The Correspondence of Shelby Foote and Walker Percy

by Shelby Foote, Walker Percy, Jay Tolson (Editor)

“A fascinating window into a lifelong friendship and the writing life.” ― Kirkus Reviews In the late 1940s, Walker Percy and Shelby Foote, friends since their teenage years in Greenville, Mississippi, began a correspondence that would last until Percy's death in 1990. Walker Percy, the highly regarded author of The Moviegoer, wrote six novels, two volumes of philosophical writings, and numerous essays. Shelby Foote met with early success as a novelist, but his reputation today rests more upon his massive three-volume narrative history of the Civil War, and his role as commentator in Ken Burns's documentary The Civil War. The correspondence between Percy and Foote traces their lives from the beginning of their respective careers, when they were grappling fiercely and openly with their ambitions, artistic doubts, and personal problems. Although they discuss such serious matters as the death of Foote's mother and Percy's battle with cancer, their letters are full of sly humor and good-natured ribbing. Jay Tolson has selected, edited, and annotated the letters of these two remarkable writers to shed light on their relationship and their literary careers. Includes an eight-page insert with photographs of the writers chronicling their friendship.

Genres: Nonfiction, Writing, Biography, Southern, Memoir, Literary Fiction, History

324 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Shelby Dade Foote, Jr. was an American novelist and a noted historian of the American Civil War, writing a massive, three-volume history of the war entitled The Civil War: A Narrative. With geographic and cultural roots in the Mississippi Delta, Foote's life and writing paralleled the radical shift from the agrarian planter system of the Old South to the Civil Rights era of the New South. Foote was relatively unknown to the general public for most of his career until his appearance in Ken Burns's PBS documentary The Civil War in 1990, where he introduced a generation of Americans to a war that he believed was "central to all our lives."

Reviews

[Paul Secor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've only read two of Walker Percy's novels. I've read none of Shelby Foote's novels and have only read the excerpted The Stars in Their Courses: The Gettysburg Campaign from his Civil War Collection. Why would I want to read the collected letters between the two men? The answer is that I once spent a wonderful three hours watching and listening to Shelby Foote being interviewed in the library of his home. If you have three hours to spare and want to spend it with a gracious host: http://www.c-span.org/video/?165823-1...

So I read forty one years of correspondence between the two men with some ups and some downs. The first 120 pages are a one way street - Foote writing to Percy - because, with one exception, Shelby Foote didn't begin to save Walker Percy's letters until 1970.

The letters contain much literary talk - books that are being written, books that are being read, recommended books - especially by Foote - it took over forty years for him to finally persuade Percy to read Proust, try as he did over the years - complaints about publishers, a few complaints about reviewers - both men had a good attitude about this: do what you do and ignore the reviews, and talk about immediate and extended families.
Foote's letters tend to be longer, as befits a man who wrote three volumes totaling 1,700,000 words on the Civil War.

There are a fair number of moments I'll remember (most of which come from Foote) - a few here:

Percy to Foote: "Glad to hear the war is going great guns." (Referring to Foote's magnum opus on the Civil War.) "I keep thinking we might win it this time."

Foote to Percy: "Dear Walker
I killed Lincoln last week - Saturday, at noon. While I was doing it (he had his chest arched up, holding his last breath to let it out) some halfassed doctor came to the door with vols I and II under his arm, wanting me to autograph them for his son for Xmas. I was in such a state of shock, I not only let him in; I even signed the books, a thing I seldom do. Then I turned back and killed him and had Stanton say, 'Now he belongs to the ages.'"

Foote to Percy on a critical article: "I did a better job than I ever knew, and any time I have any doubt about my immortality I just go back and limp my way back through another of those articles for reassurance."

Foote to Percy: "It occurred to me the other day how strange it is that almost no one in Dostoyevsky works for a living, has a job or has to face any kind of day-to-day life. That's no concern of his, and he leaves it out. Imagine Mitya with a job. Or even Ivan or Alyosha for that matter - they need all their time to concentrate on being characters in his books."

Foote to Percy: "A week or so ago, I wrote to Bob Coles telling him how much I liked the full-length version of his book on you, and today I got a strangely gloomy note in reply. ... I reckon we're none of us exempt from the doldrums. Anyhow there's no more use expecting a psychiatrist to be happy than there is expecting a G.P. to be healthy."

