and
>> begins a conversation.
>>
>> It has taken him a few years of getting used to this way of life, but he
>> is starting to appreciate it and sometimes enjoys it, even if he doesn't
>> fully understand it. You have to be born to it in order to truly know it.
>>
>> I immediately jumped into conversation with this older gentleman and
>> Tink, a bit reluctant, tagged along.
>>
>> "I grew up in Vicksburg, Miss.," he said. "You know, they say the
>> Mississippi Delta starts here in the lobby of the Peabody and ends at
>> Catfish Alley in Vicksburg."
>>
>> The conversation then crooked through the usual twists and turns that
>> Southerners generally follow. He told how they settled in Memphis to be
>> closer to home and how the Peabody was scheduled to be torn down when they
>> arrived.
>>
>> "You wouldn't have believed it," he shook his head, then looked up at the
>> intricate woodwork and beautiful glass. "Now, look at it. Truly amazing
>> what they were able to do."
>>
>> For some reason, he next mentioned the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927,
>> "Lanterns on the Levy" by William Alexander Percy of Greenville, Miss., and
>> how he had been a man of strong moral conscience.
>>
>> "Have you ever read anything by Walker Percy, his cousin?" I asked.
>>
>> His eyes lighted up. "I have a story about him!"
>>
>> This is how Southerners work – one story leads to another.
>>
>> He went on to explain that in the 1960s, he was an attorney in New
>> Orleans representing the U.S. in Civil Rights cases.
>>
>> "We had a case come up in that parish across the bridge from New
>> Orleans." He pursed his lips, thinking. "Now, what's the name of it?"
>>
>> "St. Tammany," I replied.
>>
>> He snapped his fingers. "That's right. Covington. I went over for a
>> meeting with concerned citizens. Afterwards, a gentleman came up and
>> introduced himself. He said, 'I'm Walker Percy.'"
>>
>> I gasped. It was exciting to meet someone who knew the esteemed writer.
>> He smiled. "I said, 'Well, Mr. Percy, what do you do for a living?"
>>
>> His laughter was one of embarrassment. "He replied, 'I'm a medical doctor
>> but don't practice because I have TB. I now write novels.' I returned to
>> New Orleans and told my boss who said, 'You met THE Walker Percy?' Now, of
>> course, I've read all his books starting with 'The Moviegoer.'"
>>
>> I clasped my hands together, happily. "I love that book!"
>>
>> Suddenly, the man spotted his family across the lobby. "Oh! There's
>> everyone. I have to go. It was indeed a pleasure to speak with you."
>>
>> Tink watched him as he hurried off, then thoughtfully remarked, "You
>> Southerners are so invested in your culture. You have a strong sense of who
>> you are and what matters."
>>
>> And so it shall be, as long as strangers keep talking and sharing their
>> stories.
>>
>> --
>> Ronda Rich is the best-selling author of the new book, *Let Me Tell You
>> Something*. Visit www.rondarich.com to sign up for her free weekly
>> newsletter.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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