Genial Joe

On Monday afternoon, an hour before the book-signing reception for At Home with Flannery O'Connor, we had what was certainly the biggest storm here in months. It was raining so hard you couldn't see across the driveway.  By 4:00 things lightened up a bit, and we ended up having a pretty decent turnout for the event.  In addition to the editors, there were others on hand, too, who played a part in the book's creation.  One of these was photographer Joe McTyre.  As I was working in the gift shop, Mr. McTyre came up and shared some of his memories of coming out to Andalusia fifty years ago to photograph Flannery for a feature story in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Sunday magazine.  Before continuing, I should mention that this was Mr. McTyre's first visit to the farm since that day in 1962, and I think it's fairly safe to say that he was dazzled by the experience.  While other guests mixed and mingled, Mr. McTyre was walking around enveloped in memories half a century old.  From the gift shop where I was busy selling books, I looked out onto the front yard and saw him, camera around his neck, looking around for the best place to take a picture of the house.  When he came back inside, he and his wife, Judy, stopped by again and chatted with me. He said that the day he came out here to take pictures of the famous author stands out in his memory so clearly.  He spent the whole day at Andalusia taking pictures of Flannery who, he said, was most congenial.  It was only after he and the reporter who accompanied him left that he learned that O'Connor had very little tolerance for news folks and, as a rule, shunned the publicity.  The pictures that Joe McTyre took that day are some of the most familiar to fans of Flannery O'Connor.  There is the famous photo of her standing on the front porch steps that adorns the dust jacket on The Habit of Being.  But Mr. McTyre told me his favorite one of all was the picture he took of Flannery sitting on the living room sofa with her self-portrait.  He said he didn't even pose her for the shot.  He just asked her to sit there and quickly snapped off what turned out to be such a self-revelatory photo.  After Flannery died in 1964, Mr. McTyre sent her mother all the proofs he had taken that day.  Needless to say, Mrs. O'Connor was grateful for his thoughtfulness and generosity. By his own admission, Mr. McTyre will always remember his visit to Andalusia in 1962. I will not soon forget his return visit in 2012.
- Mark                                            

Book Signing at Andalusia

On Monday afternoon we will be hosting a special reception at Andalusia to celebrate the publication of At Home with Flannery O'Connor: An Oral History.  This event runs from 4:00-5:30 and is free and open to the public.  Refreshments will be provided.  Craig Amason and Bruce Gentry, the editors of this handsome volume, will be on hand to sign books along with several of the folks who knew Flannery O'Connor whose reminiscences make up this book.  One of these is Mary Barbara Tate.  Mrs. Tate is a former professor of English at Georgia College, but like a lot of interviewees in the book, Mary Barbara knew Flannery primarily as friend and neighbor, and not so much the icon of American literature.  This comes through in her recollection of seeing Flannery out and about with her mother in downtown Milledgeville: "One of my favorite memories of her is seeing her parked in a car downtown in front of the movie house on a hot summer day, with all the windows rolled down, while her mother did shopping up and down the street, and every passerby stopped to speak to Flannery.  In that day, everybody knew everybody, and she enjoyed chatting with the passers-by.  I saw her often, too, in the restaurant where she ate almost daily, noontime and often in the evening as well, and I even knew which table she would be sitting at, and where she would bring her out-of-town visitors to dine on the delicious food at the Sanford House."  (At Home with Flannery O'Connor: An Oral History, p. 24)  There are many other delightful nuggets in the interview with Mary Barbara Tate, and if this snippet has whetted your appetite for more, please call (478) 454-4029 to place your order.  Signed copies are also available.  Better yet, if you're in the area, come on out to our book signing party Monday.
- Mark

Kindred Spirits

Several weeks ago during Lent, I cited a letter from Flannery O'Connor in which the author tells her friend, Louise Abbot, not to think of faith as being some sort of panacea for all of life's ills.  No, said Flannery.  "What people don't realize is how much religion costs. They think faith is a big electric blanket, when of course it is the cross."  This week, as I was traversing the blogosphere, I came across a similar quote from C.S. Lewis, one that Flannery would have heartily endorsed.   I don't know where this comes from, but since Flannery enjoyed an adult beverage every now and then (visitors to Andalusia can see her martini shaker), she would have certainly given her blessing to these words of Lewis: "I didn't go to religion to make me 'happy.'  I always knew a bottle of Port would do that.  If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don't recommend Christianity."
- Mark

Credo

Among the most compelling features of the just published, At Home with Flannery O'Connor, are the many anecdotes from O'Connor's friends that have never appeared in print before. In the weeks to come, I plan to share with you some of these chestnuts as a means of encouraging you to add this unique volume to your library. The first interview in the book is with Louise Abbot who shares an interesting encounter she had with Flannery on the front porch at Andalusia. Like O'Connor, Louise Abbot was (in her words) "a fairly good reader." However, after finishing the stories in A Good Man Is Hard to Find, Abbot couldn't figure out whose side the author was on. Many readers find themselves in a similar predicament because O'Connor loves all her fictional characters, even (and perhaps especially) the malevolent. Because of this narrative ambiguity, Mrs. Abbot naively assumed that O'Connor was a "thorough-going agnostic" like herself. As Mrs. Abbot quickly found out, nothing could be further from the truth. From her rocking chair on the front porch, Flannery immediately set her friend straight by reciting to her word for word the Apostles' Creed. Mrs. Abbot confessed that she was so embarrassed that she "stopped rocking and wanted to slink away." And yet, it was this encounter that was the catalyst for Louise Abbot embarking on a "new search" of her own. According to Mrs. Abbot, Flannery never meant to be a missionary, and especially not an apologist for the Catholic Church. O'Connor was happy to supply Abbot with books, but she urged restraint. She kept telling her friend, "You're going to take your time, and you're going to wait. You're going to wait and you're going to be sure that this is what you want to do." O'Connor saw the unhappy results when friends (e.g. Robert Lowell, Betty Hester) jumped into the Church too quickly. While Louise Abbot never joined the Catholic Church, it is undoubtedly true that her spiritual life was enriched immensely by her friendship with Flannery O'Connor.
- Mark

Hot off the Press!

What an exciting week this has been at Andalusia! On Tuesday we got our first shipment of At Home with Flannery O'Connor: An Oral History. Even as I write this post, editors Craig Amason and Bruce Gentry are in the Andalusia dining room signing copies of this much anticipated book. When I started here three years ago, I had heard talk about an oral history project that was in the works. At that point, some tape-recorded interviews had been made of people who knew Flannery O'Connor and had visited her at the fabled farm, and I was told that these interviews would some day - who knew when at that point - be compiled, edited, and made into a book. One of my earliest memories at Andalusia was the day Flannery's cousin, Frances Florencourt, interviewed Mary Barbara Tate, former English professor at Georgia College and one of O'Connor's good friends. After the interview was finished, Miss Florencourt invited me to the back parlor to listen to the finished product along with Mrs. Tate. What a wonderful story-teller Mary Barbara is! I was so charmed by her home-spun tales of visiting the O'Connors at Andalusia, and I promise you will be too when you read her memoirs and those of all the other interviewees in At Home with Flannery O'Connor: An Oral History. The book sells for $19.95 and is available in the Andalusia gift shop or by mail order. Signed copies are also available upon request. Stay tuned for more details about an upcoming book-signing party and reception at Andalusia.
- Mark

Mystery and Grace

One of the writers that Flannery O'Connor was reading at the time of her death was Fyodor Dostoevsky. On this day when many Christians around the world commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus, the following quote from The Brothers Karamazov seems somehow appropriate:
"Love all God's creation, the whole and every grain of sand of it. Love every leaf, every ray of God's light. Love the animals, love the plants, love everything. If you love everything, you will perceive the divine mystery in things. Once you perceive it, you will begin to comprehend it better every day. And you will come at last to love the world with an all-embracing love."
- Mark

