Atticus, Scout, Jem, and Dill: Loss Of Innocence In Maycomb, Alabama

On this day in 1960 the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, made its debut across the country. The book was an instant success and the author, Harper Lee, spent the rest of her life - she passed away in 2016 - seeking anonimity in her home town of  Monroeville, Alabama. I doubt the place has been the same without her. She spent her entire life there living a rather reclusive existence with the help of locals who spent a half century sending curious fans everywhere but to Miss Nelle's place.

Between 1960 and 1964 she published a few essays and participated in interviews then quietly "retired" until the publication of her second novel in 2015.

We can only imagine how many millions of American high school students have read To Kill A Mockingbird. I graduated from high school in the mid-60's and don't recall if the book was required reading; however, it did make the list in college. In fact, I still have that paperback, scuffed, tattered, dog-eared, and stained after several readings by me and my children.

In the face of political correctness and wokeism, Mockingbird has recently come under attack for its language (the N-word and other slurs) and subject (rape) as well as its portrayal of oppression and paternalism. Today, movements to ban the book from schools and libraries have resulted in only one outright banning but the controversy has unfortunately rendered the book untouchable as a learning tool in middle and high schools across the nation.

My copy - scuffed, tattered, dog-eared, and stained

For more on the book and it's impact on American culture here is an article in The Huffington Post featuring four defenses of this enduring work. And here is a link to a more critical review by Allen Barra from The Wall Street Journal. Barra's observations are brief and well worth reading. For a fine summation of the life of the author, here is her obituary by William Grimes that appeared in The New York Times, February 19, 2016.

"...But Remember It's A Sin To Kill A Mockingbird."

Today marks the 63rd anniversary of the publication of To Kill A Mockingbird. The author, Harper Lee, passed away seven years ago. I doubt that her hometown, Monroeville, Alabama, has been the same without her. She spent her entire life there living a rather reclusive existence with the help of locals who spent a half century sending curious fans everywhere but to Miss Nelle's place. Between 1960 and 1964 she published a few essays and participated in interviews then quietly "retired" until the publication of her second novel in 2015.

We can only imagine how many millions of American high school students have read To Kill A Mockingbird. I graduated from high school in the mid-60's and don't recall if the book was required reading; however, it did make the list in college. In fact, I still have that paperback, scuffed, tattered, dog-eared, and stained after several readings by me and my children.

Scuffed, tattered, dog-eared, and stained

In the face of political correctness and wokeism, Mockingbird has recently come under attack for its language (the N-word and other slurs) and subject (rape) as well as its portrayal of oppression and paternalism. Today, movements to ban the book from schools and libraries have resulted in only one outright banning but the controversy has unfortunately rendered the book untouchable as a learning tool in middle and high schools across the nation.

For a fine summation of the life of the author, here is her obituary by William Grimes which appeared in The New York Times on February 19, 2016.

Sources

Text:

title, famous quote from the book

 

Harper Lee Writes An Instant Classic

 

Today marks the 62nd anniversary of the publication of To Kill A Mockingbird. The author, Harper Lee, passed away six years ago. I doubt that her hometown, Monroeville, Alabama, has been the same without her. She spent her entire life there living a rather reclusive existence with the help of locals who spent a half century sending curious fans everywhere but to Miss Nelle's place. Between 1960 and 1964 she published a few essays and participated in interviews then quietly "retired" until the publication of her second novel in 2015.

We can only imagine how many millions of American high school students have read To Kill A Mockingbird. I graduated from high school in the mid-60's and don't recall if the book was required reading; however, it did make the list in college. In fact, I still have that paperback, scuffed, tattered, dog-eared, and stained after several readings by me and my children.

In the face of political correctness and wokeism, Mockingbird has recently come under attack for its language (the N-word and other slurs) and subject (rape) as well as its portrayal of oppression and paternalism. Today, movements to ban the book from schools and libraries have resulted in only one outright banning but the controversy has unfortunately rendered the book untouchable as a learning tool in middle and high schools across the nation.

Scuffed, tattered, dog-eared, and stained

For more on the book and it's impact on American culture here is an article in The Huffington Post featuring four defenses of this enduring work. And here is a link to a more critical review by Allen Barra from The Wall Street Journal. Barra's observations are brief and well worth reading. For a fine summation of the life of the author, here is her obituary by William Grimes that appeared in The New York Times, February 19, 2016.

