Flannery's Spiritual Home

Occasionally our visitors are surprised to learn that there are actually Catholics in Milledgeville.  We tell them that indeed there are and, while still very much a religious minority, their presence can be traced to the first part of the nineteenth century.  Indeed, Flannery O'Connor's great-grandfather Hugh Donnelly Treanor, who emigrated from Ireland in 1824 and became a prosperous grist mill operator, was one of the founding members of Sacred Heart Catholic Church.  In fact, as O'Connor later reported, "Mass was first said here in my great-grandfather's hotel room, later in his home on the piano." (The Habit of Being, p. 520).  After Treanor died, his widow donated the land on which Sacred Heart Catholic Church now stands.  It is said that when the hotel where that first mass was celebrated was demolished in 1874, the bricks were used to build the church.  Sacred Heart was, of course, a very important place for Flannery.  Not only were her parents married and buried out of the church, but it was the locus of her daily communion.  Every morning following coffee, Flannery and her mother would get in the car and drive down to the corner of Jefferson and Hancock for the 7:00 mass.  According to one parishioner, "Flannery sat in the fifth pew on the right side." (Gooch, Flannery: A Life of Flannery O'Connor, p. 223).  Even on Sundays she and her mother liked to go to the first mass of the day.  She once quipped, "I like to go to early mass so I won't have to dress up - combining the 7th Deadly Sin with the Sunday obligation."  These days the first mass is celebrated a bit later - 9:00 a.m.  Whether you are Catholic or not, the good people of Sacred Heart are always happy to welcome visitors and will gladly show you Flannery's spiritual home.
- Mark

Door Decor

Though it is reported that the O'Connors did very little decorating for Christmas - we're not sure they even put up a tree - we do think Flannery would be pleased with the new peacock wreath we ordered for the front door.  Craig puts it well on the Facebook page: "The front door at Andalusia is all dressed up for the holidays! Was there any doubt about what kind of wreath we would use? And just for the record, our fine feathered friends here at the farm did not have to sacrifice any plumage for this beautiful decoration."  Nevertheless Mary Grace, Joy/Hulga, and Manley Pointer join us in wishing you all the happiest of  holidays.
- Mark

Flann's Fan

While it's fairly well known that Flannery O'Connor has influenced a number of contemporary cultural icons (e.g. Bruce Springsteen, Conan O'Brien, Tommy Lee Jones), she has also inspired some notable modern writers. Starting today, I'd like to focus on a few of these authors.  The first is Heather King, a non-fiction writer I was introduced to this year.  In her own words, Heather is "an ex-barfly, ex-lawyer, Catholic convert with three memoirs: Parched (the dark years); Redeemed (crawling toward the light); and Shirt of Flame (my year of wandering around Koreatown, L.A. 'with' St. Therese of Lisieux, a cloistered 19th-c. French nun). I write, I speak, I teach, I explore the confluence of creativity and transcendence; the sacred and the profane; the weird, the wonderful, and the wacky."  With a writer who is drawn to the "confluence of creativity and transcendence" is it any wonder then that she counts Flannery O'Connor as her literary muse?  There are others, but if you go to Heather's blog you will see that Flannery tops the list of her "patron saints."  Like O'Connor, Heather King has a wonderful sense of humor combined with a depth of spiritual understanding.  She is a splendid writer whose books I cannot recommend highly enough.
- Mark

Mulling it Over

I'm sitting here in front of a blank screen wondering what I'm going to write about this week.  Hmmm.  There's been so much going on at Andalusia lately.  Should I blog about the Bluegrass concert last Saturday? What about the herd of deer that are grazing on the front lawn munching the bumper crop of acorns? Then again I could write about Fr. Methodius, one of the monks at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit, who visited the farm yesterday.  Gosh, I can't seem to come up with anything.  Maybe I'm distracted by the intoxicating aroma of apple cider mulling in the crock pot in the kitchen.  Perhaps we're a bit early, but we couldn't wait to get the holidays underway with our annual tradition of keeping a pot of mulled cider brewing during operating hours.  The house smells delightful.  It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving will be here next week. We will be closed in observance of the holiday on Thursday, but the rest of the week we will be open during regular hours.  Craig joins me in wishing you and those  you love a very happy Thanksgiving.
- Mark

Ornamental Birds

It's hard to believe the holidays are fast approaching, but with Thanksgiving less than two weeks away, Christmas won't be far behind.  Therefore, it isn't too soon to start thinking about decorating your tree. And what could be a more colorful touch or a better souvenir of Andalusia than one of these iridescent blue peacock ornaments?  Each one is crafted from glass and accented with gold, silver, and amber glitter and features the signature eye-like design of a peacock's feathers (size: 3.25" H). We just put them out on display yesterday and already have sold several.  If you're coming to the Bluegrass concert tomorrow, the gift shop will be open and you can pick yours up then. Otherwise, call us or stop by during our regular hours to purchase yours for only $6.99 ea.
- Mark