Nuts for Nillas

Admittedly, Flannery O'Connor had some pretty bizarre tastes when it came to food. She laced her coffee with Coca-Cola and put shredded cheddar cheese on top of oatmeal. When it came to snacking, however, her preferences could be rather commonplace. Her cookie of choice was Nilla Wafers. Sometimes when she was in her bedroom writing, she would have a box of them on the desk near her typewriter. One can picture Flannery munching away on these pleasantly sweet, bland treats as she was hammering out her gritty, witty prose. It's hard to imagine anything less vanilla than her short stories and novels.
- Mark

Update

In my last post I mentioned the release of The Province of Joy: Praying with Flannery O'Connor by Angela Alaimo O'Connell. We received an advance copy of the book this week, and I am pleased to announce that any misgivings I may have had about it vanished when I paged through this handsome volume. It contains writings from the usual suspects (Teilhard, Aquinas, Hopkins) as well as more surprising contributors (Dostoevsky, Weil, Donne). These excerpts along with scripture quotations and prayers that Flannery herself would have said (e.g. Prayer to St. Raphael) form the scaffolding of an abbreviated daily office (morning prayer and evening prayer). Though O'Connor would probably not have used a book such as this - she was happy with her breviary and Bible - I am nevertheless looking forward to reading and praying The Province of Joy. The book sells for $16.99, and we anticipate carrying it in the Andalusia gift shop.
- Mark

Praying with Flannery

We just received some exciting news about a book soon to be released. The Province of Joy is a breviary based on themes in the writings of Flannery O'Connor. This prayer book was compiled and edited by Angela O'Donnell, poet and professor at Fordham University where she teaches English, creative writing, and American Catholic studies. According to her publisher, Paraclete Press:

"The Province of Joy is a book of hours rooted in the rich theological imagination of fiction writer, Flannery O'Connor. A lifelong Catholic devoted to liturgical prayer, O'Connor was also an avid reader and thinker who lived a rich spiritual life. Cutting a broad swath through spiritual and theological texts of every stamp, O'Connor engaged ideas about the nature of prayer and its many forms on a daily basis and often shared them in her correspondence, essays, and stories. This book brings together O'Connor's practice of prayer and the rich spiritual context within which O'Connor lived and out of which she wrote.
O'Donnell organizes this devotional around six themes:

* The False Self and the True Self
* Blindness & Vision
* Limitation & Grace
* The Mystery of the Incarnation
* Revelations & Resurrections
* The Christian Comedy.

In addition, she presents brief reflections suggesting links between the themes, readings, and prayers of the day with O'Connor's fiction. These parallels illustrate some of the ways in which O'Connor's practice of her faith and her art intersect and serve to illuminate one another."

One of the ways that O'Connor practiced her faith was praying daily the Liturgy of the Hours. We know this because one of the three books Flannery kept on her bedside table was a well-worn breviary (a book of psalms, hymns, prayers, and readings recited daily by Catholic clergy and members of certain religious orders). While I am looking forward to reading O'Donnell's book, I wonder what Flannery's reaction would be to breviary coming out based on her writings.
- Mark

The Crux of the Matter

One of the most salient features of Flannery O'Connor's fiction is the centrality of religious themes. However, this is a stumbling block for some folks who otherwise have a great appreciation f0r O'Connor's art. How, they ask, can anyone with a mind as sophisticated as Flannery's believe (in the words of Mark Twain) "something you know ain't true?" One person who may well have wrestled with this question was her good friend, Louise Abbot. In the following excerpts from an undated letter of 1959, O'Connor describes faith as being something more than intellectual assent to a set of propositions. It is, rather, a path of trust that necessarily entails suffering, even suffering with our doubts:
"I think there is no suffering greater than what is caused by the doubts of those who want to believe. I know what torment this is, but I can only see it, in myself anyway, as the process by which faith is deepened. A faith that just accepts is a child's faith and all right for children, but eventually you have to grow religiously as every other way, though some never do.
What people don't realize is how much religion costs. They think faith is a big electric blanket, when of course it is the cross. It is much harder to believe than not to believe. If you feel you can't believe, you must at least do this: keep an open mind. Keep it open toward faith, keep wanting it, keep asking for it, and leave the rest to God. . . ."
"Whatever you do anyway, remember that these things are mysteries and that if they were such that we could understand them, they wouldn't be worth understanding. A God you understood would be less than yourself. . . ."
"I don't set myself up to give spiritual advice but all I would like you to know is that I sympathize and I suffer this way myself. When we get our spiritual house in order, we'll be dead. This goes on. You arrive at enough certainty to be able to make your way, but it is making it in darkness. Don't expect faith to clear things up for you. It is trust, not certainty. . . ." (The Habit of Being pp. 353-54)
- Mark

The Artist's Eye

This beautiful watercolor by Regina Moody depicts a scene that, quite frankly, I had heretofore overlooked. As many times as I've driven past this cast iron water pump over the last two and a half years I didn't really pay any attention to it or the cruciform valve at the top. Leave it to an artist with Ms. Moody's vision to catch my attention with such a richly symbolic scene. With the water tower in the background, the baptismal symbols of water and the cross become even more apparent. One wonders if Flannery was ever struck by this scene as she strolled about the property. I wouldn't be at all surprised if she did. Nor would I be surprised if she saw a connection between this fairly common object so rooted to daily life on the farm and the subject of her own art: grace. I think Flannery would have loved Regina Moody's painting. The way light bathes the scene with an almost mystical aura would have appealed to Flannery, who also uses light to such great effect in her novels and short stories. After seeing Ms. Moody's watercolor, I find myself now often slowing down each time I drive past the water pump. By the way, note cards of Ms. Moody's paintings are available in our gift shop for $2 each or 3 for $5.
- Mark

Hooray for Hollywood!

Hooray indeed that RKO Studios agreed to release Patrick J. O'Connor, one of their rising stars, from a three year studio contract he had signed in 1924. This actor, a recent graduate of the Catholic University of America, was bitten by the theater bug and had gone to Hollywood to seek his fortune. However, after only two years of touring with the RKO Orpheum Circuit, O'Connor felt that God was calling him to the the priesthood. When he told his producer that he needed to go to seminary, the studio reluctantly agreed to discharge him from his contractual obligation. Patrick O'Connor, a cousin of Flannery O'Connor's father, Edward, was born in Savannah in 1902, the youngest of five children. After graduating from seminary, O'Connor was ordained to the priesthood in 1933 and went on to serve in various positions throughout the diocese. In 1936 he was appointed to the faculty of his alma mater, Catholic University, as professor of Sacred Eloquence in its school of theology. In his twenty years at the university it is estimated that he taught more than 3,000 seminarians and lay students. While in Washington, Fr. O'Connor was tapped to be director of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in 1950. He is credited with raising more than $15 million for the construction of the shrine's main building. After leaving the nation's capital, the by-then Monsignor O'Connor went on to have a distinguished career in the archdiocese of Atlanta. In addition to his rather considerable skills as teacher, administrator, and fund-raiser, Msgr. O'Connor is remembered for his preaching eloquence. Perhaps that is why the O'Connor family asked him to offer the benediction when his cousin, Flannery, was laid to rest at Memory Hill Cemetery on August 4, 1964. The prayer that the elegant, white-haired orator said at the graveside included these words: "...and if by reason of sin she may have forfeited eternal life in heaven..." According to Brad Gooch, the prelate "rendered the word 'may' with such lack of conviction as to make the phrase superfluous." (Brad Gooch: Flannery: A Life of Flannery O'Connor; p.370) Msgr. O'Connor retired from active ministry in 1967. He died at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Cancer Home in Atlanta on August 1, 1980 at the age of 78. Those wishing to learn more about the remarkable life and ministry of Monsignor Patrick J. O'Connor are encouraged to check out the article by Rita H. DeLorme in the April 20, 2006 edition of Southern Cross, the newsweekly for the Diocese of Savannah.
- Mark

Remember that you are dust...

