Percy-L: Literary, Religious, Scientific, and Philosophical Discussion of Walker Percy

[Henry Mills <wppdirector AT gmail.com>]

Title: Great Minds: Presenting the Presenters

Dear Percy-L:

For those interested in the upcoming Walker Percy Weekend scheduled for the first weekend in June, here is information about the speakers and panelists.  Tickets are still available. See www.walkerpercyweekend.org for up-to-date materials.

Best wishes,

Henry Mills
Percy-L Administrator

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	FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE. MAY 10, 2016 For more information contact Missy Couhig | (504) 427-0421 | admin AT walkerpercyweekend.org Presenting the Presenters JUNE 3—5, 2016 ST. FRANCISVILLE, LOUISIANA In the one hundredth anniversary year of his birth, the Walker Percy Weekend welcomes renowned scholars from around the country to deliver lectures and panel discussions in atmospheric locations around St. Francisville's historic district.    PRESENTERS AND KEYNOTE SPEAKERS   Jason Berry (Walker Percy & Catholicism in the South) is a New Orleans author and documentary producer, renowned for his pioneering coverage of the Catholic Church crisis. Vows of Silence, Berry's 2004 book with Gerald Renner, led to Pope Benedict’s demotion of one of the most powerful priests in Rome. In 2011 he published Render unto Rome: The Secret Life of Money in the Catholic Church, which won Best Book Award from Investigative Reporters and Editors. In 2014, he was co-producer of Frontline’s PBS release, “Secrets of the Vatican.”   Ralph C. Wood (Dostoyevsky and Percy) is University Professor of Theology and Literature at Baylor University. He focuses his scholarship on the cultural intersection of religion and literature. Among his books is Flannery O'Connor and the Christ-Haunted South). He spoke at the 2014 Walker Percy Weekend on the worldview of William Alexander Percy. Patrick Samway, S.J. (Walker Percy & Catholicism in the South) is a Roman Catholic priest and professor at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia.  He is author of 1997's Walker Percy: A Life, the authorized biography of the novelist. Matthew Sitman (Walker Percy & Politics) is an associate editor of Commonweal magazine. Prior to joining Commonweal, he was the literary editor of The Dish, and taught political theory and American politics at the University of Virginia. He lives in Manhattan. Mary McCay (The Moviegoer at 50) received her PhD in English and American literature from Tufts University. A distinguished professor emerita of English, she is the author of books on Rachel Carson and Ellen Gilchrist. She was the first director of the Walker Percy Center for Writing and Publishing. Jessica Hooten Wilson (The Moviegoer at 50) is the associate honors director at John Brown University. She has published articles on Flannery O’Connor and Walker Percy and currently has two book manuscripts on O’Connor and Percy under review. She received a Fulbright Fellowship to teach U.S. southern culture for Charles University’s graduate program in American studies in Prague in 2014. Christopher R. Harris (Adventures Between Daylight and Dark) For over twenty-five years Harris worked as a freelance photojournalist for major news media worldwide, documenting the news of the world for TIME, Life, Newsweek, the New York Times as well as many other major publications. In St. Francisville, Harris will present a thought-provoking and intimate collection of photographs taken over a 12-year period of Walker Percy.   *** Individual tickets for the signature events of the 2016 Walker Percy Weekend are available now, with fewer than 50 remaining. To get yours visit www.walkerpercyweekend.org. *** 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.   FOR SCHEDULE, TICKETS AND ACCOMMODATION INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.WALKERPERCYWEEKEND.ORG * high-resolution photos available upon request.