Landings Book Club Tour

Flannery's Childhood Home was visited by 10 members of the Landings (Savannah, GA) Book Club. In preparation for their visit, the members read Flannery's first published collection of short stories, A Good Man Is Hard To Find. Our special thanks to Beth Larance for her interest in Flannery's works and contacting the Childhood Home on behalf of the Club. The other guests were Larry Larance, Ken & Carol-Lee McKenna, Howard & Alice Welt, Don & Kay Gardner, Diane Logan and Walter Fraser.

Every effort will be made to accommodate those wishing to tour Flannery's Childhood Home. Please call or email to set up an appointment.

O'Connor: The most important female writer for me to read?

Just came across this article from Esquire last month: www.esquire.com/the-side/feature/75-books

A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories is #10 on the magazine's list of The 75 Books Every Man Should Read. O'Connor is preceded by 9 men: Raymond Carver, John Cheever, James Dickey, John Steinbeck, Cormac McCarthy, Dostoevsky, Edward P. Jones (The Known World), Studs Terkel, and Philip Roth.

Photos from our October party

Check out these great photos from our big party in October at the unbelievably wonderful home of Connie and Walter Hartridge:

John Berendt weighs in on O'Connor

Some interesting comments from our friend John Berendt over at eric forbes's book addict's guide to good books:

In an interesting interview he said in part:
"Despite the commercial nature of the publishing industry, there are still many publishing houses willing to publish literary books even though they expect modest sales at best. None of Flannery O’Connor’s books, for example, ever sold more than 3,000 copies, and she was arguably one of the most important American literary figures of the 20th century."

and:

"Flannery O’Connor is one of the half-dozen finest American writers of the 20th century, in my opinion. A very dark humour runs throughout her stories, and she has an uncanny facility for describing people’s faces in highly original and imaginative ways."

Visitors and more visitors

It's a small world.

I docented on Saturday afternoon, and the first visitor was Annie Coggan, whom I met a number of years ago. She's now in Mississippi and wrote about her visit on her blog Chairs and Buildings.

Later that same afternoon, we were visited by Anne Trubek, an Oberlin professor who is writing a book about authors' house museums. She suggested that we might be the only such museum in the country that's devoted to an author's childhood. As it turns out, Anne is good friends with one of my oldest friends from high school in Kentucky.

Our Fall Lecture Series

This fall we are continuing our long tradition of offering free Sunday lectures and readings at 3:00 p.m. in the Flannery O'Connor Childhood Home parlor

We've got a great lineup, and we hope to see some of you there.

Here you go:

Flannery O’Connor Fall Lecture SeriesChildhood Home

207 East Charlton Street

Sundays at 3:00 pm in the O’Connor Parlor

October 19
Starkey Flythe, Jr., re-founding editor of The Saturday Evening Post in the 1980’s and winner of the University of Iowa Press award for a collection of short stories, Lent: The Slow Fast, will read from his fiction and discuss Flannery O’Connor’s influence on his writing. Flythe’s poetry draws from life experiences that include Army service in Africa, editor for two national magazines, and a student of the classics. His poem, “I once took a shower with Dan Rather” is based on one of those life experiences.

October 26
Bill Dawers will speak on “Flannery O’Connor and the Popular Imagination.” Bill, president of the Flannery O’Connor Childhood Home Foundation, is a professor of English at Armstrong Atlantic State University and for the last eight years, has been writing the “City Talk” column for the Savannah Morning News.

November 2
Kalenda Eaton, a professor of English at Armstrong Atlantic State University will guide a reading group discussion titled, "Mother, Son, and Holy Ghost" based on Flannery O'Connor's story “Everything that Rises Must Converge.” Dr. Eaton earned her Master’s and Doctorate degrees in English with an emphasis in 20th Century African American Literature from Ohio State University. Attendees are obviously encouraged to read the story beforehand.

November 9
Sarah Gordon and Craig Amason will discuss A Literary Guide to Flannery O'Connor's Georgia, published last spring by the University of Georgia Press. Sarah Gordon, editor, is a professor emerita of English at Georgia College and State University. For many years she chaired GC&SU’s internationally renowned symposia on O’Connor and has authored two books on O’Connor. Craig Amason, consulting editor of the Guide, is executive director of Andalusia, the Flannery O’Connor house museum and the Flannery O’Connor-Andalusia Foundation.

November 16
Mary Villeponteaux, a professor of Literature at Georgia Southern University and a Renaissance scholar, will draw us back into the 16th Century with her talk: "Cruel Queens and Tender Maidens: The Gendering of Mercy in Shakespeare's Plays." Dr. Villeponteaux earned her PhD at Louisiana State University.

December 14
Bob Strozier, a former AASU prof and one of the founders of the O'Connor Home 20 years ago, will give his traditional holiday reading of Truman Capote's "A Christmas Memory"

Lecture Series coordinated by Dr. James Smith

Silent auction items for the the fundraiser

I'll be updating this post over the next couple of weeks with both photos and new listings, so please keep checking in.

Items for the silent auction on Oct. 11:

• "Magnolia," a magnificent etching by artist Curtis Bartone (seen at right)
  
• An off-season week's stay at a classic Tybee beach house owned by Scott Center at 18th Place and Butler -- it sleeps ten and has wrap-around porches on both levels. I rented it for a week in 2007 for a family reunion -- it's an extraordinary property. Advance and absentee bids starting at $1800 accepted for this one. Email Bill Dawers.
  
• Gift certificate from Local 11ten, which has become one of the city's premier restaurants
  
• Gift certificate from Eos, perhaps Savannah's hottest new restaurant

• One of the "babies" (above) that lined the steps of the Jepson Center for the Arts in 2007 as part of Marcus Kenney's amazing exhibit
  
• Three pen and ink works by Betsy Cain; best-known for her abstract work, these three pieces -- done with ink made by the artist herself from her uncle's black walnut tree -- are scenes of Ossabaw Island; the works will be auctioned separately but would be perfect for hanging together    
  
• Gift certificate to Kasey's Gourmet Grille
• Tickets to the Creative Minds lecture series sponsored by Savannah Country Day School
• A tasting dinner for 4 at Cha-Bella





• A signed copy of the book Snowbound and a signed 8"x10" print of "Emergence" (above) by photographer Lisa M. Robinson, whose work has been praised in publications like The New Yorker and The Wall Street Journal
• 4 tickets to any Savannah Music Festival event
• Gift certificate to Magnolia Spa 
• A tile painting party at Starlight Pottery
  
• A gift package that includes a gift certificate to A Whimsical Tea Cup on Abercorn
  
• Two silver passes to the Savannah Film Festival
  
• Gift certificate to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, opening this fall at Bay and Whitaker streets
  
• A private tapas and paella dinner for 6
• A new piece by artist Gerome Temple

Keep checking back for more items, information, and links.