With the the start of Lent on Wednesday, many of us have begun a season of fasting and penance where we reflect on our mortality and the fleeting nature of human life. Earlier this week I had a visitor ask me if I thought Flannery's lupus contributed to her rather dark outlook on human nature. It's hard to say to what, if any, extent it did. However, I believe that the diagnosis of the lupus and the disclosure of that diagnosis had much to do with her choice of literary themes. When Flannery came down with the disease she was only 25 years old, an age when most young people (especially these days) still think they're invincible. Death isn't even on the radar. Not so for Flannery O'Connor. Since her father died of lupus nearly a decade earlier, the diagnosis was withheld from her as it was thought at the time to be the kind thing to do. It was during a return trip to Connecticut in June of 1952, however, that her friend Sally Fitzgerald told her the exact nature of her illness (Brad Gooch: Flannery: A Life of Flannery O'Connor, pp. 214-216). Realizing that her life was going to be cut short, Flannery went to work at once writing so many stories where death is a major theme - be it physical death (e.g. Greenleaf), spiritual death (e.g. The Life You Save May Be Your Own), or both (e.g. A View of the Woods). This post is not the place to delve into a topic that could be the subject of a book, but it is clear to me that O'Connor's acute awareness of her impending mortality profoundly affected her writing. Flannery, however, was not one to indulge in a glum moroseness. Instead, her stories reflect an artistic vision that is ultimately comic. She makes us laugh, yes, but also, and more importantly, O'Connor affirms that the human drama is a divine comedy. In the end, as the visionary Julian of Norwich said, "All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well."
- Mark

Censor Liborum

As luck would have it, during my retreat at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit last week I met a fellow retreatant who had actually known Fr. Paul Bourne, the monk who was the subject of last week's post. He shared with me some of his memories of Fr. Paul. For example, few knew (including this man) that Fr. Paul was chief censor for the Trappist order in America and was thus responsible for reviewing the manuscripts of writers like Thomas Merton prior to publication. According to one of the monks at Holy Spirit, "Paul Bourne was strict on Merton. He was finicky about any sexual stuff, and said that he had gotten some 'whining and complaining letters' from Merton. He taught us Church history on Tuesday mornings, was a litterateur, not a liberal, and had read all of Flannery's stuff. I think she saw in him a kindred spirit." (Brad Gooch, Flannery: A Life of Flannery O'Connor, p. 327) Fr. Bourne may have been Merton's bete noire, but he was such a humble man that he didn't think his holding such a distinguished position in the order as censor liborum was worth mentioning even to friends. As the above citation makes clear, and what my friend at the monastery reiterated, was Paul Bourne's enthusiasm for Flannery. Though he may have been taciturn by nature, when it came to O'Connor Fr. Paul wasn't a bit shy in telling others about Flannery O'Connor. He thought the girl from Milledgeville was the bomb.
- Mark

Bonsai Master

I'm posting early this week as I will be heading up to Conyers tomorrow for a week-end retreat at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit. Flannery O'Connor and her mother visited this Cistercian monastery just outside Atlanta fairly frequently and became good friends with the abbot, Dom Augustine Moore and many of the monks including Fr. Paul Bourne and Bro. Pius. During the early 1960s Abbot Moore and Fr. Bourne were regular visitors at Andalusia. A spiritual bond must have developed between Flannery and the monks for at the time of her death, Abbot Moore was asked to administer last rites. He and Fr. Bourne were also invited to participate in the funeral mass at Sacred Heart Catholic Church on August 4, 1964. While Flannery enjoyed the friendship of a number of monks at Holy Spirit, she was particularly close to Fr. Bourne (1908-95). According to a monk who knew him, Fr. Bourne "had read all of Flannery's stuff. I think she saw in him a kindred spirit." (Brad Gooch; Flannery: A Life of Flannery O'Connor, p. 327) Besides his friendship with Flannery, Fr. Bourne is remembered as being the monk who started the fabulous bonsai nursery at the monastery. According to the monastery's website:
Cistercian monks of the Monastery of the Holy Spirit have been crafting classic bonsai with an American influence for over thirty-five years. Begun in the mid-1960's by Father Paul Bourne, OCSO (May 2, 1908 - July 10, 1995), the Monastery Greenhouse became one of the first nurseries in the southeast to offer bonsai to the public. The centerpiece of the monastery's bonsai collection is a Kingsville boxwood (photo at right), one of the original eight trees of this strain developed during the 1930's. During his lifetime, Brother Paul (as he liked to be called) earned the reputation of being a true American Bonsai Master. His quarter century of highly creative bonsai art made him well known nationally and internationally. Born in Seattle, he early on established a lifelong love of horticulture. As a child of eight he saw his first bonsai trees while visiting a Japanese friend whose father had a small collection. Later he received an MA of Fine Arts from Yale University. He was an artist in many mediums including paint and sculpture as well as bonsai. His second exposure to bonsai was in Mainland China and Japan in the late 1920's where he visited as a student. With a love of both art and plants, perhaps it was inevitable that he should express that love in bonsai, which he always emphasized was a true art form in the most classic sense. At the monastery in 1963, Brother Paul built a glass and wood-framed greenhouse to house orchids, which he grew and displayed as a hobby. He also began puttering around making bonsai, although he had no formal training. The first "sale" of a tree happened one day while Brother Paul was away from the greenhouse. Upon his return, Brother Pius, who ran the small monastic gift shop, confessed that he had sold one of the "little plants" to an insistent customer. It was Br. Paul's favorite and Brother Pius had charged all of $5.00 for it. From this unlikely start the bonsai business began.For over thirty years Br. Paul sat quietly in the greenhouse, usually by the cash register, where he went about crafting beautiful bonsai. To any and all who stopped to look and ask he spoke of this lovely art form of creating miniature trees in a pot. Over the years he launched many, many people into the wonder of bonsai. Though formally untrained, he brought considerable natural talent and the ears and eyes of an always-inquiring student. Over the years he became a friend of most of the great American Bonsai Masters like John Naka, Yugi Yoshimura, and more recently the much younger Zhao of China. They received him as one of their own and visited here regularly to see and share their uncommon passion for the art of bonsai. It is an honor for the monks to carry on Brother Paul's legacy.
- Mark

Fordham Symposium & February Lectures

Many readers of this blog are aware that 2012 marks the 60th anniversary of the publication of Flannery O'Connor's first novel, Wise Blood. In celebration of this landmark in American literature, Fordham University will be hosting a one-day symposium on March 24th from 2-6 p.m. The symposium will consist of two panels with such notable O'Connor scholars as Susan Srigley, Richard Giannone, and Paul Elie. Unlike other conferences where the attendee must choose between many presentations, the format of this one makes it possible for one to attend both panels and hear all the speakers. At the conclusion of the symposium there will be a screening of John Huston's 1979 film adaptation of Wise Blood. For more information on this event and how to register, click on this link http://origin.web.fordham.edu/cs/O'Connor.shtml
Wise Blood isn't the only major novel celebrating a birthday in 2012. This year is also the 30th anniversary of the publication of Alice Walker's masterpiece, The Color Purple. In honor of this event our popular February Lecture Series kicks off Sunday with a talk from Dr. Carol Andrews, associate professor of English at Armstrong Atlantic State University. Dr. Andrews will compare and contrast the work of Flannery O'Connor and Alice Walker. This lecture is free and open to the public and starts at 3:00 in the Andalusia dining room.
- Mark