Ernest Hemingway: An Influence Larger Than Life

Ernest Hemingway, one of the 20th century's most significant American novelists and short story writers, was born on this day in 1899. Most of us likely met Hemingway through his Nobel Prize winning 1952 novel, The Old Man and the Sea. It was required reading for me in high school and I'd like to think - I have my doubts - it remains a rite of passage for graduation these days. 

Hemingway, his wife, Pauline, and their sons in Bimini in 1953

Over a fourteen year period he published four blockbuster novels: The Sun Also Rises (1926), A Farewell to Arms (1929), To Have And Have Not (1937), and For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940). His body of work includes additional novels, non-fiction, letters, collections of short stories and poems, and one anthology. A private person by nature, his lifestyle and literary themes coupled with fame made him a larger than life and very public personality. In a 2010 paper, Professor Timo Muller (University of Augsburg), writing in the Journal of Modern Literature, noted that Hemingway "has the highest recognition value of all writers world-wide." That value is reflected equally in this quotation taken from the Hemingway entry at Wikipedia:

The extent of Hemingway's influence is seen in the tributes and echoes of his fiction in popular culture. A minor planet, discovered in 1978 by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Chernykh, was named for him (3656 Hemingway); Ray Bradbury wrote The Kilimanjaro Device, with Hemingway transported to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro; the 1993 motion picture Wrestling Ernest Hemingway, about the friendship of two retired men, Irish and Cuban, in a seaside town in Florida, starred Robert Duvall, Richard Harris, Shirley MacLaine, Sandra Bullock, and Piper Laurie. The influence is evident with the many restaurants named "Hemingway"; and the proliferation of bars called "Harry's" (a nod to the bar in Across the River and Into the Trees). A line of Hemingway furniture, promoted by Hemingway's son Jack (Bumby), has pieces such as the "Kilimanjaro" bedside table, and a "Catherine" slip-covered sofa. Montblanc offers a Hemingway fountain pen, and a line of Hemingway safari clothes has been created. The International Imitation Hemingway Competition was created in 1977 to publicly acknowledge his influence and the comically misplaced efforts of lesser authors to imitate his style. Entrants are encouraged to submit one "really good page of really bad Hemingway" and winners are flown to Italy to Harry's Bar.

I've read bits and pieces of Hemingway over the years but nothing cover to cove except for The Old Man and the Sea. Essentially he is a victim of my limited interest in non-fiction; however, the legacy has prompted our family to visit the Earnest Hemingway Home and Museum in Key West, Florida. He and his family lived there from 1931 to 1939. There is something for everyone there including a furnished house, colorful gardens, a fine bookstore, and a clowder of polydactyl - extra-toed - cats descended from a white cat Hemingway received as a gift from a local ship captain. It's a good opportunity to glimpse a private life from another time and a literary legacy that will be with us for a very long time. Enjoy the cats!







Sources

Photos and Illustrations:
John F. Kennedy Library

Text:
Title quote, goodreads.com
Quote and content, New York Times, July, 3, 1961
Hemingway entry, wikipedia.com

Harper Lee's Mockingbird Still Sings

Today marks the 61st anniversary of the publication of To Kill A Mockingbird. The author, Harper Lee, passed away five years ago. I doubt that her hometown, Monroeville, Alabama, has been the same without her. She spent her entire life there living a rather reclusive existence with the help of locals who spent a half century sending curious fans everywhere but to Miss Nelle's place. Between 1960 and 1964 she published a few essays and participated in interviews then quietly "retired" until the publication of her second novel in 2015.

We can only imagine how many millions of American high school students have read To Kill A Mockingbird. I graduated from high school in 1964 and don't recall if the book was required reading; however, it did make the list in college. In fact, I still have that paperback, scuffed, tattered, dog-eared, and stained after several readings by me and my children. 

In the face of political correctness and wokeism, Mockingbird has recently come under attack for its language (the N-word and other slurs) and subject (rape) as well as its portrayal of oppression and paternalism. Today, movements to ban the book from schools and libraries have resulted in only one outright banning but the controversy has unfortunately rendered the book untouchable as a learning tool in middle and high schools across the nation.    