Percy to Foote: "There's an absolute miracle ... you ought to order: Schubert's C Major string quartet, Op. 163, recorded by the Guarneri Quartet with Leonard Rose on the extra cello. ... I once considered it the greatest piece in all Romantic music, & maybe still do."
(Reviewer's note: I like the recording by the Hollywood Quartet plus Kurt Reher, but I plan on checking out Mr. Percy's version.)

There's a lot of chaff mixed in with the better stuff, but that's to be expected in forty years' worth of letters.
Down to a rating: My head says probably three stars, maybe three and a half - I got this from the library and it's not a book I'd buy and want to keep. My heart says four stars - when it ended as it had to with Shelby Foote speaking at a commemoration service for Walker Percy - I didn't want it to end. When the head and the heart come into conflict, I go with the heart. Thus four stars.

Soundtrack music during some of the time I was reading this:

E.C. Ball (Rounder) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8Lho...
The Best of Frank Stokes (Yazoo) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNtAM...
Jesse Winchester: Third Down, 110 To Go (Bearsville)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLqQJ...
The Best of Booker T and the MGs (Atlantic) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9y-n...

[B. R. Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Walker Percy & Shelby Foote, two “heavy hitters” from the American South, lifelong friends and very interesting men. Both were born in 1916, Walker a few months older. Tragically, Walker lost both his parents to suicide and ended up being raised in the Greenville, MS home of a very distinguished older cousin, William Alexander Percy, a planter, attorney & writer. Shelby (born in Greenville) and Walker became good friends when they were teenagers and they both thrived on the cultural life offered up by “Uncle Will” (Wm Percy) at the Percy household. Upon completion of high school Walker & Shelby enrolled at UNC-Chapel Hill. Later on in life Walker settled in the New Orleans suburb of Covington and Shelby in Memphis. The first letter from Shelby to Walker dates back to 1948. We don’t hear from Walker until 1967. (Walker saved his letters from Shelby early on.)

Shelby Foote became relatively well known circa 1990 as an expert commentator on Ken Burns’ PBS Special on the Civil War. His knowledge, insight and folksy southern manner made him a joy to watch. I became an instant fan. Walker Percy is perhaps best known for his novel The Moviegoer, a story set in New Orleans. Walker & his wife were also instrumental in getting another New Orleans novel, A Confederacy of Dunces, published ten years after the suicide of the author, John Kennedy Toole. Poor Walker and suicides.

Reading these letters is almost like eavesdropping. Shelby went through a tough divorce and was in a lot of pain for a while. Shelby always seemed to have advice for Walker. I can almost see Walker rolling his eyes while reading some of Shelby’s letters. However, in the letters it was pretty clear to me that they were close friends and cared about one another. I found it very interesting to learn about some of the books that the two liked to read. Shelby might have been the biggest fan of Proust (Remembrance of Things Past) in America. It’s a massive series of stories (I guess) and Shelby read it 8-10 times. It was a book that he pushed hard on Percy. I don’t know if Percy ever read the damn thing. Shelby also spent 20 yrs on his Civil War narratives, his opus. He ground out the narrative with hard work & discipline. Percy seemed more interested in current events, politics and all the social unrest of the 60s, more easygoing.

One of the things I learned after finishing this book was that Shelby was a big fan of As the World Turns (a daytime TV soap opera) and never missed an episode. I found that fact rather amusing.

It was sad when Percy was diagnosed with cancer. It had to be tough for Shelby to eventually lose his best friend. This happened before Shelby had his great success with the PBS series. I enjoyed the book very much but I think any reader would have to know something about the two writers for it to be meaningful. They were grand old men of the South.

[James Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found interesting how these two lifelong friends contrasted in their approach to writing. For almost half the book no Percy letters are included because none were saved. So we have only Foote's brooding and pedantic intelligence, his high sense of self and achievement. Though Percy, when he makes his entrance, demonstrates he's philosophically the heavier hitter he doesn't thrust his confidence forward like a cowcatcher. He seems to radiate a quiet grace and thanks for his gifts. Foote has his own grace, of course, and freely showed how much he cared for Percy and his work. A Southerner myself I liked that they were aware of their regional sensibilities and proud of them. In these letters they didn't disagree much and, always eager to affirm their love of region and each other, never in their recognition of what it means to be Southern. Still, as much as I love Foote's Civil War trilogy, I've complained in the past about its pro-South tone because I thought it diluted his work as history. I had to smile when reading the letter in which Percy scolds him because his work is so partisan. But I realized while reading that the trilogy's called a narrative rather than a history. Foote would be the first to remind us he could tell the story any way he wanted to.