Hootie

No, the subject of today's post is not the chap pictured here whose band, Hootie and the Blowfish, was a pop music sensation in the 1990s. The man I am referring to was Flannery O'Connor's confessor, spiritual director, and among her closest confidantes (unfortunately, I was unable to find a photo of him). Affectionately known as "Hootie" to all who loved him, Fr. James H. McCown, S.J. was born in Mobile, Alabama in 1912, the eldest child in a large family. He graduated from Spring Hill College in 1932 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1947. During Fr. McCown's ministry, he served the church as a missionary in Mexico, Kenya, Tanzania, and Alaska. In addition to his missionary activity, Fr. McCown worked in retreat houses in Texas and Louisiana and authored a number of books. It was while he was assistant pastor at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Macon (1953-58) that he met O'Connor. Taken as he was with her first collection of short stories, Fr. McCown decided to drive out to Andalusia to meet the author. The two hit it off immediately, and Flannery later confessed that Fr. McCown was "the first priest to say 'turkey-dog' to me about liking anything I wrote." Besides being the priest she trusted most, Fr. McCown recommended O'Connor to Harold C. Gardiner, SJ, the literary editor of America, who published her essay "The Church and the Fiction Writer" on March 30, 1957. Besides turning to Fr. McCown for spiritual matters, Flannery also consulted the priest about literary concerns. In March, 1962, O'Connor was having serious writer's block and feared the well was running dry. She wrote to McCown asking him to pray for her. "I've been writing for sixteen years and I have the sense of having exhausted my original potentiality and being now in need of the kind of grace that deepens perception, a new shot of life or something." (The Habit of Being, p. 468). Some six years before Flannery died, Fr. McCown was reassigned to Houston, Texas, and though they continued to correspond, the two never saw each other again this side of heaven. It was in 1991, when he was on the road leading a retreat as he loved to do, that Fr. McCown died at the age of 80. Last week, Southern Cross, the newsweekly of the Diocese of Savannah, ran a story on Fr. McCown. The reader who is interested in learning more about Fr. James H. McCown is encouraged to check out this interesting article by Rita H. DeLorme (Southern Cross, vol. 92, No. 03, January 19, 2012, p. 5).
- Mark

Dazzling Designs

For the last couple years I've noticed a fashion trend among our female visitors to Andalusia. As a sign of their devotion to Flannery, or perhaps as a signal to us that they are die-hard O'Connor fans, some women come out here wearing peacock feather earrings. Because they are very "in" now, we decided to start carrying them in our gift shop. The ones we have were hand-crafted for us by J. Drexler Designs in Gainesville, Georgia. Each pair of earrings is a one of a kind creation and no two are exactly alike. Selling for $19.95 a pair, they are as original as the author who inspired their design and make a wonderful souvenir.
- Mark

Ring-a-ding-ding

Recently, one of our friends donated a 1959 Milledgeville telephone book along with a vintage phone (now displayed in Louis Cline's bedroom in the back parlor). The ads in the yellow pages of this directory are a real eye-opener and a sobering reminder of just how segregated things were back in the '50s. But I digress. The real point of interest is the listing for the O'Connors:
O'Connor Edw. F. Jr., Mrs.
Andalusia-Eatonton Rd. .....GL2-4335
Times sure have changed. For those too young to remember, in those days the phone in the house - they had only one - was rotary dial and owned by the phone company. Wondering about the "GL?" It was a mnemonic chosen by the phone company (in this case it stood for "Glendale") to help people remember phone numbers. Just as today, numbers on the phone corresponded to certain letters. Therefore, the O'Connors number was 452-4335. There were no area codes in those days and, hence, no direct dialing of long distance numbers. If you needed to make a long distance call, you dialed the operator. Calling long distance was expensive and rarely done. The other feature about phone service back then was that several parties shared the same line. It was possible that if you tried to call out you might get a busy signal if someone who shared your "party line" was using the phone. According to a letter Flannery wrote to Fannie Cheney, phone service was established at Andalusia in July 1956. She writes: "Lon called up the day before we got our telephone and that afternoon I went in and tried to get him...Our phone number is 2-5335. I run in all directions everytime I hear it ring." (The Correspondence of Flannery O'Connor and the Brainard Cheneys, p. 40). She may have "run in all directions," but according to a friend of the family it was Regina who always answered the phone, not only to screen her daughter's calls, but also to save Flannery the physical exertion it would have taken for her to get to the phone on crutches. At some point subsequent to this time the O'Connor's number changed by one digit. In a 1962 letter to Brainard Cheney, Flannery writes: "Our telephone no. is 452-4335 but it's hard to get us on it as there are 8 parties on it representing about 150 head, 2/3 of them idiots." (The Correspondence of Flannery O'Connor and the Brainard Cheneys, p. 160). Ah yes...the good old days of telecommunications.
- Mark

The Charming Cheneys

When Flannery O'Connor's first novel, Wise Blood, was published in 1952, it was almost universally panned by the press. One notable exception was a favorable review written by Brainard Cheney. Nicknamed "Lon" after the actor of the same name, Cheney was a literature professor at Vanderbilt. In addition to being a novelist and playwright, he is remembered today for being one of the first interpreters of O'Connor who "got it." Flannery was so flattered by his astute reading of Wise Blood, that she decided to write him and thus began a friendship that was to last the rest of her life. Flannery was also close with Cheney's wife, Frances ("Fanny"), who taught library science at Peabody College. Because the Cheneys owned a home in St. Simons Island, they would frequently stop by Andalusia on their way to the Georgia coast. Flannery also visited the Cheneys at their home in Smyrna, Tennessee and enjoyed the time with them immensely. O' Connor's correspondence with the Cheneys (published by the University Press of Mississippi in 1986) comprises some of the most delightful letters she ever wrote. My daughter, Mary, surprised me with a first edition of this book for Christmas. And even though I am just a quarter of the way through it, I must say that these letters are as good as anything in The Habit of Being. They also provide another glimpse into what life was like for Flannery at Andalusia. The reader of these letters sees her little peacock brood growing from 9 to 16 to 20 birds. Then there is the comical account of Flannery adjusting to life on crutches: "I tell my mother she had better take out insurance on me and on all the people I trip and kill while I am on these things. There is always something crashing now in my wake." (p. 23) Everywhere in these wonderful letters, there is the dry, deadpan humor Flannery was known for, as when she describes a bull on a farm down the road from Andalusia that had a bad habit of ramming pickup trucks (hmm...). The O'Connors' bull, on the other hand, was a more "contemplative" type. "His name was Paleface and he sat all day on a hill where he could look down and see the Fords go by on the highway. He is now tinned beef. We are going artificial." (p. 40) I could go on, but in the interest of brevity let me just say that The Correspondence of Flannery O'Connor and the Brainard Cheneys is simply splendid, and I would heartily encourage you to read it. The book is still in print, and while we don't stock it in our gift shop, a paperback edition is available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
- Mark

