Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

percy-l - Re: [percy-l] Is the Edsel a metaphor for the church?

percy-l AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Walker Percy

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Thomas Gollier <tgollier AT gmail.com>
  • To: percy-l AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [percy-l] Is the Edsel a metaphor for the church?
  • Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2025 17:08:12 -0700

Wade,

I liked the Edsel tidbit as well, perhaps because I lived through it, but I took it more as the last 
hurrah of the individual on the "horizontal," determining truth or falsity for themselves on the basis
of interacting with the thing itself. Probably close to being without exception now such things are
decided, like the Edsel was, from the "vertical" on the basis of focus groups, how things, including 
oneself, look to others, and so on. And, those Edsel moments of well-planned product introductions 
falling flat are getting increasingly rare. Those days of thinking for oneself, especially with the rigor 
of Sutter – e.g. the problem not being that Jaimie was dying  but the way he was dying, so take him 
to the desert and change that way of dying – ended with the Edsel.

Maybe I could get "faith" in oneself out of that?

Tom


On Mon, Jul 28, 2025 at 4:17 PM Wade Riddick <wriddick AT usa.net> wrote:
Just a thought: the Edsel was famous for being technologically advanced - it
pioneered a number of new automotive features - but its design flopped,
misreading consumer tastes.  The car was famous for a prominent oval on its
front grill mocked as a puckering fish.

"Spuriously elegant and unsound."

Does Percy conjure this sputtering transport to allude to a broader vehicle of
faith, given that the fish symbol has been long associated with the church?

----------------------------------
USING PERCY-L
* Read Percy-L Charter and Policies: https://ibiblio.org/wpercy/listserv/charter-policies.html
* Manage Your Membership: https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/info/percy-l
* Submit a Post to Percy-L: percy-l AT lists.ibiblio.org (Members only)
* Contact the Listserv Manager: percy.listserv.manager AT gmail.com

LISTSERV ARCHIVES
* View Percy-L Discussion Archives: https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/percy-l/

THE WALKER PERCY PROJECT
* Visit The Walker Percy Project website: https://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy





Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page