No Bluffing Bob

Recently in this blog I have been featuring people who influenced Flannery O'Connor or encouraged her in her art.  Today, I would like to profile her editor, Robert Giroux. There is so much one could say about him.  He was loved and respected by virtually all who knew him.  Some time after Giroux's death in 2008, I read a piece by a young woman who had been an intern at Farrar, Strauss, & Giroux.  She was hardly someone the publisher of the likes of T.S. Eliot, Thomas Merton, Walker Percy, and Alexander Solzhenitsyn would notice, much less speak to.  Yet, she shared her memories about how Giroux encouraged and inspired her in the publishing business.  When this woman was offered an editorial position with another firm, she was torn because she didn't want to leave FSG.  She talked to Giroux about her dilemma, and he encouraged her to take the opportunity.  Her story is not unique.  Giroux had a real eye for talent, and when he noticed it he was the best editor a writer could hope to have.  Perhaps this is one reason O'Connor decided to leave her first publisher, Rinehart, and go with Giroux who was then at Harcourt Brace.  Giroux had an uncanny ability to recognize a true writer after just one meeting.  Such was the case when he met Flannery.  He knew right away she was not only a competent writer, but one of a very high order.  He was also impressed that she seemed to know what she wanted to do in her fiction. In an interview done near the end of his life, Giroux said "Good writers, I mean, people who are going to be successful, know what they want to do.  They're not confused or wondering about this or that or irrelevant decisions - it's life with a target.  And she [O'Connor] had that quality.  And  you also knew that if she started a job, she'd finish it.  It was competence, the sort that's unexpected." (At Home with Flannery O'Connor: An Oral History, p.86).  Giroux knew that Flannery was the real deal.  There was no"bluff" with her.  Nor was there with  him.  During Giroux's memorial service at the Columbia University chapel four years ago, Paul Elie, an editor at FSG, remarked, "It is tempting to float an analogy between his death and the death of a certain kind of publishing. But the fact is that his kind of publishing was rare in his own time, and so was he."
- Mark

A Saint for Modern Times

While doing some research for my blog post last week, I discovered quite by accident that Flannery O'Connor used to subscribe to the Catholic Worker, the weekly newspaper founded by Dorothy Day in 1933.  This factoid caught my attention for two reasons.  First, I just finished Jim Forest's superb biography of Day, All is Grace.  Second, even though O'Connor was a voracious reader, I was surprised to find out that she would take a publication that espoused views that often contradicted her own.  In a 1956 letter to Betty Hester, O'Connor asked, "Do you see the Catholic Worker?  It irritates me considerably because I don't go for the pacifist-anarchist business, but every now and then you will find something fine in it." (The Habit of Being p. 173).  At times Dorothy Day herself  took actions that O'Connor could not countenance, as for instance when she visited Koinonia, the Christian agricultural community in Americus, Georgia.  Near the end of her visit to the farm, Dorothy Day was nearly killed when a drive-by sniper shot at her car.  When Flannery heard about this terrifying incident she quipped to her friend Betty Hester: "All my thoughts on this subject are ugly and uncharitable - such as: that's a mighty long way to come to get shot at, etc.  I admire her [Day] very much.  I still think of the story about the Tennessee hillbilly who picked up his gun and said, 'I'm going to Texas to fight fuhmuh rights'...I wish somebody would write something sensible about Koinonia - as  you say it is something regressive which is getting all the benefit of martyrdom.  I think they should be allowed to live in peace but that they deserve all this exaltation I highly doubt.  D.D. [Dorothy Day] wrote up her trip there in the CW [Catholic Worker], which I duly enclose  It would have been all right if she hadn't had to stick in her plug for Their Way of Life for Everybody." (The Habit of Being, pp. 218-220).  Though Flannery remained conflicted about Dorothy Day and the work she was doing, she kept up her subscription to the Catholic Worker, and it was in the pages of that paper that she discovered the Prayer to St. Raphael, the prayer that ever afterward she repeated before she went to bed at night.

Every now and then, the idea gets kicked around that Flannery should be canonized.  While that is probably not going to happen in my lifetime, the official process is well underway in the Church to recognize Dorothy Day.  Because of her lifetime of care and advocacy for the poor, the forsaken, the hungry, and the homeless, Dorothy Day is indeed a saint for modern times.  However, when Day was approached once and told that some people considered her a saint, she replied "Don't call me a saint - I don't want to be dismissed so easily."  One can imagine O'Connor repeating these words to those today who wish to beatify her.
- Mark

Country Hitchin'

It's a beautiful fall day here at Andalusia, much like it was two weeks ago when Stephanie Smith and Vince Vaughn were united in marriage on the front lawn in a beautiful ceremony at sunset.  Though we're aware of at least a couple wedding receptions out here in the past, this is the first time in the Foundation's history that a couple has ever tied the knot on the premises. I have sometimes wondered why it's taken this long.  You couldn't ask for a prettier place to have a wedding and, for a Flannery O'Connor fan like Stephanie Vaughn, why Andalusia is just about perfect.  In honor of the setting, the bride chose dresses for her attendants in peacock hues of  blue, purple, green, and copper.  Each of the ladies had peacock feathers in  her hair and the bride carried some of the colorful plumes in her bouquet.  Even the wedding cake was decorated with peacocks.  Now that's an O'Connor fan!  You can see more photos from the wedding and reception by clicking this link.  Congratulations Stephanie and thank you for sharing your wedding pictures.  Thank you, too, for your kind words on Facebook.  All of us here at Andalusia wish you and Vince many happy years together. 
- Mark

"What about the picture in the dining room?"

