Personalities and Bookcases

Each had his past shut in him like the leaves of a book known to him by heart; and his friends could only read the title. - (Virginia Woolf, Jacob's Room)

I just finished reading an article on npr's website written by Tom Rachman about his eccentric collection of obituary compilations that he keeps on the bottom shelf of his bookcase. I think we all maybe have one of those "shelves" that we don't necessarily point out to neighbors or certain family members. I also think that we all have some topic that we find ourselves reading about over and over, whether it be obituaries, zombies, or in my case, Hurricane Katrina books. Some take it one step further and make it an obsession whereas others just dabble occasionally.

After contemplating Rachman's article, I stared for quite a while at my own bookcase. With the idea of soon installing built-ins for the living room, I am now double-stacking various cheap Wal-Mart bookcases throughout our house. One small bookcase holds signed editions that I hold dear to my heart, another holds my husband's fantasy and military novels. But the one that I happen to be looking at from the comforts of my couch is an interesting mix. It is a home for my college anthologies of art and dramatic literature; popular novels; an odd collection of non-fiction about the Black Death of Europe, and of course, my Katrina/Louisiana shelf. Peppered from one ledge to another are little trinkets...my curiosities. A little wooden box full of my grandfather's old keys; a milk glass candy jar given to my by my husband's grandmother; a treasure box holding my late father's cheesy leather belt, true 80's style; Mardi Gras beads depicting funny little Voodoo dolls; a Mexican jar candle and chocolate grinder; and no doubt, much dust. So what does your bookcases say about you?

Typewriters, Typewriters, Everywhere!

Monroeville County Courthouse in Monroeville, Alabama (home of Harper Lee and Truman Capote) has an eclectic collection of vintage typewriters. Notice, the small gray one in the case was actually used by Truman himself! Aside from typewriters, the courthouse also has a collection of old dictaphones and cameras.

Singers and Storytellers

I saw this couple perform live in Franklin, Tennessee at the Battleground Brewery. This song proves that great writing has no boundaries.

Robert Hicks And The Real Widow Of The South

When I first read Robert Hicks' historical novel Widow of the South, I knew that I just had to visit the place that gave Hicks the inspiration for such a riveting book, Carnton Plantation in Franklin, Tennessee (just south of Nashville).

Carnton Plantation and Confederate cemetery have no doubt gotten an onslaught of visitors due to Hicks' novel, however, on its own, Carnton is one of the most exciting plantation tours I've ever taken. After reading page after page about how heroine Carrie McGavock helped transform her beautiful home into a Civil War hospital, it was amazing to see her portraits on the walls, for it seemed as if she was still keeping house. The numerous blood stains and makeshift operating tables throughout the house brought to life that the Battle of Franklin, was in fact, the worst battle of the Civil War. The casualties top Gettysburg by leaps and bounds.

A few yards from the big house sits the McGavock and Confederate cemeteries. Unknown soldiers from every Southern state lay in even grids thanks to Mrs. Carrie who tended the cemetery until the day she died...including recovering the soldiers' bodies from mass graves and helping to locate names and relatives. It was a massive undertaking and one that Robert Hicks uses to make his novel come to life.

August Louisiana Road Trips

My article Mrs. Vera: The Patron Saint of Hurricane Katrina is on page 18.