[Jonfaith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this one evening after my wife became angry with me. I had been rather stupid and deserved such. I awoke in the middle of the night and found myself drawn to this collection, which I believe I had purchased while we were in Oxford, MS earlier in the year.

[Michael Perkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent interview with Shelby Foote about this book....

https://www.c-span.org/video/?77879-1...

[Jed Park · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful book. Male friendship isn't a topic you see explored much these days and these two literary giants(ok, maybe Foote was only above average) give an insight into two of Southern Lit's finest.

[Corey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a bookish goldmine. Recommended for anyone who likes reading, writing, writers, the South, Southern writers, The Civil War, Memphis, New Orleans, Proust, Dante, erudite conversation, friendship, semiotics, or human beings.

[Drew Norwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Walker Percy and Shelby Foote's lifelong friendship and correspondence was an amazing thing. I enjoyed going through these letters off an on over the course of several years. Foote takes up most of the pages in the correspondence, primarily because Percy's letters weren't preserved until 1967 and secondarily because Foote generally wrote longer and more discursive letters than Percy. A few takeaways--both of these men were devoted readers and writers; both owed a huge debt of gratitude to Will Percy; both were thoroughly Southern; Percy's humor runs through all of his letters, even the most mundane; and Foote never tired of praising Proust, Shakespeare, and Dante.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating. Learned how little I know about literature being in on these huge minds discussing it.

[Daniel Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thoroughly enjoyable, humorous read, opening windows into their personal lives, planned vacations (foursomes including their spouses; many happened, many didn’t due to scheduling conflicts); reads and comments on each other's in-process and completed works; comments on great literature and writers. It’s all intermingled, each letter a gem, intentionally written in the patois of the commoners’ South. They go out of their way for misspellings and bad grammar. (Why use “obtain” when the more colorful “get a holt of” is available?)

The reader will find it helpful, before starting the letters, to get acquainted with these brilliant and accomplished Southern writers. Read their wiki pages, summaries of their published works, and critics’ reviews.

Shelby Foote’s published works:
Fiction-- Tournament (1949); Follow Me Down (1950); Love in a Dry Season (1951); Shiloh: A Novel (1952); Jordan County: A Landscape in Narrative; (1954); September, September (1978) (adapted for television movie "Memphis," Cybill Shepherd).
Non-Fiction-- The Civil War: A Narrative Vol 1: Fort Sumter to Perryville (1958); Vol 2: Fredericksburg to Meridian (1963); Vol 3: Red River to Appomattox (1974). (Vols 1-3 comprise 1700 pages)

Walker Percy’s published works:
Fiction-- The Moviegoer (1961) (won National Book Award; made into a movie), The Last Gentleman (1966); Love in the Ruins (1971); Lancelot (1977); The Second Coming (1980); The Thanatos Syndrome (1987).
Non-Fiction-- The Message in the Bottle, subtitle How Queer Man Is, How Queer Language Is, and What One Has to Do with the Other (1975) (a collection of essays on semiotics); Lost in the Cosmos, 1983. (mock self-help book, based on semiotics)

A few notes re the letters:
1. Until page 128 they are all SF to WP but SF’s questions inform on WP's thoughts and activities. (The reason for this is WP kept all of SF’s letters but not vice-versa.)
2. Each letter is somehow humorous; they joke with each other while exchanging deep and not so deep thoughts. SF is “out there,” if he’s thinking it, he’s saying it; WP is less verbose, more cerebral, but equally witty. Both had me in stitches.
3. SF’s favorite composers--Mozart and Beethoven; favorite painters---Cezanne, Vermeer and Klee.
4. SF is forever advising WP on what he should read and what he should write, WP never taking offense.
5. On reading: the world’s greatest--Shakespeare, Dante, Proust, honorable mention Dostoevsky, Chekov, Joyce. America’s best--James, Twain, Faulkner, honorable mention McCarthy.
6. On writing: prose rhythm is iambic pentameter base, the variations its beauty; good writing proceeds from doubt about yourself and your faith; the goal of writing is to expand life; Proust: true literature reveals the still unknown part of the soul; Proust’s concern: to keep the story moving forward; Hemingway: the writer’s most valuable equipment is an infallible shit-detector.
7. At WP’s 1990 funeral service, over a thousand people in attendance, SF’s delivered eulogy: like Dante, like Faulkner, like all the greats, his subject was the human heart in conflict with itself.