With the interest that last week's post generated, I thought I would devote this week's to another piece of art visitors to Andalusia sometimes ask us about: the framed picture over the living room/dining room mantle.  Though a bit water-stained, it is a print of the painting "Crossing a Highland Loch," by the nineteenth-century British painter Jacob Thompson.  Finished in 1858, the title of the composition is a bit misleading as it looks more like the travelers depicted are crossing the cow pond at Andalusia rather than a lake in the Scottish highlands.  Though largely forgotten today, Thompson was a popular artist in his day, and his work was much in demand.  Born in 1806 to a family of prosperous Quakers, he decided early on that he wanted to pursue a career as an artist.  Unfortunately, he received no encouragement from his father who believed his son ought to find something more practical to do with his life.  So he was soon apprenticed to a house painter to learn that trade.  In his spare time, however, Thompson continued to cultivate his talent as a landscape painter.   He soon attracted the notice of Lord Lonsdale who introduced the young artist to the painter Sir Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830).  With this valuable connection Thompson managed to get accepted into the Royal Academy of Art.  He started exhibiting his work in 1824.   From the very beginning of his career until he made his last brush stroke, Thompson cleaved to a rather prosaic, academic style that evinces little artistic growth or maturity.   After living in retirement forty years, Jacob Thompson died on  Dec. 27, 1879. 
- Mark

Schmalz[y] Art

Occasionally visitors to Andalusia ask us about the painting in Flannery's room by Robert Hood.  On Tuesday, however, someone asked me about the picture in the upstairs guest room.  I must admit that I drew a blank, mainly because I hadn't been upstairs in a while and thus had a hard time recalling it.  After this visitor left, I ran upstairs to take a look at the painting she was referring to.  I then did a Google search and discovered that our picture is a print of the painting, Return from Calvary, by the relatively unknown British artist, Gustave Schmalz. Relatively unknown among Pre-Raphaelite painters, Schmalz's art is characterized by an overwrought emotionalism that some, with our jaded 21st-century sensibilities, find repugnant.  Be that as it may, Schmalz's work was quite popular in its day.  He was born in England in 1856, the son of a German father and English mother.  He received his art training at the South Kensington School of Art and later at the Royal Academy of Arts.  He studied with Frank Dicksee, Stanhope Forbes, and Arthur Hacker.  He then went to Antwerp to perfect his style of conventional history painting.  After a trip to Jerusalem in 1890, Schmalz created a series of paintings with New Testament themes, Return from Calvary (1891) being his best known piece.  In the late 1890s Schmalz switched to painting portraits.  In 1900 an exhibition of his work was held at the Fine Art Society on Bond Street in London.  He was friends with other English artists including William Holman Hunt, Val Prinsep, and Frederic Leighton.  After Germany was defeated in World War I, Schmalz changed his name to John Wilson Carmichael.  He continued to be active in London until his death in 1935. 
- Mark

Lord Weary

Though not a bridge player myself, I do occasionally glance at The Aces on Bridge column in the newspaper because it often contains some interesting quotes.  Today, for instance, I came across this quote from the poet Robert Lowell: "I am tired.  Everyone's tired of my turmoil."  Poor Robert Lowell.  The writer suffered terribly from manic depression and his inner "turmoil" greatly concerned his friends, including Flannery O'Connor.  Lowell, who Flannery got to know during her stay at Yadoo, recognized her genius at once and encouraged her in her writing.  He also introduced her to fellow poet Robert Fitzgerald and his wife, Sally, who were to become so crucial in O'Connor's life and career.  Equally profound was Lowell's introduction of her to Robert Giroux, a junior editor at Harcourt Brace who later would add Flannery to Harcourt's growing stable of stars - including such luminaries as Jean Stafford (Lowell's first wife), T.S. Eliot, Hannah Arendt, and Robert Lowell himself.  As the years went by Flannery became increasingly worried about her friend's mental disintegration.  Yet through it all, according to Brad Gooch, Cal Lowell would "remain one of the rare souls for whom [Flannery] felt a lifelong affection." (Flannery: A Life of Flannery O'Connor, p. 6).

- Mark

It's Here!