Scuffed, tattered, dog-eared, and stained

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of its publication in 2010,  Southern Living magazine published an unusually interesting article on Lee and her hometown, Monroeville, Alabama. . You can read a short version of the article here. For more on the book and it's impact on American culture here is an article in The Huffington Post featuring four defenses of this enduring work. And here is a link to a more critical review by Allen Barra from The Wall Street Journal. Barra's observations are brief and well worth reading. For a fine summation of the life of the author, here is her obituary by William Grimes that appeared in The New York Times, February 19, 2016.

Ernest Hemingway: I Drink To Make Other People Interesting

Ernest Hemingway, one of the 20th century's most significant American novelists and short story writers, was born on this day in 1899. Most of us likely met Hemingway through his Nobel Prize winning 1952 novel, The Old Man and the Sea. It was required reading for me in high school and I trust that it remains a rite of passage for graduation these days.

Hemingway, his wife, Pauline, and their sons in Bimini in 1953

Over a fourteen year period he published four blockbuster novels: The Sun Also Rises (1926), A Farewell to Arms (1929),  To Have And Have Not (1937), and For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940). His body of work includes additional novels, non-fiction, letters, collections of short stories and poems, and one anthology. A private person by nature, his lifestyle and literary themes coupled with fame made him a larger than life and very public personality. In a 2010 paper, Professor Timo Muller (University of Augsburg), writing in the Journal of Modern Literature, noted that Hemingway "has the highest recognition value of all writers world-wide." That value is reflected equally in this quotation taken from the Hemingway entry at Wikipedia:

The extent of Hemingway's influence is seen in the tributes and echoes of his fiction in popular culture. A minor planet, discovered in 1978 by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Chernykh, was named for him (3656 Hemingway); Ray Bradbury wrote The Kilimanjaro Device, with Hemingway transported to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro; the 1993 motion picture Wrestling Ernest Hemingway, about the friendship of two retired men, Irish and Cuban, in a seaside town in Florida, starred Robert Duvall, Richard Harris, Shirley MacLaine, Sandra Bullock, and Piper Laurie. The influence is evident with the many restaurants named "Hemingway"; and the proliferation of bars called "Harry's" (a nod to the bar in Across the River and Into the Trees). A line of Hemingway furniture, promoted by Hemingway's son Jack (Bumby), has pieces such as the "Kilimanjaro" bedside table, and a "Catherine" slip-covered sofa. Montblanc offers a Hemingway fountain pen, and a line of Hemingway safari clothes has been created. The International Imitation Hemingway Competition was created in 1977 to publicly acknowledge his influence and the comically misplaced efforts of lesser authors to imitate his style. Entrants are encouraged to submit one "really good page of really bad Hemingway" and winners are flown to Italy to Harry's Bar.

I've read bits and pieces of Hemingway over the years but nothing cover to cove except for The Old Man and the Sea. Essentially he is a victim of my limited interest in non-fiction; however, the legacy has prompted our family to visit the Earnest Hemingway Home and Museum in Key West, Florida. He and his family lived there from 1931 to 1939. There is something for everyone there including a furnished house, colorful gardens,  a fine bookstore, and a clowder of polydactyl - extra-toed - cats descended from a white cat Hemingway received as a gift from a local ship captain. It's a good opportunity to glimpse a private life from another time and a literary legacy that will be with us for a very long time. Enjoy the cats!

Sources

Photos and Illustrations:
John F. Kennedy Library

Text:
Title quote, goodreads.com

Quote and content, New York Times, July, 3, 1961
Hemingway entry, wikipedia.com

Sixty Years Of Scout, Jem, Dill, Boo, Tom, And Atticus

We can only imagine how many millions of American high school students have read Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird since its publication on this day in 1960. I graduated from high school in 1964 and don't recall if the book was required reading; however, it did make the list in college. In fact, I still have my paperback edition, scuffed, tattered, dog-eared, and browned by age after several readings by me and my children.

The author, Harper Lee, died in 2016. I doubt her hometown, Monroeville, Alabama, hasn't been the same without her. She spent her entire life there living a rather reclusive existence with the help of locals who spent a half century sending curious fans everywhere but to Miss Nelle's place. On the other hand , she did venture out and those who were  at the right place at the right time were welcomed by her smile and polite conversation. Southern living magazine published an extensive article about the relationship between Lee and her town on the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of her world famous novel. You can read a short version of the article here.