[Gavin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was wonderful, the only complaint that I have is that Shelby and Walker kept recommending books to each other that of course I added to my reading pile.

A wonderful friendship that sprung from perhaps unlikely childhoods of the time, but more of a pattern today, except I'm not sure about the literary experience. Perhaps that is improper for me to think, but in my search for knowledge, these guys did fairly well in the twentieth-century. That time has passed however, but I think we are the worse for it.

In an age of electronics, I'm not sure that friends can communicate, much less write as well, to each other today. Lots of questions, dreams, explanations of writing intentions and hoping for success.

That should fit the lives of all of us as far as expectations. Writing is a good thing and these two friends did that well and perhaps that made them closer. Kudos.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely book. Longterm friendships between women get their due a hundred times over, so it's refreshing to be privy to a really warm and intimate male relationship. Percy and Foote met as high school students and hit it off instantly, and their friendship lasted until Percy's death -- Foote was with his family at his deathbed. What's nice is reading the letters, of course, but also seeing each man become more of who he was as he got older, married, remarried, had children, published books, did readings and lecture tours, had money, needed money, traveled, stayed home. There's something about being privy to two entire lives like that that goes beyond the voyeuristic into the realm of benevolent.

Really a nice book of correspondence, definitely recommended.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you’re not a fan of Percy or Foote, I suspect you may find this less enjoyable than I did, but it’s so rare to see the arc of a longstanding friendship between two men (not to mention two very different writers). Their individual personalities resonate throughout this collection and afford a more intimate view not always accessible through the traditional approach of a biography. I thoroughly enjoyed this.

[Wm · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went to school with Shelby Foote's son. I've always been fascinated by his historical work, and the man was a wonderful storyteller.

[Jasonlylescampbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good to read private conversations in a long, long friendship between writers. Shelby has many more letters (Walker only comes in toward the end) and is the elder writer even if they are roughly the same age. Shelby is also, well in his words from the end when he has read back over some of the letters -- "I was amazed to observe how didactic I was over the years--I don't see how you managed the grace to put up with it all that time. I'm putting you up for sainthood next time I'm alone with John Paul II." Ha! Pedantic is putting it nicely.

But of course, sometimes the pedantic among us are actually really capable and I was able to learn a lot from him about writing. Here is Shelby describing the kind of writing I have always felt drawn toward (Potok tells the same truth when he talks about his novels) -- "I'm pleased, too, to find you getting at the nub of the thing: what a novel really is. It's shape, a method of releasing experience, of relating words to life. How you tell is everything, and every page is a new experience, a new endeavor to lick what cant be licked. You always come back to that: the realization that the craft is what makes it worth a grown man's time. Most people think mistakenly that writers are people who have something to tell them. Nothing I think could be wronger. If I knew what I wanted to say I wouldn't write at all. What for? Why do it, if you already know the answers? Writing is the search for the answers, and the answer is the form, the method of telling, the exploration of self, which is our only clew to reality.

And since I know Walker's writing, it is fascinating to see and read what thoughts he is having around his novels. Love in Ruins explores a polarized country and both right and left running off in bad directions, forget right in left, it explores the worst aspects of america running off ... money-grubbing, religion as social club, hippee-but with no political protest, etc. While he is writing it, he shares this in a letter to Shelby:

This summer I reached the nadir of my popularity here in Covington: testified in federal court as an expert witness (an observer of culture) in a dispute about flying the Confederate flag at the high school. The blacks want it out. I said they were right. So I got threatened by the Klan: bomb the house, etc - we slept in the attic for 2 weeks - not that I thought there was one chance in 1000, but didn't want Ann and Bunt to get blown up. Then I accused the local Catholic school of getting rid of black people, running a seg school with holy water thrown on it. Now the Catholics (most) are mad at me. And I do believe they're more unpleasant than the Klan."