A couple months ago I mentioned in this blog that the log-awaited book Flannery O'Connor: The Cartoons had just been published by Fantagraphics.  What I didn't say was that this handsome book is now on sale at the Andalusia gift shop for the modest price of $22.99.  A real bargain for a hard-bound book full of not only Flannery's cartoons, but also photographs from her time at Georgia State College for Women, and interpretive essays on the cartoons by Barry Moser and the book's editor, Kelly Gerald.  According to Vanna Le of Forbes Magazine, "Flannery O'Connor: The Cartoons has just the right amount of charm you would expect from a young and witty O'Connor. But it's more than just a book for laughs -- it offers some insight into O'Connor's personal life as well as her mockery towards the pretensions of her social environment."  Call us today (478-454-4029) to order your copy. 
- Mark

The Man of the Hour

In all things O'Connor, the man of the hour is without a doubt Bill Sessions.  The retired Georgia State University professor and Andalusia board member has just finished the authorized biography of Flannery O'Connor, Stalking Joy, which will likely be released next year.  As if that massive project weren't enough for a retiree, Dr. Sessions keeps up an active speaking schedule.  On October 25th, he will be the keynote speaker at Emory University's Aquinas Center.  The title of his lecture is "Flannery O'Connor and Freud: the Meaning of Life in Death."  About the subject matter, one can imagine Flannery chiding her friend, "Oh Billy, there you go again."  Nevertheless, the talk promises to be as interesting as it is provocative.  For more information check out our website http://andalusiafarm.org/news_events/aquinas_lectures.html or the Aquinas Center's http://www.aquinas.emory.edu/flannery-lecture.php After this lecture the indefatigable Dr. Sessions will be presenting at the University of Louisiana - Lafayette Nov. 9-10.  For more information on this event click here.  Though he was sometimes teased mercilessly by O'Connor and Betty Hester (Bill once said that he was Flannery's "pinata"), there are few who have done as much to promote O'Connor's legacy than Bill Sessions. 
- Mark

Nobel Notable

I'm not sure if I ever mentioned in this blog that, despite the fact that I graduated with a degree in English in 1980, it took me nearly thirty years to get around to reading Flannery O'Connor.  What a big gap in my literary education that was!  Just as mysteriously appalling, we never covered John Steinbeck (pictured) in the undergraduate curriculum!  Don't ask me why, but I can take some comfort in the fact that apparently O'Connor hadn't read him either (as she confesses to Betty Hester in a letter dated Aug. 21, 1955 (The Habit of Being, p. 95).  But that didn't stop her from making a snarky comment to Hester when Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize in 1962: "Can you fancy Steinbeck getting the Nobel prize.  John O'Hara will be getting it next." (The Habit of Being, p. 498).   One would like to think that someone as well read as O'Connor would have at least dipped into Steinbeck a bit before dismissing him so easily (and perhaps she did).  Maybe Flannery was secretly hoping that she was going to be the recipient of the prestigious prize that year.  Who knows, but no reasonable person can seriously question the Nobel committee's choice fifty years ago.  Steinbeck, for his part, was modest about his talent as a writer and so humble he wouldn't have minded it at all if someone he felt worthier were chosen e.g. Al Capp, the creator of the satirical comic strip Lil Abner who Steinbeck declared was "possibly the best writer in the world today." (ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive: Biography: Al Capp 2- A CAPPital Offense. animationarchive.org May 2008).
- Mark 

Monastic Guests

Of all the rotten luck!  I was out of town last Friday when two monks from the Monastery of the Holy Spirit visited Andalusia: Rt. Rev. Francis Michael Stiteler, abbot of the monastery, and Br. Cassian Russell.  As many of you who read this blog already know, Flannery O'Connor and her mother had a close relationship with the monastery in Conyers and occasionally would visit Our Lady of the Holy Spirit.  On occasion, Dom Augustine Moore, Fr. Paul Bourne, and other monks would also come to Andalusia.  However, the visit by Fr. Francis Michael and Br. Cassian last week marks the first time in about a half century that the Cistercians have set foot in the O'Connor farm house.  According to Craig, the monks from Holy Spirit spent about an hour here before heading off to visit the O'Connor Room at GCSU.  Speaking of the school, before becoming a monk, Br. Cassian was an associate professor of early childhood education at GCSU and is thus familiar with Milledgeville and the college.  Fr. Francis Michael is a committed naturalist/conservationist who has identified many, many species of butterflies and dragonflies during his 38 years at the monastery.  It's not surprising, therefore, that he came equipped with binoculars and camera to see what he could find amongst the fields and trees of Andalusia.  I was so disappointed that I couldn't be here but hope our monastic guests will consider visiting us again.
- Mark

Happy Anniversary to the Review!

Posting early this week because I'm off again for a short vacation in the Blue Ridge Mountains.  The same cannot be said for Bruce Gentry and his team of editors at the Flannery O'Connor Review.  They have been quite busy of late putting the finishing touches on the 2012 issue, which is due to be released in early September.  This is a special edition of the journal, which is marking its tenth anniversary as the Flannery O'Connor Review and the 40th anniversary of its inception as The Flannery O'Connor Bulletin.  Copies of the Review will be available at the Andalusia Gift Shop for $15 each.  In the mean time, we have another item in the gift shop that is sure to interest visitors of all ages: colorful peacock feathers courtesy of our resident bird, Manley Pointer, who has been molting this past week.  These feathers make a wonderful souvenir of a visit to Andalusia, but hurry, supplies are limited.
- Mark

A Child's Book?

