Southern Bookman

A new Thomas McGuane short story in New Yorker a treasured literary event

I'm happy that a Thomas McGuane short story appears in the current New Yorker.

"Thataway," about an elderly brother and sister reconciling after the death of another sister, isn't one of McGuane's best stories, but I read it with a quick rush of pleasure.

Most contemporary stories in the New Yorker and literary journals lose me after the first paragraph. McGuane at age 84 is one of the few remaining writers whose stories I look forward to reading.

McGaune began publishing stories in the New Yorker in 1994 after writing classic novels such as "Ninety Two  in the Shade" and "The Bushwacked Piano." He also turned to screenwriting and directing films.

Beginning in the 1960s, McGuane along with Jim Harrison, Raymond Carver, Sam Shepard, Harry Crews, Richard Brautigan and other writers brought a new macho energy to American literature.

Like many of his stories, "Thataway" takes place in the American West. He's lived in rural Montana and Key West, Fla. along with other "outsider" writers. 

While McGuane's reputation as a novelist has somewhat declined, he's established himself as a master of the American short story.

One of the last surviving writers of his generation, McGuane's still creating work of enduring value.

 

Atlanta Braves do not go gently into that good night

The Atlanta Braves' patchwork season mercifully ended Wednesday night in San Diego.

Still fighting until the end, the Braves fell 5-4 to the high-powered San Diego Padres in the first round of the National League playoffs.

During the year, Braves stars spent more time on the bench than playing. Yet Manager Brian Snitker like a master mechanic keeping a car running with spare parts piloted the Braves into the playoffs.

With Ronald Acuna, Spencer Strider and Austin Reilly out with season-ending injuries, the Braves turned to willing troupers Gio Urshela, Whit Merrifield, Ramon Laureano and Eli White. Late in the season, the depleted Braves brought back 2021 World Series hero Jorge Soler for an engine charge.

During the strange season, Marcel Ozuna rose to all-star heights, playing in every game, hitting 39 home runs and batting .302. But first baseman Matt Olson struggled, reaching 29 home runs and 98 RBI with a late season flourish.

Emerging superstar Michael Harris excelled after a long stretch on the injured list. Second baseman Ozzie Albies was hampered by a wrist injury that kept him on the bench for weeks. Upon his return, Albies displayed his competitive fire, but never regained full strength.

Max Fried ended his Braves career with heartbreak in the season-ending loss to the Padres. Fried, soon a free agent, was hit by a line drive and gave up five runs before leaving the game in the second inning.

In his previous start, the emotional Fried tipped his hat to cheering Braves fans at Truist Park after pitching into the ninth innning and not giving up any runs in a crucial win.

Shaking off the loss, Snitker said after the game that he's eager for spring training to begin in 2025, ending speculation that he might leave. At age 69, the baseball lifer will put on the uniform for another year.

Snitker's looking forward to having Acuna, Reilly and Strider back in the Florida sunshine.

 

 

Asheville's devastation brings sorrow

Another city I love lies devastated by a hurricane.

Asheville, where I enjoyed many happy times in my youth, was devastated by Helene, still relentlessly destructive as a tropical storm when it blew through the idyllic city in the western North Carolina mountains.

Flood waters cover Asheville's downtown streets, where art, music, food and literature flourished before the storm's rampage. Helene's high winds and flooding destroyed the nearby Biltmore Village's charming shops and restaurants. Some of the area's resort towns disappeared altogether.

For years, I've mourned New Orleans, Houston and Lake Charles following hurricanes. I never thought I'd weep in the same way for Asheville.

Farewell, Kris Kristofferson and Pete Rose

Kris Kristofferson and Pete Rose gained fame as American outlaws.

In a fitting juxtaposition of fate, Kristofferson and Rose both died over the weekend.

Kristofferson, 88, one of the ground-breaking Nashville songwriters who transformed country music in the 1970s, died Saturday at his home in Maui, Hawaii, surrounded by his family.

Rose, 83, who broke Ty Cobb's all-time hits record and was the driving force for Cincinnati's Big Red Machine, was found dead at his home Monday, according to the medical examiner of Clark County, Nevada. He had appeared at an autograph show over the weekend. 

A former Army officer and Rhodes scholar, Kristofferson refused a post teaching English at West Point to move to Nashville, where he worked as a janitor before achieving major success as a songwriter, with the help of Johnny Cash. Kristofferson wrote some of the most memorable lines in American music, and with his rugged masculinity found stardom as a Hollywood sex symbol.

Rose, known to detractors and fans as Charlie Hustle, shook up baseball with his reckless, devil-may-care play. He seriously injured Cleveland catcher Ray Fosse, barrelling into him in an all-star game, which once meant something to participants.

