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[percy-l] Announcement: Percy-L community member Larry Rhu poetry collection published
- From: "Henry P. Mills III" <wppdirector AT gmail.com>
- To: "Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion" <percy-l AT lists.ibiblio.org>
- Subject: [percy-l] Announcement: Percy-L community member Larry Rhu poetry collection published
- Date: Fri, 17 Jan 2025 23:43:58 -0500
Dear Percy-L,
Wishing to promote and celebrate the fine work of our Percy community members where possible, I’d like to call attention to Percy-L member Larry Rhu's recent publication of his poetry collection Pre-owned Odyssey & Rented Rooms. His interesting announcement noting its several Percy inspirations is below.
Larry is an Emeritus Professor of English at the Univ. of South Carolina, specialized in the literature of the English and Italian Renaissance periods and Shakespeare.
Let us all congratulate Larry!
Henry Mills
Director / Percy-L Listserv Manager
The Walker Percy Project
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Dear Walker Percy Readers,
I want to tell you about Pre-owned Odyssey & Rented Rooms because the spirit of Walker Percy nourishes my book throughout. In manuscript it always began with this epigraph from The Moviegoer: "The search is what anyone would undertake if he were not sunk in the everydayness of his own life." But, when I had to choose art for its cover, "Athena’s Owl," one of my wife’s watercolors, seemed a perfect fit. So, I changed the epigraph to a few lines from The Odyssey about "owl-eyed Athena."
Percy makes kindred gestures in The Last Gentleman: Will Barrett comes from Ithaca in the Mississippi Delta and ventures west to Santa Fe with Jamie in "Ulysses", a Trav-L-Aire camper. One of my poems, "Weather Alert," imagines a meal with Walker Percy in Covington at his favorite eatery, the Waffle House, during Hurricane Florence. Another, "Amor Fati," echoes a phrase from "The Message in the Bottle." We all feel an immense debt to Walker Percy and acknowledge it in many ways that are more organic than self-conscious. Better than pertinent footnotes, an open heart will catch my tunes.
Below are links to my author page at Main Street Rag, and a brief video of my reading a couple of poems from the book. You will hear a little more about my search in my few sentences about the book itself, and you might hear The Moviegoer briefly in the first of those poems.
Sincerely,
Larry Rhu
- [percy-l] Announcement: Percy-L community member Larry Rhu poetry collection published, Henry P. Mills III, 01/17/2025
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