In the early fall of 1960, Flannery O'Connor received a copy of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird from her friend Caroline Ivey who insisted O'Connor read it.  She did, and afterwards shared her thoughts with Betty Hester:  "I think I see what it really is - a child's book.  When I was fifteen I would have loved it.  Take out the rape and you've got something like Miss Minerva and William Green Hill.  I think for a child's book it does all right.  It's interesting that all the folks that are buying it don't know they're reading a child's book.  Somebody ought to say what it is..." (The Habit of Being, p. 411).  Just because O'Connor felt Lee's novel lacked sophistication, does that make it a bad book?  I don't think so.  In looking back over the literature I was assigned to read in high school, I would have done a lot better with To Kill a Mockingbird than with some of the stuff that was foisted on us.  I don't think a teenager is necessarily ready for Faulkner, Fitzgerald, or even Flannery.  I know I wasn't.  The Great Gatsby was totally beyond me.  Had we, instead, been assigned  To Kill a Mockingbird, I would have been drawn into this story narrated by a child like me who didn't exactly fit in.  Granted Lee's novel is not likely going to be part of an English major's curriculum in college, but that doesn't mean that it isn't suitable for older readers.  I think the best "children's" literature operates on two different levels, and appeals to both children and adults.  Think of a book like The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery.  Even the best cartoons (e.g. Bugs Bunny, Rocky & Bullwinkle) are not geared solely for children.  The same goes for To Kill a Mockingbird.  Its themes are timeless, and it's a delight to read - at whatever age.  Just because a book is popular does not necessarily mean it's bad. Maybe Flannery was just a little bit jealous.
- Mark

Daring Devotional

Last Friday marked the 48th anniversary of Flannery O'Connor's death.  To commemorate the occasion the little devotional magazine I subscribe to, Give Us This Day, included a brief essay about her in the readings for August 3rd.  I was surprised to see this since the subjects of the "Blessed Among Us" reflections are usually canonized saints.  The editors of this journal must consider Flannery to be among the blessed in heaven since her name also appears in their calendar for August 2012, sandwiched between St. Lydia (Aug. 2) and St. John Vianney (Aug. 4).  There are other surprises on the calendar, too - Black Elk (Aug. 17) and Simone Weil (Aug. 25).  And these two were not even Catholic!  I applaud the editors for the breadth of their vision.  Give Us This Day is a truly Catholic journal in the best and broadest sense of that word.  Who knows?  In six months maybe we'll see Martin Luther's name (Feb. 18). 

- Mark

Bloggers Beware

A word to the wise for us bloggers from the creators of the Pearls Before Swine comic strip...

I'm off to Kansas for a short vacation.  Be back to blogging next week.
- Mark

Olympic Gold

With the opening of the Olympics tonight in London, some might wonder if Flannery O'Connor had any interest in sports or competed in athletics.  Other than riding horses at her uncle Bernard's farm when she was a child, there is no evidence to suggest that Flannery ever participated in sports.  Indeed, the onset of lupus in 1950 ruled out her taking part in athletics altogether. While she may have been physically unable to engage in sports, she was a sports fan.  Her favorite sport was boxing and the boxer she most admired was Cassius Clay, who won the gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 Olympics in Rome.  Given the cultural climate in middle Georgia at the time, declaring one's allegiance for the brash young boxer from Louisville was scandalous to say the least.  Nevertheless, O'Connor had deep admiration for Clay whose public statements could be as controversial as some of the things Flannery herself said in print.  She admired Clay not only for his athletic prowess, but also that he had deeply held convictions that he was willing to stand up for, even if O'Connor did not always share his views.  Two years after Flannery died, Clay denounced the war in Vietnam and refused to submit to the draft because he believed US involvement in southeast Asia was unjust.  His religious convictions were equally as strong.  When Clay converted to Islam and changed his name to Muhammad Ali, he created quite a stir that even took Flannery by surprise.  In a politically incorrect letter to her friend Maryat Lee on May 21, 1964 she demurred "...Cassius is too good for the Moslems." (The Habit of Being, p. 580).
- Mark

Teachers on Tour

Among the visitors to Andalusia during the summer are a good many high school and college English teachers who are using their vacations to see the homes of some of their favorite writers. Often times Andalusia is just the first stop on a literary pilgrimage to Walden Pond, Dickinson's Amherst, or the homes of Emerson and Hawthorne in Concord.  The majority of these teachers, however, are usually heading west to visit the homes of  southern writers like Faulkner, Welty, McCullers, et. al.  If, like these English teachers, you have a yen to tour the homes of your favorite southern authors, I would encourage you to check out the web site www.southernliterarytrail.org.  The Southern Literary Trail is a consortium of writers homes/museums in Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. In addition to providing a ton of useful information for anyone desiring to visit these authors' homes, the SLT celebrates tri-state writers with the nation's only regional literary festival, Trailfest.  This event, which occurs every other year, includes tours, films, play performances, and panel discussion in 18 southern cities - many of which are free and feature prominent contemporary writers.  The next Trailfest will be in 2013.  For a complete schedule (not available yet) and more information visit SLT's website. 
- Mark

Another Cartoon Book!