There hasn't been much said about To Kill A Mockingbird since the hoopla surrounding its fiftieth anniversary and death of Lee the following year. I did find this article from the German news site, DW, exploring the books more more contemporary interpretation. For more details and references on the book and the author, go here and here.

Descriptive Writing From Two Authors And Their Timeless Shores

This week marks the anniversary of the birth of two Western writers who cherished their lives at the ocean's edge and shared that love with millions of adoring readers. They are the American novelist, Pat Conroy (1945-2016), born on the 26th, and the Welsh poet and short story writer, Dylan Thomas (1914-1953) born on the 27th.

Conroy, who died earlier this year was nothing less than a Lowcountry treasure. His rich descriptive writing and intense webs of characters forged out of family and place always returned to the magic of South Carolina's islands in the sea: 

Charleston has a landscape that encourages intimacy and partisanship. I have heard it said that an inoculation to the sights and smells of the Carolina lowcountry is an almost irreversible antidote to the charms of other landscapes, other alien geographies. You can be moved profoundly by other vistas, by other oceans, by soaring mountain ranges, but you can never be seduced. You can even forsake the lowcountry, renounce it for other climates, but you can never completely escape the sensuous, semitropical pull of Charleston and her marshes.  

                                                                                             The Prince of Tides

Conroy during an interview at Chapel Hill, North Carolina in 2014

Almost thirty years have passed since my personal immersion in the coastal environment Conroy describes. I recall those late evenings reading in the den and at first suddenly feeling, then hearing the low frequency vibrations from ship screws in the Savannah River channel a few thousand feet away. It's an experience one cannot have watching the massive vessels moving through the Tybee Knoll Cut Range at the mouth of the Savannah River. It takes the quiet and the dark for one to merge with the event. That may seem like an odd recollection out of the complex catalog of island experiences, but it approaches the unique and remains one of many fondest memories. For the most part - small flashes of creativity being the exception - I simply enjoy those memories. Pat Conroy, on the other hand, took the everyday and unique events in his life journey and turned them into some of the most lyrical writing of our time. I'm so glad he did.

Many critics and authorities note that Thomas's recitations are spoken words that approach song. You can form your own opinion listening to the poet reading Poem in October, his recollections of his thirtieth birthday. Audio quality isn't the best. I suggest earphones and closed eyes for this sound journey if you choose not to read along.

What an unforgettable voice. I was in elementary school when I first heard a recording of Thomas reading his work. There's a good chance few students in any grade have that opportunity today. That is unfortunate because we often think education has come a long way over the last five decades. Perhaps it has, but somewhere on that journey we have undoubtedly lost some very precious cultural experiences that have made us who we are as a people.

Conrad Aiken: Strange Moonlight Over Savannah

Born in that most magical city, Savannah, I was allowed to run wild in that earthly paradise until I was nine: ideal for the boy who early decided he wanted to write.

Every year it is a pleasure to commemorate the birthday of a favorite author, Conrad Aiken, from one of my favorite places, Savannah, Georgia.  Conrad Potter Aiken was born in Savannah in 1889 and lived in an elegant townhouse on Oglethorpe Avenue across the street from Colonial Cemetery. He often played in that ancient burial ground midst tabby crypts and tombstones where the mortal remains of many of Georgia's aristocracy found rest. From the time he was eight or nine he wanted to be a poet. Soon he found himself captured by the works of Edgar Allan Poe and happily sharing the terror with his brother and sisters. He seemed destined for happiness surrounded by wealth, privilege, and pedigree but all was not well. One day, when he was eleven, he returned home to find his mother shot to death, his father dead by suicide. His world changed forever that day and he would never fully recover from the horror he saw.

He went to live with relatives in New England and later became a successful student at Harvard under the guidance of philosopher and writer, George Santayana. There, he also established what would become a life-long friendship with fellow student, T. S. Eliot.

Aiken wrote lyrical poetry, weighted with symbolism and psychological exploration so deep that, in his own words, "Freud was in everything after 1912." By 1920, he moved predominantly to prose expressing his "faith in consciousness" and an endless search for knowledge as the means to quell his personal chaos and bring order and structure to the larger consciousness of the world.  Despite a 1930 Pulitzer Prize for his collected poems, Aiken never received wide recognition for over thirty years until he settled in his city of his birth. Several character traits kept him from the public eye. To begin, he was deeply introverted to the point of being clinically shy and avoiding reading his work in public. Furthermore, he chose to be a most candid critic, a posture that did not endear him to his fellow writers. And finally, during his middle years, he was a resident of both the United States and Europe and never quite on either continent long enough to have the intellectual salons claim him as one of their own. 