After propelling the Reds to two World Series titles in the 1970s, Rose brought his harem-scarem style to the Philadelphia Phillies. He finished his career with 4,256 hits, a record that Major League baseball doesn't honor because of Rose's banishment from the sport in a gambling scandal.

The 17-time all-star was banned in 1989 by Baseball Commissioner Bart Giamatti for betting on games while managing the Reds. As one social media wag noted, Rose's lifetime ban has now ended, possibly making him eligible for election to his rightful place in the Hall of Fame.

Kristofferson and Rose both exemplified a roguish, hyper-charged masculinity. Each of them were transformational stars who excelled in fields of entertainment that fascinate millions.

The rules-breaking songwriter and ballplayer sparked outpourings of acclaim and vilification, two outlaws who changed American culture.

 

 

Bernadette Peters thrills Atlanta audience with exploration of Sondheim, Rodgers and Hammerstein songbooks

Bernadette Peters in an appearance with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Saturday night took an ecstatic audience on a rousing tour of Stephen Sondheim and Rodgers and Hammerstein classics. 

Sondheim considered the Broadway star the best interpreter of his music. Performing a deep selection from Sondheim's songbook, Peters displayed the acting and singing brilliance that Sondheim praised. She made each song a character portrait evoking its original musical.

At age 76, Peters possesses a strong voice and dynamic energy.

In a shimmering silver dress, she made one departure from the Sondheim and Rodgers and Hammerstein menu with a dazzling, sexy performance of the Peggy Lee standard "Fever," in which she perilously climbed stairs in her high heels to recline on music director Tedd Firth's piano.

Swinging her gorgeous legs, Peters echoed Lee's resonant voice, ranging from seductive low notes to brash higher registers.

Firth's piano enhanced the emotional complexity of Peters' more intimate songs. He also conducted the ASO with flair. The orchestra's musicians seemed to enjoy the swinging freedom of playing jazzy songs while smoothly backing slower-paced ballads.

Drummer Cubby O'Brien of Mouseketeer fame and bass player Kevin Axt from Peters' band joined the ASO. Axt and O'Brien gave a pulsing beat to Peters' "Fever" performance, building its dramatic momentum.

Peters reached one of the evening's high points with her aching interpretation of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "It Might as Well Be Spring" from the movie "State Fair." Hitting the song's high notes with crystal clarity, Peters uncovered the poetic richness of Hammerstein's simple lyrics.

Remembering Elaine Stritch, her fellow accomplished Sondheimian, Peters said farewell to her ardent admirers with thrilling performances of "Send in the Clowns" and "Being Alive."

Peters with her soaring voice and emotional range turned Sondheim's anthems of remorse and despair into affirmations of the human spirit, night music for the soul.

 

 

Atlanta Opera's arias to ring out at Bobby Jones Golf Course clubhouse

Opera, theater and film will find a new home at a historic golf landmark in Buckhead. 

The Atlanta Opera this week announced a $45 million renovation and expansion of the Greek Revival showpiece that served for years as the Bobby Jones Golf Course clubhouse. Reminiscent of "Gone With the Wind's" Tara, the clubhouse was abandoned several years ago when the Bobby Jones course, dating back to the 1930s, was converted into a reversible nine-hole layout.

Located on Woodward Way near a wealthy neighborhood, the clubhouse site sits along the not yet fully developed Beltline, which might receive mass transit in the future. 

Under the plan, the expanded complex will house a 200-seat recital hall for concerts and theater, a film studio, rehearsal and education space, a library and administrative offices.

However, the Atlanta Opera will continue performing at the Cobb County Galleria Center, with no future plans to build a major opera house. Several years ago, the company abandoned a lagging fund-raising campaign for an opera venue at Woodward Arts Center.

The Opera's renovated clubhouse will be another jewel for the area. Nearby are the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame and museum, a lavish putting green, the renovated Bobby Jones golf complex, Bitsy Grant Tennis Center and the popular Boone's Restaurant.

A busy walking trail winds through Memorial Park, site of the bloody battles of Peachtree Creek and Tanyard Creek during the Civil War.

With the World Cup and other major sports competitions, the growth of Ga. Tech and other universities in starting and attracting high-tech businesses, and ambitious projects to revive downtown, Atlanta's cruising into a new era as an international city.

Yet, as columnist Maria Saporta recently pointed out in her Saporta Report, an essential source of Atlanta news, Georgia and Atlanta fall short in supporting the arts, for which Georgia ranks last in per capita spending.

Chastising Atlanta's futile campaign to attract the Sundance Film Festival, Saporta called for the city to increase arts funding and establish a department devoted to culture.