Big news in the publishing world!  A second book of Flannery O'Connor's cartoons has just been released. Edited by Kelly Gerald, Flannery O'Connor: The Cartoons is creating quite a buzz on the internet.  Ms. Gerald holds B.S., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees in English as well as a second Master’s degree in philosophy and religion. Her previous publications include work on Flannery O’Connor, Eudora Welty, William Faulkner, and Cormac McCarthy. Kelly works as senior writer-editor and director of media relations for the Phi Beta Kappa Society in Washington, D.C. and part-time as an Associate Professor of English for University of Maryland University College. According to the Fantagraphics website:
Flannery O’Connor was among the greatest American writers of the 2nd half of the 20th century; she was a writer in the Southern tradition of Eudora Welty, William Faulkner, and Carson McCullers, who wrote such classic novels and short stories as Wise Blood, The Violent Bear It Away, and “A Good Man is Hard to Find.” She is perhaps as well known for her tantalizing brand of Southern Gothic humor as she is for her Catholicism. That these tendencies should be so happily married in her fiction is no longer a surprise. The real surprise is learning that this much beloved icon of American literature did not set out to be a fiction writer, but a cartoonist. This seems to be the last well-kept secret of her creative life.  Flannery O’Connor: The Cartoons, the first book devoted to the author’s work in the visual arts, emphasizes O’Connor’s most prolific period as a cartoonist, drawing for her high school and college publications in the early 1940s. While many of these images lampoon student life and the impact of World War II on the home front, something much more is happening. Her cartoons are a creative threshing floor for experimenting and trying out techniques that are deployed later with such great success in her fiction.  O’Connor learns how to set up and carry a joke visually, how to write a good one-liner and set it off against a background of complex visual narration. She develops and asserts her taste for a stock set of character types, attitudes, situations, exaggerations, and grotesques, and she learns how to present them not to distort the truth, but to expose her vision of it.
She worked in both pen & ink and linoleum cuts, and her rough-hewn technique combined with her acidic observations to form a visual precursor to her prose. Fantagraphics is honored to bring the early cartoons of this American literary treasure to a 21st century readership.
For an audience resistant to your views, O’Connor once wrote, “draw large and startling figures.” In her fiction, as in her cartoons, these shocks to the system never come without a laugh.

With all due respect to Fantagraphics, this is not the first book devoted to O'Connor's work in the visual arts.  That honor belongs to Georgia College, which last year published The Cartoons of Flannery O'Connor at Georgia College.  Also, I'm not sure how Flannery would feel about being characterized as a writer in "the tradition of Eudora Welty, William Faulkner [aka "the Dixie Limited"], and Carson McCullers.  Be that as it may, the Fantagraphics book includes some of O'Connor's art work from high school and, therefore, would make a worthy addition to any Flannery-o-phile's library.
- Mark

The Trappist and the Thomist

Occasionally visitors at Andalusia ask us about Thomas Merton and Flannery O'Connor.  Because they were contemporaries, a lot of folks assume that Merton and Flannery knew each other or, at the very least, corresponded with one another.  Unfortunately, neither is the case.  Though they were aware of one another, and each had read the other's work, they never met or exchanged letters.  They did, however, have the same editor at Harcourt Brace, Robert Giroux.  When Flannery was introduced to Giroux in 1949 she asked if he would give her a copy of Thomas Merton's The Seven Storey Mountain.  When this spiritual memoir, which tells the tale of the author's abandonment of the literary life of Manhattan to become a Trappist monk in Kentucky, came out the year before it was an immediate sensation. Many of the young men who read it were so inspired that the Abbey of Gethsemane, where Merton lived, was overrun with aspirants (to the point that tents were raised in the cloister to house them).  Eventually, the overcrowding became such a problem that the monastery needed to found a daughter house in rural Rockdale County, Georgia.  This, of course, became the The Monastery of the Holy Spirit, which I've written about elsewhere on this blog.  I don't know how Flannery felt about The Seven Storey Mountain.  My guess is that she had some reservations. In 1955 when her first collection of short stories came out, Giroux wrote her to inform her that the book was selling better than anything on their list except Thomas Merton.  Flannery confided to her friend Ben Griffith, "[it] doesn't say much for their list, I guess." (The Habit of Being, p. 89)  Yet O'Connor respected Merton and his opinion mattered to her.  When her second novel, The Violent Bear it Away, was published in 1960, she wrote to Giroux anxious to find out what Merton thought about it. (The Habit of Being, p. 380) While Flannery may have been measured in her assessment of the monk's writings (though by this time her library included a number of his books), Merton was characteristically effusive in his praise for the author from Milledgeville. After Flannery died, Merton wrote a much-quoted epitaph: "When I read Flannery O'Connor, I do not think of Hemingway, or Katherine Anne Porter, or Sartre, but rather of someone like Sophocles.  What more can you say for a writer?  I write her name with honor, for all the truth and all the craft with which she shows man's fall and his dishonor." (quoted in A Literary Guide to Flannery O'Connor's Georgia, p. 86).  Indeed, what more can you say for such a writer?
- Mark