10 for '11

In the spirit of David Letterman, we decided that we would look back over the last year and share with you what we consider to be the ten most notable events and accomplishments at Andalusia for 2011. The following are listed in neither chronological order nor in order of importance:
1. Grants - in 2011 we received two significant grants to help us restore some of the buildings on the property. In February we were awarded a $120,000 grant from "Save America's Treasures" program of the National Park Service to restore the Hill house. This past fall we received a $10,000 matching grant from the Georgia Department of Economic Development and the Georgia Council for the Arts to stabilize the cow barn.
2. Cartoon Book - In January Georgia College released The Cartoons of Flannery O'Connor at Georgia College. This was the first time an original O'Connor work has appeared in print since 1979. Later in the year, the ever-popular Sanford House Cookbook was re-published. Both books are available at the Andalusia gift shop.
3. 10th Anniversary - 2011 marked the tenth anniversary of the Flannery O'Connor- Andalusia Foundation. The event passed without cake, balloons, or a whole lot of hoopla. Yet it is a big milestone for us and a tribute to everyone who has generously supported Andalusia for the last decade.
4. Re-opening of upstairs - Just in time for Flannery's 86th birthday, the upstairs was thoroughly cleaned and straightened up so we could re-open it to the public on March 25th. Thanks to our volunteers for their hard work.
5. Flannery O'Connor Conference and reception - On April 13th, the symposium sponsored by Georgia College, Startling Figures: A Celebration of the Legacy of Flannery O'Connor, kicked off with a reception at Andalusia. During the three days of the conference our gift shop did a robust business.
6. Restoration of Hill House - Much of the year was spent prepping the Hill house for the restoration work that will commence in early 2012. There were numerous meetings with the architects at Lord, Aeck and Sargent. Additionally, all the furniture and belongings in the house had to be cataloged, removed, and put in temporary storage PODS in the barnyard.
7. Ann Napolitano reading - On July 13th, surely the hottest day of a long hot summer, Ann Napolitano visited Andalusia to read from her just-published novel, A Good Hard Look. Though the book and reading sparked some controversy (especially among locals), it has been highly acclaimed in the national media and Ms. Napolitano couldn't have been more gracious.
8. Guineas - On Sept. 29th we acquired five guinea fowl from a generous donor. In preparation for their arrival we built a temporary holding pen behind the aviary. Sadly, after we released them from the pen, they were preyed upon and by mid-December they were all gone.
9. Loyola Conference - In October there was another O'Connor conference. This one at Loyola University in Chicago focused on the theological and philosophical influences in O'Connor's fiction. Craig and I were privileged to represent Andalusia. Besides enjoying all that Chicago has to offer, we heard some fascinating presentations. Who ever thought Flannery could be read from a Zen Buddhist perspective?
10. Attendance record - Last, but certainly not least, as we closed out our fiscal year on Sept. 30th we set a record for number of visitors in a year. For the first time since Andalusia has been open to the public, we surpassed the 5,000 mark. We thank all of you who visited the farm and made 2011 the most successful in our history!
- Mark

All is calm? All is bright?

Despite the serenity of the picture on the right (taken after a rare snowstorm in 2010), Christmas at Andalusia was not always the peaceful affair the O'Connors might have wished it would be. In this excerpt from a letter written on Christmas day, 1958, Flannery tells her friend, Betty Hester, about a major dust-up between resident farmhands, Jack and Louise Hill:
"Big doings here the other night in preparation for the Yuletide. Louise came over after supper and said she was afraid to go back home because Jack had the gun loaded and said he was going to kill her. He was eventually persuaded by my mother to bring the gun over and leave it in the back hall. After the liquor wore off them, they all calmed down and yesterday she gave him back his gun; but today, we had to stay home to make sure hostilities didn't redevelop. So far nothing. My mother gave them a snappy sermon on: 'thou shalt not kill during the Christmas season' when she she gave them their presents last night and I guess it paid off..." (Habit of Being, p. 310)

Since we will be closed for Christmas (Dec. 25-26), Craig and I want to take this opportunity now to wish you and those you love a peaceful holiday. Oh yes, our pea chickens - Manley Pointer, Mary Grace, and Joy/Hulga - want to add their greeting, too. Eee-ooo-ii! Eee-ooo-ii! (which in their language means "We wish you a merry Christmas!")
- Mark

Yule Blues

A slight pall was cast over our holiday cheer at Andalusia last week when two of our three guineas were killed by foxes or coyotes. The sole survivor of this attack got along the best he could, but he was clearly missing his comrades. He showed little interest in eating and just hung around the aviary for companionship. No longer did he come running up to me when I went out to feed the peafowl, as he and the others once did. It was as if he had given up on life. On Friday of last week I spotted him wandering around in the pasture on the east side of the house. The last time I saw him was when I was leaving work that day. Since then there hasn't been a sign of him anywhere. Craig and I think that he went off in search of another flock. All the same, I've been holding on to the irrational hope that he might return. I finally gave up today and took in his water container. While I can't claim that the guineas had become pets, I had become kind of attached to them and now miss them running up to the car to greet me when I drive in in the morning. The fate of the guineas did not come as a big surprise, however. As I've mentioned on this blog before, there is far more wildlife out here now than when the O'Connors were living at the farm fifty years ago. This was brought home to us this morning when we discovered the trash can in which we keep the peacock feed had been pried open by some critter. There was cracked corn scattered all over the place. We think the perpetrator might have been a raccoon, but the mystery remains. How could a raccoon open a garbage can, take out the bags of cracked corn without toppling over the can? To ward off a future intrusion we have secured the can with a bungee cord and hope that will discourage vermin.
- Mark

Just in time for holiday gift giving

I can't tell you how many times during the past year I've been asked if we had any copies left of the immensely popular Sanford House Cookbook. Regrettably, I had to tell these folks that we were all sold out and didn't know if we would ever have it in stock again. Happily, I learned this week that the book has been republished, and we now have plenty of copies for sale at the Andalusia gift shop. The reissue features a plastic cover, which will be much more durable and stain resistant than the previous edition. Everything else is the same - all those recipes for the dishes the O'Connors loved at their favorite restaurant. If, after reading Brad Gooch's biography of Flannery, you have a hankering to try the Sanford House's famous fried shrimp (one of Flannery's favorites) or their signature peppermint chiffon pie, pick up a copy of the Sanford House Cookbook for yourself or give one to someone you love for Christmas. It makes a wonderful present for anyone who may remember the Milledgeville eatery and misses its tasty vittles.
- Mark

It's Beginning to Smell a lot like Christmas

The day is bright, the air is crisp, and the Andalusia farm house is redolent with apples and cinnamon. In keeping with a holiday tradition, master muller Craig has brewed up a pot of his famous mulled cider. As delectable as it smells, his secret concoction is not for human consumption. It is brewing in a crock pot in the kitchen simply to delight the olfactory senses of our visitors and put everybody in the Christmas spirit. If you've never visited Andalusia now would be a perfect time to do so. Not only is the house decked out for the holidays (if you consider a wreath on the door as being decked out), but without quite so many visitors as we get in the summer, we are able to spend more time with our guests. Christmas is, indeed, the most wonderful time of the year on the farm.
- Mark

Leftovers

What you see in Tupperware containers at the right is what many of us will be having for dinner the next few days. I love leftovers, maybe even more than the Thanksgiving dinner itself. So today I thought I'd serve up some leftovers from a previous blog. A couple weeks ago I mentioned that during my two plus years working at Andalusia I've become more keenly aware of how death is the engine of life and that all of us - whether we care to admit it or not - are dependent upon the death of another creature for our existence. This pertains as much to the life of the spirit as to our physical lives. As Craig once told a group visiting the farm, in Flannery O'Connor's novels and stories there is no redemption without violence (think of the grandmother in A Good Man Is Hard to Find or Ruby Turpin in Revelation). I would take that even further and assert that in O'Connor's fiction there is no life without death, even if it is a metaphoric dying to self and rising to new life. Again, think of Ruby Turpin or O.E. Parker in Parker's Back where, at the end of the story, the title character is splayed cruciform on a pecan tree. Now this blog is not the place for literary criticism or theological musings. My purpose here is simply to evoke a sense of life as it is presently being lived at Andalusia and as it was, as they say, "back in the day." However, as a Catholic thoroughly steeped in the Christian narrative and from what she observed almost daily on the farm, Flannery O'Connor had an acute awareness of the dependency of life upon death, and this is certainly reflected in her art.
- Mark

