THE SOUTH
Novels and films set in the American South, take lower
Arkansas (LA) for example, love to picture southern neighborhoods as containing
one eccentric but colorful character. It adds color and commands attention to the dull parts. Those who have lived in such places know
better but take it in stride.
It’s better to laugh with than acknowledge being laughed at.
If I, though, were to be able to write a novel about such places,
I’d try to include at least one person partially based on reality.
Take “Turnrow Thompson” for example. I’d say of him that he was known for his concentration. His acquired middle name honored, as Jimmie Buffet said of a character, his ability to "stick right to the task." It made him popular with football coaches, young women, sergeants, and bosses.
Folks claimed that the attention to duty was inherited, even resulting in the name
Turnrow carried through life. Rumor had it that his mama was so dedicated to
helping produce a bale of picked cotton a day that she had delivered him on a turnrow,
deposited him under a cotton trailer and had gone right back to picking. No one
had ever gotten her to verify the rumor. She would just answer inquiries with,
“He never was no troublesome baby.”
A child with a reputation like that never found himself
destined for greatness.
No comments:
Post a Comment