Eat Your Heart Out O.E. Parker

Craig and I don't usually make a practice of profiling Andalusia visitors.  On the other hand, when a car comes up the driveway and it's a Prius or a Volvo we are pretty certain that it is not someone who is here to work on the Hill house or cow barn.  Similarly, when a visitor comes through the front door wearing peacock earrings, I can be pretty sure that she is a Flannery O'Connor fan.  Last Tuesday, a couple pulled up on a Harley, and my guess was that they were here because they happened to see the Andalusia sign along the highway and it looked like it might be something worth checking out. For some reason, I assumed their interest in O'Connor was negligible.  Was I ever mistaken!  After I greeted them, I asked if it was their first visit to the farm. Turns out these folks, Daryl and Kendra Kochel, came all the way from Idaho on motorcycle to see the O'Connor homestead.   Kendra said that ever since college it has been her dream to come to Andalusia, and here she finally was.  To show me just how devoted she is to Flannery O'Connor, she turned around and displayed what had to be the largest peacock feather I have ever seen tattooed on a human body. Kendra, who teaches high school English in Boise, was gracious enough to allow us to photograph her. How cool is that tatt!!
- Mark

A Good Bedtime Story?

A couple weeks ago a visitor told me about the time his wife read their daughter a bedtime story, one that's gotta be right up there with Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  Apparently this woman had no idea who Flannery O'Connor was when she guilelessly picked up "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" and began reading the story to her child.    To say that she was shocked is an understatement.  However, long before she reached the chilling conclusion the child had drifted off to sleep.  The same cannot be said for the story-teller who, I was told, stayed awake half the night. 

Summer is heating up in Milledgeville and so are the discounts in the Andalusia gift shop.  Starting this week, all bumper stickers have been permanently marked down to $3 ea. or 2 for $5.  Talk about one hot deal!
- Mark

Drawn to the Grotesque

Like the photographer Diane Arbus (one of her notable photographs is at the right), Flannery O'Connor was intrigued by the grotesque.  The question needs to be asked why, especially when it is an element in her writing that may repel some readers.  I can speak from experience, for I was one of them. Even though I graduated with a bachelor's degree in English back in 1980, it took me nearly thirty years to read her for the first time.  Though some of my favorite writers like Thomas Merton thought she was fabulous, I was put off by what I had heard about her, namely that she was a southern Gothic writer who dealt in the grotesque.  At the same time, I felt like she was an important author I needed to read, and so I decided take the plunge.  While I was immediately taken by the depth of her spiritual vision and dry, off-beat sense of humor, I still couldn't understand her fascination with the grotesque.  Then I stumbled across a book that was quite illuminating.  Though Belden Lane's The Solace of Fierce Landscapes is not about Flannery O'Connor per se, it explores the theme of grace and the grotesque that runs through her stories.  According to Lane, "the grotesque is born out of a dislocation that people feel in an estranged world.  In periods of personal or cultural crisis, human beings experience a loss of control in a universe that's no longer reliable.  The grotesque mirrors their fear of the incomprehensible; it recalls to mind an ominousness they cannot name."  (Lane, p.31)  At the same time, the grotesque is "a daring exercise in summoning the absurd, making fun of what is feared.  Its goal is to defeat, at least in the space of a brief moment's laughter, the powers of darkness."  (Lane, p. 32)  Thomas Mann once said that "the grotesque is the only guise in which the sublime may appear."(source of quote not provided in Lane, p. 32)  I don't know if the German author ever read Flannery (her first collection of short stories was published the year he died), but never has there been a clearer, more concise statement on why she chose to populate her stories with so many freaks.
- Mark

Tooting our own Horn

Three years ago today I visited Andalusia for the first time.  In a previous post I shared some of my impressions of that day and how I never imagined I would one day be working at the farm.  When I look back over the last three years I am astonished at how much has changed and how many improvements to the property have been made.  Here is how the farm looked back on that June day in 2009.  The Hill house was in shambles, there were neither peacocks nor an aviary to house them, the dairy processing shed was just beginning to be restored, the exterior of the main house needed paint, environmental education and the Bernard Cline Outdoor Learning Center were but a dream, and when needed repairs to stabilize the cow barn were going to be made was anybody's guess.  Today, as I look around the Andalusia complex, it's a much different story.  As I write this blog, work crews are busy finishing the restoration of the Hill house and have started shoring up the cow barn.  This morning there is a group of biology students from Georgia College that is doing research on the pond's ecosystem.  Their arrival at the farm was greeted by a chorus of peafowl.  Remember a visitor back in 2009 would have seen none of this.  Back then attendance averaged 71 visitors a week.  Today we're up to almost 100.  In addition to an increase in visitation, our programming has expanded significantly with many more book signings, author readings, symposiums, and special presentations.  All in all, I'd say we have a lot to be proud of, and so I hope you don't mind if we toot our own horn just a little bit.
- Mark