By 1960, readers and critics "rediscovered" him after he had been resident in the U.S for some years. Beginning in 1962 he returned part-time to the elegance of Savannah where he spent the winters living next to his boyhood home. For the next eleven years he was the focus of social and academic circles there and sought out by admirers until his death in 1973.

If readers want to learn more about Aiken and his world, I strongly recommend they read this interview published in The Paris Review in 1963.

During his career he wrote or edited fifty books, including his poetry, short stories, five novels, and one autobiography. While much of Aiken's poetry is freely available on line his prose is not; however, one of his most famous semi-autobiographical short stories about Savannah and Tybee Island, Strange Moonlight, is available here.  In its few pages the story bears the full range of hallmarks - symbolism, consciousness, endless search, struggle, need for resolution - in his work. 

Ruinous blisses, joyous pains, 

Life the destroyer, life the breaker, 

And death, the everlasting maker....

Even in death Aiken reinforced his personal struggle as a legacy. On a visit to Savannah's magnificent Bonaventure Cemetery you'll eventually arrive at Aiken Way. At it's end there's an eerie headstone bearing the identical death dates of his parents. Next to it is a memorial bench he installed before his death. It bears the inscription "Cosmos Mariner - Destination Unknown."  Aiken found his epitaph quite by accident while perusing the daily list of port activity - names, arrivals and departures, ports of origin and destination - appearing in the Savannah newspaper. It was a perfect fit for a restless, constant searcher forever sailing through an uncertain sea.  But not to be one without hope, he engraved the directive, "Give my love to the world" beneath the epitaph. I think it's a rather confident wish coming from a restless sailor.  We can pray that every man should find safe harbor, all the while knowing that we are not the final judge of his navigation. And so, in Conrad Aiken, we are left merely to explore the products of a shy and troubled man who could appreciate a bawdy pun and have his say in singing words and lilting prose.

Sources

Text:

The New Georgia Encyclopedia, Conrad Aiken, entry by Ted R. Spivey
Wikipedia entry, Conrad Aiken
Conrad Aiken: Prodigy Unitarian Poet, by Richard A. Kellaway

opening  quote is from Aiken's autobiography

"ruinous blisses" quote is from his 1916 poem, The Dance of Life.

Ernest Hemingway: There Is No Friend As Loyal As A Book

Ernest Hemingway, one of the 20th century's most significant American novelists and short story writers, was born on this day in 1899. Most of us likely met Hemingway through his Nobel Prize winning 1952 novel, The Old Man and the Sea. It was required reading for me in high school and I trust that it remains a rite of passage for graduation these days. 

Hemingway, his wife Pauline, and their three sons posing in Bimini in 1935

Over a fourteen year period he published four blockbuster novels: The Sun Also Rises (1926), A Farewell to Arms (1929), To Have and Have Not(1937), and For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940). His body of work includes additional novels, non-fiction, letters, collections of short stories and poems, and one anthology. A private person by nature, his lifestyle and literary themes coupled with fame made him a larger than life and very public personality. In a 2010 paper, Professor Timo Muller (University of Augsburg), writing in the Journal of Modern Literature, noted that Hemingway "has the highest recognition value of all writers world-wide." That value is reflected equally in this quotation taken from the Hemingway entry at Wikipedia:

The extent of Hemingway's influence is seen in the tributes and echoes of his fiction in popular culture. A minor planet, discovered in 1978 by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Chernykh, was named for him (3656 Hemingway); Ray Bradbury wrote The Kilimanjaro Device, with Hemingway transported to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro; the 1993 motion picture Wrestling Ernest Hemingway, about the friendship of two retired men, Irish and Cuban, in a seaside town in Florida, starred Robert Duvall, Richard Harris, Shirley MacLaine, Sandra Bullock, and Piper Laurie. The influence is evident with the many restaurants named "Hemingway"; and the proliferation of bars called "Harry's" (a nod to the bar in Across the River and Into the Trees). A line of Hemingway furniture, promoted by Hemingway's son Jack (Bumby), has pieces such as the "Kilimanjaro" bedside table, and a "Catherine" slip-covered sofa. Montblanc offers a Hemingway fountain pen, and a line of Hemingway safari clothes has been created. The International Imitation Hemingway Competition was created in 1977 to publicly acknowledge his influence and the comically misplaced efforts of lesser authors to imitate his style. Entrants are encouraged to submit one "really good page of really bad Hemingway" and winners are flown to Italy to Harry's Bar.