Gobblers' Grove

To get you in the spirit things, I thought I'd post a picture Craig took out here several years ago. Sights like this are not uncommon at Andalusia during the late fall. Turkeys must know that they are safe on our front lawn. If I were a turkey, this is where I'd want to be, too. Lots of acorns on the ground and not a hunter in sight. Whether you're having turkey or tofu, we wish you and those you love a fabulous Thanksgiving feast.
- Mark

Such Sights Colder

Just when I thought the fall couldn't get any prettier, my drive into work today from Macon was simply breathtaking. The burnished beauty of the Georgia woods in early-mid November is something to behold. Most people justifiably marvel at the beauty of springtime in the midstate, but I happen to think that fall is our prettiest time of the year. As I neared the farm with the sun shining off the hickories, maples, and tulip poplars, I thought of Gerard Manley Hopkins' elegiac poem, Spring and Fall. Hopkins, by the way, was one of Flannery's favorite poets, and she no doubt resonated with this verse as she looked out her bedroom window:

"Margaret, are you grieving
Over Goldengrove unleaving?
Leaves, like the things of man, you
With your fresh thoughts care for, can you?
Ah! as the heart grows older
It will come to such sights colder
By and by, nor spare a sigh
Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie;
And yet you will weep and know why.
Now no matter, child, the name:
Sorrow's springs are the same.
Nor mouth had, no nor mind, expressed
What héart héard of, ghóst guéssed:
It is the blight man was born for,
It is Margaret you mourn for.

Alas, amidst the beauty that surrounds us here, life on this farm is a constant reminder of death. In the short time I've been at Andalusia I've become more keenly aware how death is the engine of life. All creatures, ourselves included, are dependent upon the death of another, for our survival (even if we're vegans). Last week, we lost one of our guineas to a hungry fox or a coyote. The night before last the same fate befell another hen. We are down to three birds now and are doing what we can to keep them safe. Admittedly, our options are limited.
- Mark

They're Back!

Redline Express, one of the hottest bluegrass bands in this area, will again be performing tomorrow at Andalusia from 5:00-8:00 p.m. Pack a picnic basket, bring a lawn chair, and come on out and enjoy some fantastic music. Don't want all the fuss? No problem. Hamburgers and hot dogs fresh off the grill will be available for a small charge. For those who want to soak up a little literary culture, the main house will be open and, prior to the concert, there will be a guided tour of the nature trail at 4:00 led by environmentalist Louis Kaduk. This is the seventh year we have hosted a bluegrass concert at Andalusia, and it remains one of our most popular fundraising events. If you are in the area - or even if you're not - I hope you'll think about coming out for a toe-tapping good time. At the same time you'll be supporting the restoration and preservation work we're doing here at the farm.
- Mark

Kindling Creativity

This morning we are hosting a group of middle school students enrolled in Georgia College's "Early College," a program designed by the university to serve at-risk children in Baldwin County. As I write, 51 youngsters have already toured the house and are now exploring the Andalusia property. They have been tasked by university student leaders with creative writing projects. One leader asked her students to write a short essay imagining what Andalusia will look like in 100 years. How will this place have changed if you were to visit the farm in 2111? It is a beautiful fall day, and the children seem excited to be here. After enjoying a snack on the grounds, they will soon be going back to Georgia College for lunch. This is the third year we have been involved with GCSU's "Early College," and we are happy to participate as it is entirely consistent with the foundation's mission of educational outreach. We hope that our "Early College" learners had a positive experience here and that they will be inspired to do more reading and writing.
- Mark

Guinea Gambol

As you can see in the picture to the right, our guinea fowl are getting used to their new environs at Andalusia. On Monday, we released the birds from their temporary pen. The first day they explored the farm, spending a good bit of the afternoon outside our office window munching berries. Later in the day we went outside to see what they were up to and were surprised to discover that they had wandered back into the pen on their own. We decided that maybe they were telling us something and that they needed to spend the night in the safety of the shelter. Tuesday morning we let them out again, and they have been outside the enclosure ever since. While they gobble up the cracked corn I strew on the ground, the guineas also enjoy foraging in the grass for insects and other tasty treats. So far, our little flock of five has stayed together, and this is reassuring to us as there is safety in numbers. Besides roaming around the perimeter of the main house, the birds have also checked out the the roof. They've flown up there only once that I am aware of, and it was a bit of an adventure for them. When they landed on the slanted metal roof they couldn't keep their footing and slid down it like it was a ski slope. Nevertheless, it was good to see them fly, for it gives us a tad more confidence that they will be able to evade potential predators. Hopefully, their gambol outside the pen this week will not prove to have been too much of a gamble on our part.
- Mark

Flannery in the White City

What a wonderful time we had at the Flannery O'Connor conference in Chicago last week! The conference at Loyola University featured some of the heavy-weights in Flannery O'Connor studies, and it was a pleasure to get to meet some of these scholars. The four days we were in Chicago were an absolute delight. The weather was sunny and warm, affording us the opportunity to take in Windy City sights such as the Art Institute, Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House, and a good many other iconic buildings in this city renowned for its architecture. The site of the conference - Loyola University's Water Tower campus on Michigan Ave. (pictured to the left of the water tower) - provided magnificent vistas of the Chicago skyline. From our perch atop the 17th floor of Lewis Towers, we could see the John Hancock Building in the near distance as well as the other landmarks dotting the "Magnificent Mile." No trip to Chicago would be complete without sampling some of the city's gastronomic delicacies. We had some fabulous meals there, including a lunch of classic Chicago hot dogs on the last day. As much fun as all this was, the purpose of our being there was to promote Andalusia and further our understanding of the philosophical and theological influences in Flannery O'Connor's work. To that end, the Loyola conference was a success. While most of the presentations were first rate, the plenary address by Susan Srigley on Flannery O'Connor and Martin Buber was outstanding. What I enjoyed most, however, was meeting new friends who enthusiastically shared with us their love for Flannery O'Connor. Last and certainly not least, I would be remiss if I did not thank the Flannery O'Connor-Andalusia Foundation for making this trip possible.
- Mark

We Did It!

For the last month or so Craig and I have been keeping careful track of attendance figures, as it looked like there was a possibility we could set a record for 2011. And yesterday it happened when, for the first time in the foundation's history, we topped 5,000 visitors for a fiscal year! It is truly a remarkable feat when you consider the state of the nation's economy and the fact that this past summer - normally one of our busiest times - was the hottest in Georgia's history. Thanks to all of you, the more than 27,000 folks who have visited Andalusia since we opened to the public and who continue to support us in so many ways.
- Mark

That Toddlin' Town

With the Flannery O'Connor Conference at Loyola University just around the corner, Craig and I will be jetting up to Chicago next Wednesday to participate in this symposium that focuses on the theological and philosophical influences in Flannery O'Connor's writings. Having a background in theology myself, I am particularly looking forward to Revelation and Convergence: Flannery O'Connor Among the Philosophers and Theologians. The conference runs from October 6-8. For more information click http://www.loyolaoconnorconference2011.com/ If you're planning to attend, stop by the Andalusia table and say hi. We look forward to seeing you.
- Mark