For years, Atlanta arts institutions have depended on wealthy private donors and the contributions of regular arts supporters to make up for insufficient public funding.

A revitalized commitment to the arts will raise Atlanta to new heights.

 

Remembering Battle of Antietam on 162nd anniversary

The Antietam Battlefield stretches toward the horizon, peaceful and bucolic.

It's hard to imagine that the bloodiest battle in American history took place 162 years ago on those rolling green hills near Sharpsburg, Md.

The Civil War battle on Sept. 17, 1862, at last fell silent with 22,727 Americans killed, wounded or missing. Two days after the battle, the bearded Scotsman Alexander Gardner took photographs of the dead's bloated bodies, the first photos taken of soldiers killed in battle.

Famed photographer Matthew Brady a month later displayed the Antietam photos at his Broadway gallery in New York City, drawing huge crowds shocked yet mesmerized by the horror of war.

Robert E. Lee's invading Army of Northern Virginia clashed with Gen. George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac on that late summer day, changing the course of the war.

Famous sites that Gardner visited remain unchanged, familiar from his photographs. The Dunker Church and the nearby cornfield, where the armies fired their first shots. The quiet Sunken Road, filled with Confederate dead in Gardner's images. The Burnside Bridge crossing idyllic Antietam Creek.

In fierce afternoon fighting, soldiers of both armies battled  for control of  the majestic bridge, at last captured by Gen. Ambrose Burnside's federal troops.

While not achieving a decisive victory, McClelland's army forced Lee to retreat to Virginia, ending his incursion into Maryland. The Union success led President Abraham Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, shifting the war's purpose to ending slavery as well as preserving the union.

Many of those who sacrificed their lives at Antietam rest in a national cemetery there. Like those soldiers buried at nearby Gettysburg, they "gave the last full measure of devotion... that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom," as Lincoln said in his Gettysburg Address a little over a year later.

Arrival of autumn weather revives love for Walker Percy

The arrival of fall weather in late summer brings memories of reading Walker Percy.

Percy said that storms like the recent Hurricane Francine, which brought sweeping winds and cooler temperatures to Georgia after causing flooding and power outages in Louisiana, actually make us feel better, thrilling us with drama and danger.

When I was young, Percy's early novels "The Moviegoer," "The Last Gentleman" and "Love in the Ruins" served as scriptural texts for me and others. Percy's characters Binx Bolling, Will Barrett and Dr. Thomas More gave us philosophies about how to live.

I doubt that Percy's books are much read anymore. Younger generations, especially males, no longer value novels as moral guides.

Percy's novels remain on my bookshelves, but I have not looked at them in years. The autumn weather recalls the melancholy and search for deeper meaning in Percy's philosophy, stirring a desire to return to his books. Now that I am old, I hope that he still speaks to me.

 

 

Falcons loss brings early chill to Atlanta fans

Atlanta suffers again from its chronic seasonal malady: Falcons angst syndrome.

Highly anticipated quarterback Kirk Cousins struggled in a disappointing opening game loss to Pittsburgh's offensively challenged Steelers. Dumped Falcons coach Arthur Smith now directs the Steelers' attack, which failed to score a touchdown but kicked six field goals.

If you like field goals, the NFL is now the sport to watch.

After the 18-10 loss, the Birds stare at a likely 0-3 start with a Monday night game at the revived Eagles and a match against two-time Super Bowl champion Kansas City.

Fear rages that Cousins hasn't recovered from a torn Achilles injury. The AJC's venerable Mark Bradley, a veteran diagnoser of Falcons woes, pointed out in Thursday's column that the Falcons apparently limited Cousins' formations and plays to reduce stress on his surgically repaired ankle.

As an aside, thanks to Bradley for disclosing the difference between the shotgun and pistol formations. I never knew that in the pistol, a back is placed in front of the quarterback, while the QB stands alone in the shotgun.

AJC Falcons beat writer D. Orlando Ledbetter in his game post-mortem observed that Cousins was rusty after not playing in any preseason exhibition games.

If Cousins' woes continue, the Falcons can always turn to surprise rookie draft selection Michael Penix Jr. Many other teams are trying to make a go with first-year quarterbacks.

That's why quarterback mediocrity grips the NFL.

Don't panic, Falcons faithful. Although the Saints and Bucs won, the Falcons still stand a good chance of winning the NFL South.

An upset in Philadelphia will restore Atlanta's Super Bowl delusions.

 

Remembering The Atlanta Journal's Sept. 11, 2001 coverage

On the anniversary of Sept. 11, I remember my Atlanta Journal-Constitution colleagues who've died since that momentous day.

I also honor the firefighters, police officers and workers lost when the World Trade Center towers collapsed in massive clouds of dust.

