A Frenchman, a Naming Ceremony, and Gay and Nan Talese

This week has been a particularly fun one at the McCullers Center. First, last Saturday, we hosted a visitor from France, Jacques Colin, who is on a grand tour of Southern literary sites. Jacques left us headed for Tennessee Williams' birthplace in Columbus, Mississippi, and then on to Faulkner's Rowan Oak in Oxford, Mississippi -- with a side trip along the way to Hank Williams' gravesite in Montgomery, Alabama. Bon voyage, Jacques! (And thanks for the copy of Flannery reading one of my favorite short stories -- "A Good Man Is Hard to Find.")

Then Sunday was the day of the naming ceremony for the Richard Tucker and Wyolene Solomon Reading Library at the Smith-McCullers House. Richard and Wyolene have donated to the McCullers Center more than 400 books and approximately 85 dvds. I very much enjoyed meeting Richard's and Wyolene's families, and I appreciate the fact that so many of my colleagues came out for the ceremony.

Richard told us an interesting story about the filming of The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, part of which took place in Richard's hometown of Marion, Alabama. Do you remember the opening scene of Heart - the scene in which Antonapolous breaks the glass display window of a bakery? Well, Richard told us that that bakery was right there in downtown Marion, Alabama, that it was known as Scott's Bakery, and that the bakery was named Scott's because it had been owned by the father of Coretta Scott King! I had not realized that Marion, Alabama, was Coretta Scott King's hometown.

On Wednesday the thirteen students in my newly formed Carson McCullers course at CSU met at 1519 Stark Avenue. We'll meet on main campus most of the time, but several times during the semester we'll meet at the Smith-McCullers House. The students already have some terrific ideas for topics for their McCullers research, and I'm excited about the semester with them.

If all that weren't excitement enough at the McCullers Center for one week, today we were treated with a visit from Gay and Nan Talese, who are in town for a big event at the Columbus Public Library. What fun! My daughter, Coulter, was with me, and the four of us -- Coulter, The Taleses, and I -- had a grand ol' story-tellin' time.

Oh, one more thing -- McCullers fans will surely want to know that Carson's short story "The Jockey" is the featured fiction podcast on newyorker.com this month. The story is read by Karen Russell (St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves). The podcast also features interesting discussion between Karen Russell and The New Yorker's Deborah Treisman.

All I know is this: If next week is as exciting as this past one has been -- and there's already indication that it could be -- I might have to schedule a vacation.

Come see us when you get a chance. Call ahead, please -- 'cause we're open by appointment. We'd love to have you visit.

-- Cathy
706 545-4021