Flannery's Stud

No, this post is not going to be about Erik Langkjaer, the Danish textbook salesman that stole Flannery's heart. In fact, the admirer I'm referring to never even met O'Connor. Their differences couldn't have been greater. Unlike Flannery, he hailed from the North, was as Chicago as deep-dish pizza, and an agnostic (or a "cowardly atheist," as he deprecatingly called himself). And yet, for all their differences, the legendary disk jockey, actor, and oral historian Studs Terkel was a big fan of Flannery O'Connor. In his autobiography, Touch and Go, Terkel cites O'Connor's writings as being a major influence in his life and work. Having recently finished this book, I was surprised by the number of times Terkel mentions O'Connor. Specifically, it was her short story "The River" that was something of an epiphany for him. In the story the main character is a little boy named Harry/Bevel who is ignored and neglected by parents who could have come right out of a Tennessee Williams play. One day he is taken by his babysitter to a religious revival down by a red, muddy river. He decides to be baptized and is told by the preacher that now he counts. Terkel kept coming back to this story because he thought that this is what every human being wants most: to count. Of course, he and O'Connor would disagree on how that goal is achieved (O'Connor emphasizes sacramental grace), but I don't think it's too much of a stretch to say that, without Flannery O'Connor, we might not have such classics as Working and Hard Times, where the real-life stories of little guys struggling to count are recalled in the memorable prose of Studs Terkel.
- Mark

Perennial Bestseller

Paul Elie's excellent four-subject biography, The Life You Save May Be Your Own, came out eight years ago, and it remains one of our best-selling books in the Andalusia gift shop. Elie, a senior editor at Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, tells the story of four twentieth-century Catholic writers - Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton, Walker Percy, and Flannery O'Connor - whose lives rarely intersected and yet all shared a common vocation to holiness. According to a review in Publishers Weekly, these authors, whose work was steeped in their shared Catholic faith, "come together in this masterful interplay of biography and literary criticism. Elie...lays open the lives and writings of the monk Thomas Merton, Catholic Worker founder Dorothy Day, and novelists Flannery O'Connor and Walker Percy. Drawing comparisons between their backgrounds, temperaments, circumstances and words, he reveals 'four like-minded writers' whose work took the shape of a movement. Though they produced no manifesto, ... they were unified as pilgrims moving toward the same destination while taking different paths. As they sought truth through their writing, he observes, they provided 'patterns of experience' that future pilgrims could read into their lives. This volume (the title is taken from a short story of the same name by O'Connor) is an ambitious undertaking and one that could easily have become ponderous, but Elie's presentation of the material is engaging and thoughtful, inspiring reflection and further study. Beginning with four separate figures joined only by their Catholicism and their work as writers, he deftly connects them, using their correspondence, travels, places of residence, their religious experiences and their responses to the tumultuous events of their times." On a personal note, I can only concur with the PW reviewer. After finishing Elie's book, I was inspired to read Dorothy Day's The Long Loneliness and since then have been re-reading many of Merton's works that have been sitting on my bookshelf for decades.
- Mark

Pea-cocktails

I may have mentioned before on this blog that Flannery O'Connor used to give each child who visited Andalusia a peacock feather as a souvenir. We get visitors from time to time who came out here when they were youngsters and still have the feathers Flannery game them. While we wish we could do the same for our visitors today, we just don't have enough birds to make it possible for us to hand out peacock feathers. Remember, Flannery had as many as fifty birds out here at one time, and we have only three. However, since many people have told us they would like to have one, we are now pleased to offer for sale a limited number of feathers from our own peacock, Manley Pointer. These iridescent pinions are only $5.00 each and make a wonderful remembrance of your visit to Andalusia. Speaking of visiting Andalusia, now would be a perfect time to do so. The summer heat is behind us and the last few days have been absolutely delightful. The weather is so nice today that we were able to turn off the air conditioners and keep the front door open.
- Mark

Book Blast

There are two sure signs fall is on the way - hay bales in the front pasture at Andalusia and the Decatur Book Festival this weekend. As in the past two years, Craig will be setting up a booth at the fair tomorrow morning. He is bringing with him lots of Andalusia souvenirs such as our new and very popular Murder, Mayhem, and Misfits t-shirts. There will also be stuff for the children including the Andalusia coloring book. If you're planning to go, stop by booth 509 and say hi. Sharing the booth with Craig will be Bruce Gentry, editor of the Flannery O'Connor Review and the Flannery O'Connor scholar at Georgia College. Bruce will have copies of the Review for sale as well as other GCSU publications. In addition to these two luminaries, The Decatur Book Festival will be featuring folks like Roy Blount Jr., Terry Brooks, Charles Frazier, Kinky Friedman and Natasha Tretheway. Finally, I need to put in a plug for my friend, Carl McColman, who will be speaking Sunday afternoon at 2:30 at City Hall Stage. Carl is the author of twelve books exploring spirituality from a variety of perspectives. He will be talking about his most recent book, the aptly titled, The Big Book of Christian Mysticism: The Essential Guide to Contemplative Spirituality. For more information on the Decatur Book Festival, check out their website www.decaturbookfestival.com.
- Mark

Nevermore?

According to a recent article in the New York Times, the Baltimore home where author Edgar Allan Poe lived from 1833 to 1835 is in peril. The house museum sits in the middle of a housing project far off the usual tourist path. Due to budget cuts, the city last year completely eliminated financial support. Since then, the Poe house has been operating on reserve funds which are projected to dry up by early next summer. The city of Baltimore has hired consultants to help the Poe house come up with a business plan to make the museum financially self-sufficient. Ideas on the table include updating exhibits to attract more visitors (the Poe house and museum currently gets about 5,000 visitors per year). What does all this have to do with Flannery O'Connor and Andalusia? A lot! For one thing, Edgar Allan Poe was such a huge influence on O'Connor. It is truly heartbreaking to contemplate the possible closure of his home. God forbid that we might face a similar dilemma at Andalusia. And yet, one cannot help but be concerned because of the similarities between the two writers' residences. Like Poe's home, Andalusia sits well off the beaten track, perhaps even more so, and we get about the same number of visitors per year as they do. Fortunately, we are not reliant upon government funding to stay afloat and have so far managed to weather the tough economic downturn of the last three years through the generosity of our Friends.

It is imperative, however, that we expand this base of support if we are to remain viable in the future. Unlike Poe's home in Baltimore (or that of practically any other author you can think of ), Andalusia presents us with a unique set of challenges. Not only do we have the main house where the author lived to preserve, but all the other structures that sit on this 544 acre tract as well, some of which will collapse if more funding cannot be procured to restore them. And it is vital that we do so because Andalusia is a very special place. Not only was it where Flannery O'Connor lived and wrote, but it was the very source of her inspiration. This farm and daily life out hereso fueled O'Connor's imagination that it is impossible to read a great number of her stories and not picture Andalusia. Your continued financial support of our work is vital if we are to preserve this major literary landmark for future generations.
- Mark

Hot off the Press!

Good news for our visitors who have been asking when the latest issue of the Flannery O'Connor Review is coming out. It's here! Yesterday afternoon, editor Bruce Gentry brought over ten new copies of this, the longest-running journal dedicated exclusively to the work of a female writer. This attractive and lavishly illustrated magazine features articles on O'Connor's ecological vision, an interview with Milledgeville native and big-time author, Pete Dexter, as well as an essay by William Walsh on Wise Blood, the novel and its film adaptation by John Huston. The photographs accompanying this essay of the filming of Wise Blood are worth the price of the Review. There are also book reviews by noted O'Connor scholars Margaret Earley Whitt, Gary Ciuba, Robert Donahoo, Avis Hewitt, and the indefatigable Bruce Gentry. As suggested above, supplies are limited, so if you are interested in obtaining a copy of the 2011 Flannery O'Connor Review, please visit our gift shop or call us at 478-454-4029.
- Mark

