R. I. P. ELLEN DOUGLAS (JOSEPHINE HAXTON) 1921--2012
A formidable group of writers have chronicled the South’s days
and years, and a lot of stories still need telling. There’s Miss Ellen’s clear, heart-felt prose of progress and
change and the lingering need for both, Miss Eudora's quiet, precise voice; Faulkner’s characters strutting and fretting
their hours upon the stage, and still other writers who trumpet our idiosyncrasies and ills and
sins like a gaudy rack of supermarket rags in a check-out line.
Fiction
fashion changes, fads grow and wane, and the true voices are the ones which
endure. And we the people---we sleeve the sweat off lip and brow, turn a page,
see our lives in the printed lines.
The South’s HOT. It’s full of mosquitoes and snakes and gators and other hostile life; it’s growing by bounds, and it’s melting into the ground in places. But it’s FERTILE, pretty near more fertile than any same-sized plot of ground on this Earth, and the fertile imaginations are the most impressive crop.
Hello Rachel:
ReplyDeleteThis is a delightful tribute to Ellen Douglas, an author of whom we know and have read nothing we are sorry to say.
To have endured for so long and to remain a voice of authority is no mean feat so we are sure that she will be remembered for posterity.
As we have never been to America, we glean so much about this most varied and fascinating of countries from what we read. Through you we feel we have learned much and can certainly concur with the fertility of imaginations that must be bred in the South if your enchanting writing is any marker.
And now, we must seek out Miss Ellen!!!
Touching remembrance. Such truth about our beloved South!
ReplyDeleteRachel, my friend, your awe-inspiring imagination and magical way with words truly rival those of Miss Ellen's, Miss Eudora's and Mr. Faulkner's.
ReplyDeleteUntil you see a list in print you do not realize the treasures we in the South have lost!Ellen's characters were espescially wonderful. Of course I think your name should be among the Souths great writers-you make even the most mundane a joy to read about.
ReplyDeleteI just placed a hold on my first Ellen Douglas book. I can't believe that I haven't ever heard of her. Your recommendation is enough for me, my dear!
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