In one its last hurrahs, the afternoon Atlanta Journal put out a special edition reporting on the terrorist attack. The late Frank Hyland's on deadline account remains one of the most gripping in its urgency, factual details and dramatic writing. An old sportswriter, Frank was among the great rewrite men.

I recall seeing the late Bill Husted on the elevator that day, and how he gave me an encouraging smile. Bill wrote the pioneering "Tech Buddy" column, guiding many into their first forays into the new world of the Internet.

On the Journal copy desk, the late Frank White, the consummate jazz scholar, performed his duties. The Journal's desks heroically responded to the devastating event.

The newsroom was electric, with meetings and plans for wide-ranging coverage. The next morning's Constitution delivered a thorough package of stories and columns, but to me Hyland's piece for the dying Journal set the standard.

Many other newspaper colleagues have passed away in the 23 years since the terrorist attack shocked the nation. The rest of us have aged, fighting various ailments.

The Atlanta Journal soon ceased publication after more than 100 years of "covering Dixie like the dew."  The newspaper rose to a last moment of glory on Sept. 11, 2001.

 

Erik Larson's "The Demon of Unrest" examines nation's drive toward Civil War

South Carolina and six other deep South states had already seceded from the Union before Abraham Lincoln's first inauguration as president on March 4, 1861.

Following South Carolina's lead, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas formed the Confederate States of America after the little-known Illinois Republican's election in November 1860. The Southern states feared that Lincoln would seek to abolish slavery, although he had often promised to let it continue.

Best-selling popular historian Erik Larson's "The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War" examines in crucial day-by-day detail the country's plunge toward the war that killed 750,000 Americans.

South Carolina, its slave-owning planters known as "the chivalry," seethed with outrage following Lincoln's election. Unfurling a long list of grievances against the North's anti-slavery actions, the state declared its independence in December 1860.

The dithering of President James Buchanan and his administration's allegiance to the South led to Buchanan's failure to strengthen the defenses of the federal Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor.

As Buchanan delayed taking action to stop the Palmetto State's revolt, Charleston's slave-owning elite grew increasingly arrogant about attacking the fort.

South Carolina's belligerence spread, leading to the founding of the Confederacy in February 1861. In a decisive act, the new nation escalated its campaign against Fort Sumter, cutting off the small federal garrison's food supply, bolstering Charleston artillery batteries under the recently appointed Confederate Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard and raising a force of volunteer troops eager for battle.

After taking office, Lincoln persuaded his cabinet to resupply Fort Sumter, but the effort failed because of an astounding blunder by the overwhelmed president. Tensions rose in the South Carolina city known for its brutal slave markets.

The arrival of Union ships at the entrance of Charleston's harbor provoked Southern forces to shell the fort on April 12, 1861. The increasingly destitute federal forces returned the fire, but lacking food and running out of ammunition, Maj. Robert Anderson surrendered the next day, receiving safe passage to the North.The northern supply ships had sailed away, without ever entering the harbor.

During the crisis, Lincoln hoped that the prominent slave state of Virginia would stay in the union. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson' native state remained loyal until Lincoln issued a call for states to raise troops to put down the Southern rebellion.

Reacting to Lincoln's action, Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas and North Carolina seceded, while Maryland, Missouri, Delaware and Kentucky remained in the union.

Virginia's Robert E. Lee, offered command of the Union army, resigned and joined the rebellion, eventually accelerating the war's intensity as the commander of the Army of Northern Virginia. With Virginia in the fold, the Confederacy quickly moved its capital to Richmond.

While the Fort Sumter attack has received extensive attention as the event that began the Civil War, Larson brings to light little known incidents such as as a company of Citadel cadets firing shots at the federal ship Star of the West in Charleston Harbor several months before.

Larson presents a colorful gallery of well-known and obscure characters. Lincoln at first appears unsteady and overmatched, but slowly gains mastery.

The heroic Anderson, the rabid Southern secessionist Edmund Ruffin, who fired the first shot at the fort, the acclaimed Civil War diarist Mary Chesnut, Union Gen. Winfield Scott, the manipulative and influential Lincoln Cabinet member William H. Seward, Confederate President Jefferson Davis and several now obscure Southern slave-owners play significant roles in Larson's story.

Before Lincoln took office, rumors swirled about an invasion of Washington by Southern forces, plots to assassinate the new president, and the U.S. Senate not certifying his electoral college victory in a scenario similar to that of Jan. 6, 2020.

Scott's calling out of troops to protect the capital and the somewhat comic ruses carried out by detective agency founder Allan Pinkerton allowed Lincoln to take charge.

Larson's unveiling of the nation's plummet into civil war raises alarms for our politically volatile era.