Dear Percy-L: 
     
    Here is current information on the event offerings scheduled for the
    Walker Percy Weekend in St. Francisville, LA, to be held June 5-7,
    2015.  A limited number of tickets is now on sale.  
     
    You may also access this information at http://www.walkerpercyweekend.org.
    
      Best, 
      Henry Mills 
      Percy-L Administrator
      
      
      
      
       
       
        
          
          
            
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                        FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE.
                              APRIL 15, 2015 
                              For more information contact James
                              Fox-Smith | (225) 721-1460 | admin AT walkerpercyweekend.org
                        
                          
                          THE
                                  LITERARY FESTIVAL CELEBRATING THE
                                  WRITER
                                  AND HIS WORKS 
                                  JUNE 5—7, 2015 
                                  ST. FRANCISVILLE, LOUISIANA 
                                   
                                  Lectures and Panel Discussions. The
                                  Twilight in the Ruins Cocktail Party.
                                  The Progressive Front Porch Bourbon
                                  Tour. Individual tickets for the
                                  signature events of the 2015 Walker
                                  Percy Weekend went on sale today. At
                                  the time of sending fewer than 50
                                  remained. 
                                   
                                  To get yours, visit www.walkerpercyweekend.org.
                         
                         
                        The second annual
                              Walker Percy Weekend celebrates the
                              acclaimed novelist’s life and work in
                              unforgettable surroundings, June 5—7 in
                              St. Francisville. Intellectually serious
                              but high-spirited,
                              the festival invites fans of Southern
                              literature to pursue appreciation of
                              Percy's thought and writing while
                              attending presentations by renowned
                              scholars, panel discussions, readings,
                              tours to sites familiar to readings, and
                              social and culinary events inspired by the
                              author's most famous works.
                              Events take place at locations around St.
                              Francisville's historic district. 
                         
                        SCHEDULE
                              HIGHLIGHTS 
                         
                        LECTURES AND PANEL DISCUSSIONS: Renowned writers, thinkers, and
                            teachers gather to discuss the life and
                            legacy of Walker Percy and related writers.
                            Panel topics include "Flannery
                              O'Connor and Walker Percy:
                              Catholics in the Christ-Haunted South,"
                              "Walker Percy and David Foster Wallace:
                              Losing It at the Movies," "From Gone
                                With the Wind to
                              Garden & Gun: Walker Percy
                              at the Crossroads of the Old South and the
                              New," and "Mississippi
                              Woman, Louisiana Man: Eudora
                              Welty, Walker Percy, and the Southern
                              Imagination." For details visit www.walkerpercyweekend.org. 
                         
                        A TWILIGHT IN THE
                            RUINS cocktail party staged in the
                            spectacular Ruins Garden at Afton Villa
                            Gardens—once the site of a Percy family
                            home. Featuring specialty
                            drinks and fine hors d’oeuvres crafted by
                            Heirloom Cuisine. 
                             
                            The return of the PROGRESSIVE FRONT-PORCH TOUR AND
                            BOURBON
                            TASTING inspired by Percy’s famous essay,
                            “Bourbon, Neat.”
                            The tour visits notable homes around the
                            Historic District, with a different
                            summer-weight bourbon-based refreshment
                            served at each. 
                             
                            An authentic LOUISIANA CRAWFISH BOIL served with a selection of regional
                            craft beers, presented by Chefs Cody and
                            Samantha Carroll
                            of Hot Tails Restaurant in New Roads. With
                            music by Ben Bell & the Stardust Boys. 
                         
                        GUIDED TOURS to visit sites familiar to fans of
                            Percy’s fiction: Entergy’s River Bend
                            Nuclear Plant and Louisiana State
                            Penitentiary at Angola (THE THANATOS SYNDROME), and a self-guided driving tour
                            visiting notable Percy family sites around
                            the Felicianas. 
                             
                            And a chance to WIN A WEEKEND GETAWAY to the magnificent Southern Hotel in
                            Covington, LA, ranked among the South’s Best
                            New
                            Hotels for 2015 by Southern Living
                            magazine. 
                             
                             
                            Walker Percy (1916—1990) wrote novels that
                            explored the “dislocation of man in the
                            modern age.” Most of his work was set in New
                            Orleans and around South Louisiana,
                            including the semi-fictitious Feliciana,
                            which the author based upon West Feliciana
                            and the other Florida
                            parishes. Percy’s debut novel, THE MOVIEGOER, won the National Book Award for
                            Fiction, and was included on Time magazine’s
                            list of the
                            100 Best English language novels from
                            1923—2005. In later works, including LOVE IN THE RUINS, THE LAST
                            GENTLEMAN, and THE THANATOS SYNDROME, Percy continued exploring
                            the search for meaning in an increasingly
                            materialistic society via masterfully
                            wrought tales delivered with a poetic
                            Southern sensibility and
                            informed by the author’s deep Catholic
                            faith. 
                             
                            Festival proceeds support the JULIUS FREYHAN FOUNDATION—an organization dedicated to
                            restoring the historic Freyhan School
                            building to serve as a
                            community and cultural center for West
                            Feliciana Parish. 
                         
                        
                        
                          *
                              high-resolution photos available upon
                              request.  
                           
                          Painting
                            information: George Rodrigue (1944-2013,
                            Walker Percy, 1982, oil on canvas, 40"x30",
                            collection of the artist
                         
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