I've read bits and pieces of Hemingway over the years but nothing cover to cover. Essentially he is a victim of my interest in non-fiction; however, the legacy has prompted our family to visit the Earnest Hemingway Home and Museum in Key West, Florida. He and his family lived there from 1931 to 1939. There is something for everyone there including a furnished house, colorful gardens, and a fine bookstore. Our children enjoyed the polydactyl (extra-toed) cats that are descended from a white cat Hemingway received as a gift from a local ship captain. It's a good opportunity to glimpse a private life from another time and a literary legacy that will be with us for a very long time.

Sources

Photos and Illustrations:

John F. Kennedy Library

Text:

Title quote, brainyquotes.com

Quote and content, New York Times, July, 3, 1961

Hemingway entry, wikipedia.com

To Kill A Mockingbird At 56

This is the first anniversary of the publication of To Kill A Mockingbird to be celebrated without its reclusive and locally beloved author, Harper Lee. I doubt that her hometown, Monroeville, Alabama, will ever be the same without her. She spent her entire life there living a rather reclusive existence with the help of locals who spent a half century sending curious fans everywhere but to Miss Nelle's place. Between 1960 and 1964 she published a few essays and participated in interviews then quietly "retired" until the publication of her second novel, Go Set A Watchman, in 2015.  

We can only imagine how many millions of American high school students have read To Kill A Mockingbird since its publication fifty years ago this summer. I graduated from high school in 1964 and don't recall if the book was required reading; however, it did make the list in college. In fact, I still have my paperback edition, scuffed, tattered, dog-eared, and browned by age after several readings by me and my children.

For more on the book and it's impact on American culture here is an article in The Huffington Post featuring four defenses of this enduring work.  And here is a link to a more critical review by Allen Barra from The Wall Street Journal. Barra's observations are brief and well worth reading. For a fine summation of the life of the author, here is her obituary by William Grimes that appeared in The New York Times, February 19, 2016.

Summer Reading

OTR's summer reading ended today just three days before the end of summer--Friday, September 23--in the northern hemisphere. He hasn't shared past lists with his Internet readers, but this season's mix has been especially satisfying. Here are the titles listed in the order in which they were read:

Ronald Reagan: How An Ordinary Man Became An Extraordinary Leader, Danesh D'Souza, 1997

Berlin Stories, Christopher Isherwood, 1945

Winesburg, Ohio, Sherwood Anderson, 1919


Memoirs of An Amnesiac, Oscar Levant, 1965

The Unimportance of Being Oscar, Oscar Levant, 1968

Tropic of Cancer, Henry Miller, 1934

The Skeptic: A Life of H.L. Mencken, Terry Teachout, 2001

A Man in Full, Tom Wolfe, 1998

Witness, Whittaker Chambers, 1952

OTR has no intention of providing tight little reviews here. He will say that reading D'Souza's favorable portrait of Reagan helped fill some knowledge gaps incurred during his "childbearing" years. The Mencken book confirmed Terry Teachout as an outstanding writer. And reading three autobiographical novels--Isherwood, Anderson, and Miller--helped fill a long-standing literary gap. Wolfe was a most interesting read for an Atlanta resident. Chambers's "autobiography" was a difficult read for its detail, frightening revelations, and credibility, As for Oscar Levant, he remains the most under appreciated wit--perhaps entertainer--in 20th century America.

To Kill A Mockingbird Turns Fifty

We can only imagine how many millions of American high school students have read Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird since its publication fifty years ago this summer. I graduated from high school in 1964 and don't recall if the book was required reading; however, it did make the list in college. In fact, I still have my paperback edition, scuffed, tattered, dog-eared, and browned by age after several readings by me and my children.

A tip to Glenn Reynolds (Instapundit) for bringing this anniversary to our attention. There isn't much at his post, but his link to the story in The Huffington Post has four defenses of this enduring work. There's also a link to a more critical review by Allen Barra that appeared late last month in The Wall Street Journal. Barra's observations are brief and well worth reading.