Falling Feathers

It's that time of year when our peafowl are molting. This morning I filled a wheelbarrow with feathers, mostly from the male, Manley Pointer. He looks pretty scraggly right now with his remaining feathers jutting out from his body at odd angles. On Wednesday while I was at the dentist's office, I happened to pick up a National Geographic (Feb. 2011) that featured a story on birds and their plumage. Accompanying this story was a picture of a peacock in full feather. The caption said that the peacock was the one bird that confounded British naturalist, Charles Darwin (pictured at right). He couldn't understand for the life of him how the bird evolved the way it did. What could possibly be the purpose of something so impractical as the long train of feathers on the male of the species? Darwin could see no utilitarian purpose. In fact, they are less than useless in that they inhibit quick flight from predators. If Darwin's theory of natural selection is true, the peacock's showy feathers should have disappeared eons ago or else the species would have disappeared. Perhaps unwilling to consider the possibility that the Creator made the species simply out of sheer delight in its beauty, Darwin appeased his curiosity with the rather pedestrian conclusion that the male has kept his plumage over time as a way of propagating the species. From my personal observation of our birds at Andalusia, I think Darwin is pushing it a little bit. Many times have I seen Manly with his shimmering feathers fanned the width of the aviary and the females pay him absolutely no attention.
- Mark

The Last Letter

Yesterday marked the 47th anniversary of Flannery O'Connor's death. Ever the faithful letter writer, Flannery continued to correspond with her friends almost up to the end. According to Sally Fitzgerald, O'Connor's last letters are deceptively light, even playful, in tone (see The Habit of Being, p. 560). Most correspondents didn't realize just how sick she was. Yet her chief concern throughout these final letters was finishing work on her second collection of short stories, Everything That Rises Must Converge. Nevertheless, as O'Connor penned these words to her friends, there is an undercurrent of sorrow over the inevitable separation that would occur. On July 28, 1964, Flannery wrote her last letter. This note to Maryat Lee, written in a "shaky, nearly illegible hand" (Brad Gooch, Flannery: A Life of Flannery O'Connor, p. 367) is in response to an anonymous crank call Lee received and reveals O'Connor's deep concern for her friend's well being:
Cowards can be just as vicious as those who declare themselves - more so. Dont take any romantic attitude toward that call. Be properly scared and go on doing what you have to do, but take the necessary precautions. And call the police. That might be a lead for them. Dont know when I'll send those stories. I've felt too bad to type them. Cheers, Tarfunk
(The Habit of Being, p. 596)
- Mark

Sizzling Summer Sale

Come on out, folks, to our sizzling summer sale! Several of our books have been drastically reduced for clearance. If you've been waiting to get your copy of Writers of the American South now is your chance to get this book regularly priced at $35 for just $25. The ever popular guide book to writers' homes, Novel Destinations, is now on sale for the ridiculously low price of $9.95. And if that weren't enough, we've slashed the price of the beautifully photographed Georgia Icons: 50 Classic Views of the Peach State to the unheard of price of $12.95. While you're shopping, don't forget bumper stickers. These are among the most popular items in our gift shop and sell for $4 each or two for $7. How do we do it, you ask? Volume, volume, volume. So, friends, hurry on out to the Andalusia gift shop where our prices are as hot as the weather.
- Mark

"...the worst book I have ever read."

In a letter to her friend, Betty Hester, written fifty years ago today, Flannery O'Connor mentions that Houghton Mifflin had sent her the galley to the soon-to-be published novel, Clock Without Hands, by Carson McCullers (pictured at right). With tongue firmly in cheek, O'Connor remarks that "this long-awaited-by-the-faithful book will come out in September." She goes on to say that "it is the worst book I have ever read. It is incredible. If you want to read it, I will send it to you. It must signal the complete disintegration of this woman's talent. I have forgotten how the other three were, but they were at least respectable from the writing standpoint." (The Habit of Being, p. 445-446). This is classic O'Connor. If she loved something she praised it to the hilt. If she didn't care for a piece of writing it was the worst thing ever. There was no in-between. Also, Flannery had a tendency to castigate writers she grudgingly admired or was influenced by (e.g. Erskine Caldwell). Finally, it is worth pointing out as we suffer through one of the hottest summers on record, that in this letter (as in most of her correspondence), Flannery doesn't complain about the weather or even her health. What really irks her is bad writing, or what she perceives to be bad writing.
- Mark

Beat the Heat

The cartoon at the right pretty much captures what it's felt like around here for, say, the last two months. The massive heat wave reached its apex on Wednesday with a heat index of 110. As luck would have it, this was the same day novelist Ann Napolitano came to give a reading from her new book, A Good Hard Look. In order to make the house as comfortable as possible for her and our guests, we drew the window shades and shut off lights in the afternoon to try to conserve whatever coolness we could. Undaunted by the sauna-like conditions, 22 intrepid souls showed up at 7:00 to hear Ms. Napolitano's delightfully engaging presentation, which she cut a bit short due to the sweltering conditions in the dining room. After a brief Q&A session, visitors were treated to ice-cold lemonade and delicious home-baked cookies from one of our dedicated volunteers. Ms. Napolitano graciously stayed to sign books and chat with the folks. We've all been staggered by the heat, even the peafowl. Since the species is from India they normally withstand the heat better than the rest of us. Today it is cloudy and mercifully cooler so our birds are a lot happier. And so are we!
- Mark

Living with Lupus

Anyone familiar with Flannery O'Connor's life knows that the author was stricken with the disease lupus erythematosus when she was 25 years old, eventually succumbing fourteen years later. Many visitors to Andalusia ask us about the nature of this disease, how if affected O'Connor, and the medicine she took to combat it. While neither Craig nor I claim to have expertise in this field, we tell folks that lupus is an auto-immune disease that is hereditary (Flannery's father died of lupus at the age of 44, just two years after being diagnosed) and is still, to this day, incurable. One might think of it as being the opposite of HIV, where the body's immune system shuts down altogether. According to webmd.com, "Lupus ... is a disease of the immune system. Normally, the immune system protects the body from infection. In lupus, however, the immune system inappropriately attacks tissues in various parts of the body. This abnormal activity leads to tissue damage and illness." For O'Connor the damaged tissue was her hip joints which made walking very difficult. As the photo to the right shows, she needed crutches to get around. It was due to the physical limitations imposed by the disease that Flannery and her mother moved to Andalusia in the first place. The family farm made it possible for them to set up housekeeping on the first floor to accommodate Flannery with her physical disabilities. Originally diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, O'Connor lived with lupus much longer than anyone expected. She managed to stay alive with daily, high dose injections of ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone, derived from the pituitary glands of pigs) and cortisone. Notwithstanding, she lived with quite a bit of pain. Yet one of the most remarkable features of her letters is how little she says about her personal suffering. Indeed, in typical Flannery fashion, she makes self-deprecating quips about her illness and the painful treatments she was undergoing, as in this letter to her friend, Maryat Lee: "I owe my existence and cheerful countenance to the pituitary glands of thousands of pigs butchered daily in Chicago, Illinois at the Armour packing plant. If pigs wore garments I wouldn't be worthy to kiss the hems of them." (Brad Gooch: Flannery: A Life of Flannery O'Connor, p. 193; photo credit: Joe McTyre)
- Mark

A Good Hard Look

On July 13th, author Ann Napolitano pictured to the right (photo credit: Nicola Dove) will be at Andalusia to read from her soon-to-be published novel, A Good Hard Look, and will sign copies afterwards. All are invited to attend this reading, which will take place at 7 p.m. As implied by the title, Ms. Napolitano's book has direct relevance to, and was inspired by, the life and work of Flannery O'Connor. In fact, O'Connor is a character in the novel. Flannery O'Connor was such a fascinating individual that it's not surprising that she has been fictionalized by other authors. Those who attended our February lecture series in 2010 may recall Michael Bishop reading from his fanciful short story, "The Road Leads Back," in which even O'Connor's crutches take on a life of their own. Who knows what surprises lay in store for readers of A Good Hard Look. We look forward to welcoming Ms. Napolitano to Andalusia and hope we'll have a good turnout for her reading. For more information about this event and the author please visit our website http://andalusiafarm.org/news_events/napolitano_visit.html
- Mark