Ready Reference

Occasionally visitors to Andalusia will ask me if I can suggest resources for someone who wants to learn more about Flannery O'Connor.  Without a moment's hesitation, I unabashedly direct them to our website.  Besides providing a lot of useful information for folks planning a visit to the farm, this site is a veritable repository of all things O'Connor.  Containing everything from a good bibliography to multimedia presentations and FAQs, our site has it all.  Another online resource I heartily recommend is a blog called The Comforts of Home. Though I am reluctant to steer folks away from my blog, this one offers an excellent compendium of O'Connor material.  After checking out these sites, I would encourage the budding Flanneryophile to read a good biography, such as Brad Gooch's, Flannery: A Life of Flannery O'Connor.  Those of you who follow my blog know that I quote from this book extensively and I cannot recommend it highly enough.  Another resource I draw from a lot is The Habit of Being.  This collection of O'Connor's letters reveals much of her personality, spirituality, and dry, off-beat sense of humor.  The body of secondary literature on O'Connor is vast and ever-expanding.  Some of the more important of these books of literary criticism are listed on the Andalusia website.  For anyone wishing to peruse current O'Connor scholarship, I suggest checking out recent issues of the Flannery O'Connor Review.  This journal comes out once a year and presents a nice balance of essays and articles from all points of view.  Copies of the Review are available in the Andalusia gift shop or by subscription.   So there you have it, a substantial stockpile of resources to get you started in the wacky, witty world of Flannery O'Connor. 
- Mark

GI John

While Flannery O'Connor was in school at Georgia State College for Women, the Second World War was raging overseas.  Partly because of the presence of the all-female institution, soldiers were a familiar sight on the streets of Milledgeville.  The citizens of this community welcomed them with open arms, especially Flannery's aunts, the Cline sisters.  Whenever any man in uniform would show up at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, he would be invited to the Cline mansion after mass for a family dinner.  One Sunday, a handsome Marine Sergeant named John Sullivan was handed a note by Flannery's Aunt Katie Cline inviting him to be her guest at the Greene Street home for a midday dinner.  Sullivan readily accepted, and it was during this visit that he met Flannery, then in her first year at GSCW.  The two hit it off at once, in part due to their common backgrounds.  Sullivan, an Ohio boy, came from a large Roman Catholic family.  According to Brad Gooch, the two of them "were able to trade funny stories and share suppressed giggles, as he [Sullivan] became a regular visitor, a 'fixture' welcomed by all the aunts and uncles." (Brad Gooch, Flannery: A Life of Flannery O'Connor, p. 100)  Despite their similarities, Flannery and Sullivan were different in some ways.  He was debonair, outgoing, and confident.  She, who was not used to the company of young men, was awkward and painfully shy.  Yet, there was something about Flannery's off-beat humor that attracted the Marine.  The two of them went on long walks and occasionally went to see a movie.  Sullivan even escorted her to a college dance, though he discovered quickly that Flannery had two left feet.  Many years later, Sullivan said that theirs had been "a close comradeship," not a romance.  Nevertheless, as Gooch asserts, "the two played at romance enough to tease a hopeful mother.  Once, as they sat together on the couch in the parlor, Regina called liltingly over the stairwell, 'Mary Flannery wouldn't you and John like to polish the silver?'  After an exchange of amused glances her daughter wickedly answered with a flat, 'No.'"  (Brad Gooch, Flannery: A Life of Flannery O'Connor, p. 100).  Though none of O'Connor's surviving classmates or relatives remembers him, I am inclined to believe that Sullivan was Flannery's first crush.  After he left for training camp in the Pacific war zone, he and Flannery exchanged letters until the time he entered St. Gregory's Seminary in Cincinnati just after the war to study for the priesthood.  The root of Flannery's infatuation with John Sullivan may have been the similarity he bore to her recently deceased father.  Like Ed O'Connor, Sullivan was handsome, occasionally in uniform, and was "both confidant and supporter." (Brad Gooch, Flannery: A Life of Flannery O'Connor, p. 101).  As we observe Memorial Day on Monday, let us pause to remember the thousands of young men, like John Sullivan, who served our country with valor. 
- Mark

Art Imitating Art

For those of you who were unable to be with us Tuesday night for William Walsh's presentation on the making of the movie Wise Blood you missed a real treat.  The program lasted an hour and could have easily gone on twice that long given the interest of the small but enthusiastic audience.  Mr. Walsh has dedicated the last several years of his life to finding out all he can about the making of this John Huston classic.  During that period Mr. Walsh has walked and driven down the streets of Macon (where most of the movie was shot) as well as every other Georgia back road that had any connection to the movie. There is not one locale in Wise Blood that Mr. Walsh has not visited. In addition to providing a lot of inside baseball information on the making of the movie, Mr. Walsh shared pictures that were taken during the filming.  He was kind enough to have a number of these mounted on foam boards and gave them away free of charge to anyone in the audience who wanted one.  In an essay in the 2011 edition of the Flannery O'Connor Review, Mr. Walsh says "Wise Blood (the movie) and Wise Blood (the novel) were never meant to mirror each other - they were designed separately and individually, art influencing art." (Flannery O'Connor Review, vol. 9, 2011, p. 96) And, boy, did they ever do that!  In fact, the story of the making of the movie could be a Flannery O'Connor story by itself.  How many other movies can you name where two of the actors (who were children at the time) went on to become career criminals (one of whom is still in prison serving a life term for homicide)?  Or how many other movies can you name that a professional prostitute was cast in the role of a fictional street walker?  Yes, the story of the making of the movie, Wise Blood, is as twisted and riveting as any of Flannery's stories.  For those interested in learning more about it, I heartily encourage you to read William Walsh's essay in the Flannery O'Connor Review.
- Mark

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