Earlier this month, I found an unusually good article in Southern Living magazine on Lee and her hometown, Monroeville, Alabama. Lee published a few essays after her bestseller and nothing more, choosing instead to lead a reclusive life with the help of locals when in Monroeville. Apparently she's there often and you could encounter her if you're at the right place at the right time. You can read a short version of the article here at the Southern Living website. Better yet, pick up a copy of the July issue and enjoy the whole story.

Cosmos Mariner - Destination Unknown

He was born in Savannah in 1889 and lived in an elegant townhouse on Oglethorpe Avenue across the street from Colonial Cemetery. He often played in that ancient burial ground amidst tabby crypts and tombstones where the mortal remains of many of Georgia's aristocracy found rest. From the time he was eight or nine he wanted to be a poet, soon found himself captured by the works of Edgar Allan Poe, and happily sharing the terror with his brother and sisters.

With his parents immersed in Savannah society and surrounded by wealth, privilege, and pedigree, he seemed destined for success. After all, his father was a successful New England physician and both parents had a long heritage steeped in unitarianism and transcendental thought. But all was not well. One day, when he was eleven, he returned home to find his mother shot to death, his father dead by suicide. Conrad Aiken's world changed forever that day and he would never fully recover from the horror he saw.

Separated from his brothers and sisters, young Aiken lived with relatives in New England, but never felt he had a home. After attending private schools, he studied at Harvard under the guidance of philosopher and writer, George Santayana, and struck up a life-long friendship with fellow student, T. S. Eliot.

Aiken wrote lyrical poetry, weighted with symbolism and psychological exploration so deep that, in his own words, "Freud was in everything after 1912." By 1920, he had moved predominantly to prose expressing his "faith in consciousness" and endless search for knowledge as the means to quell his personal chaos and bring order and structure to the larger consciousness of the world. In all, he wrote or edited fifty books, including his poetry, short stories, five novels, and one autobiography.

For all of his output, Conrad Aiken never achieved the level of fame of his good friend, T. S. Eliot, or other contemporaries. There are several reasons for his obscurity. He was deeply introverted to the point of being clinically shy. His shyness led him to avoid readings that, for a poet, were lifelines to his audience. Furthermore, he chose to be a most candid critic, a posture that did not endear him to his fellow writers. And finally, during his middle years, he was a resident of both the United States and Europe. Many writers, benefactors, and salons on both sides of the Atlantic could never quite identify him as one of their own. By 1960, he had been resident in the U.S for some years and "rediscovered." Aiken eventually returned part-time to the elegance of Savannah. He spent the winters living next to his boyhood home and became the focus of social and academic circles and sought out by admirers until his death in 1973.

If you wander toward the eastern bluff in Savannah's magnificent Bonaventure Cemetery, you will arrive at Aiken Way. There, with the vast salt marshes of the Wilmington River spreading out to the distant treeline, you will find a memorial bench Aiken installed before his death. Next to it is a headstone bearing the identical death dates of his parents, an eerie reminder of the chaos we all face in our lives.

For those of us who have found our peace, there is a profound release there under the live oaks and Spanish moss. Others may not be so fortunate. Aiken is one them. In life, he was restless, a constant searcher forever sailing through an uncertain sea. He felt the same about death and wanted us to know. How fitting it was that he should find his epitaph quite by accident while perusing the Savannah newspapers. It appeared in the daily list of port activity and read simply: "Cosmos Mariner - Destination Unknown." Aiken indeed saw himself a cosmic mariner who arrived in this world on this day, August 5, 1889. On August 17, 1973, he cast off without a port of call, destination unknown. He left behind, engraved on the bench the wish, "Give my love to the world." It is a rather confident wish coming from a restless sailor. We can pray that every man should find safe harbor, all the while knowing that we are not the final judge of his navigation. We are left merely to explore the products of a shy and troubled man who could appreciate a bawdy pun and have his say in singing words and lilting prose.


Read more about Conrad Aiken and his work at these sources which form the core of my blog entry:

The New Georgia Encyclopedia, Conrad Aiken, entry by Ted R. Spivey
Wikipedia entry, Conrad Aiken
Conrad Aiken: Prodigy Unitarian Poet, by Richard A. Kellaway
The Art of Poetry No. 9, Conrad Aiken, The Paris Review