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Shoutin’ author speaks at Reunion
Apr 8, 2003 8:00 AM
By Stefan Eady - Faculty
Rick Bragg, author of All Over but the Shoutin’, Darlington’s community-read for the 2002-03 school year, will join alumni in coming to campus for Reunion Weekend. Bragg, a Pulitzer Prize-winning national correspondent for the New York Times, as well as All Over but the Shoutin’ and his newest book, Ava’s Man, was born next door to Rome in Alabama. He grew up there and worked at several newspapers before joining the New York Times in 1994.
He will speak to students, faculty, parents, and alumni during a plenary session, 9-10 a.m., Friday, April 25 in Van Es Arena of the Huffman Memorial Athletic Center on Darlington’s main campus. The general public is invited to attend this session.
Following a short break, Bragg will discuss his book with a student panel led by David Powell, the School’s Thatcher Chair of English. Questions will be taken from the floor as well.
Bragg covered the murder and unrest in Haiti while a metro reporter there, then wrote about the Oklahoma City bombing, the Jonesboro killings, the Susan Smith trial and more as a national correspondent based in Atlanta. He later became Miami Bureau Chief for the Times just in time for Elian Gonzalez’s arrival and the international battle for the little boy. He is now a roving correspondent based in New Orleans.
His first book, All Over but the Shoutin', was the story of a mother who absorbed the cruelties of an alcoholic husband haunted by his service in the Korean War, and showed how she gave her life, in endless cotton fields, to make a living for her three sons. The book, a New York Times notable book of the year, won several awards and was selected as one of the best books of the year by several news organizations and reader groups. But more important than the fact it made the New York Times Best-Seller list, says Bragg, is the fact that the book became an anthem for the working people and poor people of the modern-day South.
The close proximity to Rome (Rome is even mentioned), the many familiarities, and the compelling story should be enough to capture the interest of Darlington readers. There are a few connections to people at Darlington that add a fun element and might spark interest. Wally Fowler, a famous country-gospel singer who is mentioned in the book, was the second husband to campus resident Judy Fowler, the mother of Associate Headmaster and Dean of College Guidance Sam Moss. Also, Bragg refers to an unpleasant teacher who is a distant relative to Middle School faculty member Nancy Ivester.
Bragg has twice won the prestigious American Society of Newspaper Editors Distinguished Writing Award, and more than 50 writing awards in his 20-year career. In 1992, he was awarded a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University. He has taught writing in colleges and in newspaper newsrooms. He is also the author of Somebody Told Me, a critically acclaimed collection of his newspaper stories.
Last school year David Hicks, Darlington’s president, initiated a community reading project that offers the entire Darlington community a common academic ground, one that encourages discussion. “I felt that as an academic institution we were intellectually fragmented and that such a close community as ours should take advantage of an opportunity to do one academic thing together, such as reading a book,” Hicks explained.
A committee comprised of individuals representing each academic department makes the selections. Buzz Bissinger’s Friday Night Lights was the first book chosen. The reading and discourse culminated with a visit by Bissinger in April 2002. The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd, has already been chosen as the School community-read for next school year. Kidd will speak to the Darlington community and the general public on Saturday morning, Oct. 17, 2003.
He will speak to students, faculty, parents, and alumni during a plenary session, 9-10 a.m., Friday, April 25 in Van Es Arena of the Huffman Memorial Athletic Center on Darlington’s main campus. The general public is invited to attend this session.
Following a short break, Bragg will discuss his book with a student panel led by David Powell, the School’s Thatcher Chair of English. Questions will be taken from the floor as well.
Bragg covered the murder and unrest in Haiti while a metro reporter there, then wrote about the Oklahoma City bombing, the Jonesboro killings, the Susan Smith trial and more as a national correspondent based in Atlanta. He later became Miami Bureau Chief for the Times just in time for Elian Gonzalez’s arrival and the international battle for the little boy. He is now a roving correspondent based in New Orleans.
His first book, All Over but the Shoutin', was the story of a mother who absorbed the cruelties of an alcoholic husband haunted by his service in the Korean War, and showed how she gave her life, in endless cotton fields, to make a living for her three sons. The book, a New York Times notable book of the year, won several awards and was selected as one of the best books of the year by several news organizations and reader groups. But more important than the fact it made the New York Times Best-Seller list, says Bragg, is the fact that the book became an anthem for the working people and poor people of the modern-day South.
The close proximity to Rome (Rome is even mentioned), the many familiarities, and the compelling story should be enough to capture the interest of Darlington readers. There are a few connections to people at Darlington that add a fun element and might spark interest. Wally Fowler, a famous country-gospel singer who is mentioned in the book, was the second husband to campus resident Judy Fowler, the mother of Associate Headmaster and Dean of College Guidance Sam Moss. Also, Bragg refers to an unpleasant teacher who is a distant relative to Middle School faculty member Nancy Ivester.
Bragg has twice won the prestigious American Society of Newspaper Editors Distinguished Writing Award, and more than 50 writing awards in his 20-year career. In 1992, he was awarded a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University. He has taught writing in colleges and in newspaper newsrooms. He is also the author of Somebody Told Me, a critically acclaimed collection of his newspaper stories.
Last school year David Hicks, Darlington’s president, initiated a community reading project that offers the entire Darlington community a common academic ground, one that encourages discussion. “I felt that as an academic institution we were intellectually fragmented and that such a close community as ours should take advantage of an opportunity to do one academic thing together, such as reading a book,” Hicks explained.
A committee comprised of individuals representing each academic department makes the selections. Buzz Bissinger’s Friday Night Lights was the first book chosen. The reading and discourse culminated with a visit by Bissinger in April 2002. The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd, has already been chosen as the School community-read for next school year. Kidd will speak to the Darlington community and the general public on Saturday morning, Oct. 17, 2003.
