While traipsing around St. Joseph’s Benedictine Abbey searching for Walker Percy’s headstone with Chick B, I suddenly realized what a truly “southern catholic” moment I was having.
For those of you who don’t know Walker Percy, here is a little bio info that may help explain why two Southern Catholic women would haul four kids 60 miles out of the way on a trip home from New Orleans to an abbey outside the small town of Covington, Louisiana.
Born May 28, 1916 in Birmingham, AL, Walker Alexander Percy was an American Southern author whose interests included philosophy and semiotics. He is best known for his novels including The Moviegoer, The Last Gentleman, Love in the Ruins, and The Second Coming among others. His work displays a unique combination of existential questioning, Southern sensibility and deep Catholic faith. Not only was he a prolific writer but he was instrumental in getting John Kennedy Toole’s Pulitzer Prize- winning novel A Confederacy of Dunces published after Toole’s death. He also was a great encourager of his fellow Southern writers and along with 21 other authors founded the Fellowship of Southern Writers. In 1989 the University of Notre Dame awarded Percy its Laetare Medal, which is awarded annually to a Catholic “whose genius has ennobled the arts and sciences, illustrated the ideals of the Church and enriched the heritage of humanity.”
Both Chick B and I share a love for reading books by Southern writers. And, I had been a Walker Percy fan back in my Protestant days. So, imagine my delight when we discovered that Walker Percy was a Catholic convert as well. (This explains the trip to a remote abbey outside Covington, Louisiana.)
Chick B finally located the simple headstone. We paid our respects to the great Southern writer and loaded up back in the car for the 8 hour drive home — a little richer from the “southern catholic moment” we had just had.
Chick A
babs
1 year ago
I was questioning whether St Joseph’s was worth an 8 hr drive of my own, but I think you’ve answered my question here.
I’ve gone from being a Roman Catholic in the South to being an Anglo Catholic (read Episcopalian) and Walker Percy has been with me every step. Ironically, it was exposure to Benedictine spirituality while I was Roman Catholic that led me to the Episcopal Church, where its influence is conspicuous, and comforting. It draws me to St Joseph’s, where I would get to see “the grave.”
I read Walker Percy avidly for several years. He tells the story of the psychology of being Catholic in the South. Pat Conroy tells the story of the sociology of being Catholic in the South. Both are singular experiences and I understand why you’ve felt compelled to set up this blog.
All very vague, but thanks.