[Judith Shadford · Rating 5 out of 5]

An extraordinary correspondence between two men whose works shaped much thought during the 20th century, but were just guys who made friends in high school and stayed friends until Percy's death in 1990. I've had the book for close to 20 years, recently read a reference to it in a journal, got it out and have been entranced since. Foote admits, looking at his early letters he's really a prick--always telling Percy what to read (Proust, Dante). But his account of writing the Civil War trilogy is amazing because he lives, relives, each episode. Plus their fiction, plus their marriages and children, traveling to New Orleans or New York or Paris, sending each other tapes of music they are discovering in depth (classical). Shifting from buses to transatlantic flights. And I'm grieving, just a bit, that the letters are finished and their authors are gone. Books...still with us. But they are gone.

[Stefanni Lynch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Southern writers. I cannot get enough of them. After I read The Moviegoer by Walker Percy and did some quick online research on him, I wanted to explore the friendship of these two through their letters. Shelby Foote was, in these letters, quite impressed with himself. If I were Percy, I would have put an end to the friendship! I also see Foote as an unrepentant Southerner, and I am not a fan of that attitude. Glad I read it because it includes some good insight into the writing process of both men.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Learned much about great literature from Shelbys evaluations of his favorite classics. Fascinating learning on writing from the conversations between these two great writers, one a Christian and one a respectful non believer, apparently. 20 years since I enjoyed this book of letters. Felt I came to know these two men quite well, especially having read Shelbys fiction in addition to his CW writing, and a few memorable books of Walker Percy. Wonderful experience and learning.

[samuel bragg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Huge Shelby Foote fan. This was fascinating to see how much Foote cared about writing and living the life of a writer and then how Percy stumbled into it and found the success that Foote so longed for. Seeing their relationship play out and being closely connected to the Mississippi delta through my wife this made for interesting reading.

[Gary Sites · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of those rare books one can return to over and over. I highlighted a lot of paragraphs. Two great writers and thinkers share their friendship and knowledge. This is a beautiful book and must-read for lovers of literature.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

We’ve been in a pandemic and isolated from friends for over a year. Refreshing to follow these two friends throughout their lives as writers, giving guidance and suggestions back and forth. To be so lucky!

[Lisa B · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only thing better would have been if Shelby Foote narrated the audiobook version.

[Robin Yaklin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two master authors talking to each other cannot be bad, right? It wasn't.

[Ken · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a compilation of letters between two authors who were close friends since their early teens in Greenville Mississippi. I can't remember the last time I recieved a personal letter but at one time it was common for people to sit down and write letters...really, it was.

The letters span four decades with some interesting remarks and opinions expressed about other authors, current events and each others' writing skills and habits. They knew several notable people including Eudora Welty and Dick Cavett and various publishers and literary critics. They shared their early drafts of book projects and offered comments and suggestions. It is interesting to see how Foote organized his writing. Percy was interested in philosophy and semiotics and Foote seemed more interested on Dante, Proust and Dostoyevsky. Most of the letters have literary comments with some personal news mixed in. Percy got religion, Foote went through several marriages. Shelby Foote spent 20 years writing his three volume narrative of the Civil War. Both men wrote novels focused on life and events in the south and New Orleans. Percy died in 1990 with Foote at his bedside. Foote went on to national celebrity due to his prominent role in Ken Burns' PBS Civil War series.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a delight to be able to share in the private epistles of two of America's best writers of the latter 20th century. It is fascinating to read how they move from project to project, discuss the ins and outs of the publishing industry, and the life of a writer.

It has certainly given me the inspiration to read more of their works.

[Meryal Annison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I couldn't find anything I did not like about this book. Not everyone likes first person or autobiographical writing. I'm such a snoop, I relish getting the inside scoop on someone's personal lives and/or opinions. I read about these guys and the names they mention in high school and college modern literature classes. For me, this book was a real joy.

[Dave Reidy]

Fascinating for writers and readers alike--the tale of two divergent careers. Foote and Percy experience fame and acclaim, but never at the same time. Their friendship persists through it all. One might never imagine that men can sustain each other via letter, but this book proves it happens.

[Tracy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Shelby Foote hearts himself very much. And also hates Catholics a little.

[Jamespcoleman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A unique peak into the personal lives and struggles of two of the South's great novelists.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

A pleasure.