A Eudora Welty sory by Eugenia Summer

When Barbara Smith told Eugenia Summer that I am writting a book about Eudora Welty Eugenia gave me a book signed by Eudora Welty. It was a very generous gift in itself but then there was also a story to go with it. Here it goes. Eugenia Summer is now retired but all of her life and academic career is connected with Art and Design Depatrtmen of Mississippi University for Women.
Barbara Smith, then Whitaker, was Arts Student at "W" and she and Eugenia have been friends ever since.
Southerners like to talk and share their stories. Here is how Eugenia Summer shared it whith me back in Septmeber of this year. Eudora Welty was comming to "W" for Eudora Welty weekend. It was one of the weekedns dedicated to Southern Authors, she always came and stayed the whole weekend and she gave a talk to open the weekend. A friend of Eugenia Summer was flying from Washington to this event and Eugenia asked her to bring anything by Eudora Welty so that she would get the book signed. The friend was Mary Sharlote Stark, a renouned archivist, and the only book she could get was The Eye of the Story which she picked up at the airport bookstore. She wanted to get something with hard cover, but nothing else was available. As Mary Sharlote got on the plane she found that Eudora Welty was on the same plane and they got to talk with each other. When Mary Sharlote produced the book and asked for the signature Eudora Welty asked for the name and Eugenia's name was pronounced. Eudora Welty recognised the name since she met Eugenia in "W" during previous visits and signed the book.
When in "W" Eudora Welty was supposed to be driven around by another friend of Eugenia Summer but that friend's car would not start so she asked Eugenia if she would drive them around. Eugenia Summer gladly agreed. So at some point she found herself in the car together with Eudora Welty and she was overwhelmed for a moment and did not know what to talk about. "Eudora Welty sat in the front seat next to me . We had to wait about 15 minutes in front of some house. And all of a sudden Eudora Welty started to talk. She shared an experience she had once in a small airport (it might have been a city in Alabama or in Florida), where she had to change planes. There was one man there who took care of the airport and he and Eudora Welty started talking. He said that he was a farmer and that he liked to go fishing . Miss Welty asked him a lot of questions and he was happy to share about his life. By the end of their converstation the man was sorry his new friend did not have enough time otherwise he would have taken her to the farm. Eventually as they were parting he asked her name and she said "Eudora Welty". The man was pleased and said "That's a nice name. I have never heard it before. How do you spell it?". Eudora Welty was surprised but she did not show it. She really enjoyed the encounter, she said she wished she could go back and see his farm".
Eugenia Summer concluded her story: "I thought that here I am hearing a Eudora Welty story told in her own words. It is an ordinary occurance, but Eudora Welty really listens to everybody and she finds everybody interesting. I will never forget sitting in that car next to Eudora Welty and hearing her story".

Not Eudora's Favourite Place

Couple of days ago I emailed pictures taken in Jackson back in 1994 to Suzanne Marrs (Eudora Welty's excellent biographer) and asked if by some chance this was the Greek restaurant which Eudora Welty liked so much. The answer was great and funny. Suzanne wrote: "The pictures you attached were taken at Denery's Restaurant, and that was not Eudora's favorite place. She preferred Bill Burger House (aka Bill's Greek Tavern). There is a story about Dennery's however. It was this restaurant that refused to seat two rather long-haired students that Eudora took there. She and the two boys left, and she never returned".
Well, even if I knew the story back in 1994 the choice of the restaurant was not mine - I was the guest of Pastor Bill Gover and other members of Christ United Metodist Church. And I am certainly grateful for the great dinner and the connection to Eudora Welty!

The notes are done in pencil and it was special to get to see the books which Eudora Welty read.

Books by Anton Chekhov in Eudora Welty's House

Touring the house I asked about the books by Chekhov. The list had about 30 items - almost every good translation of the Russian Writer printed in the United States since 1920. Wow! Some books are covered with Eudora Welty's notes. She did read into them!

Eudora Welty sure loved books. They are everywhere in the house. I was told that there were even more - some had to be removed to the storage. Everyone who wanted to sit down at Miss Welty's house had to move books to make room.

Tour of Eudora Welty House

It just worked out that way that the only day I could visit Eudora Welty's House was on Wednesday, September 9th. It was only that evening that I realised that the date was pretty special 09/09/09. The visit was special too. It is certainly one of the highlights of this year for me. Mary Alice White, the niece of Miss Welty, was really hospitable. She spent some time visiting with me and we had a picture taken. Here it is. I am very grateful to Mary Alice who by now retired from the position of the director of the House and feel very blessed that I met Mary Alice in person two weeks prior to the retirement.

Book Reviews by Eudora Welty

I have just finished reading Eudora Welty's reviews collected by Pearl McHaney under one title A Writer's Eye. The book collects all sixty-seven of Welty's reviews of seventy-four books. They are really beautiful. As Pearl McHaney puts it "Though they are in her own view, a minor chapter in her life's work, Welty's reviews are as sensory-laden, as thoughtful, and as well crafted as her stories". I can not agree more. I really enjoyed Welty's review of Nine Stories by J.D.Sallinger. Any student of William Faulkner should read Welty's reviews of Intruder in the Dust and Selected Letters of William Faulkner by Joseph Blotner. I checked the article on the photographs taken in Russia by Henri Cartier-Bresson, on the collection of Russian Fairy Tales and my only complaint is that she has not reviewed more books. I would love to know what she thought about some. Such an intelligent, knolegeable, tactful and sensitive lady of letters! I should probably work on copyright permission for translating of some of the reviews into Russian.

Back to Academic Writing

This year for the first time since 1990 (when my article on Louise Erdrich was published) I made two more "public appearances". The first one was in April. I posted a report on photography in Eudora Welty's life. The Conference took place in Perm (Southern Siberia) at Perm State University. Here is how it looks in Russian: "Фотография в жизни Юдоры Уэлти" Постерный доклад на международной научно-практической конференции "Пограничные процессы в литературе и культуре". Пермский государственный университет, 16-19 апреля 2009 г.

Encouraged by the success I had an article on Eudora Welty and Photography published in a book printed in Krasnodar. For me it is a major milestone. At some point I thought that I would never go back to academic life. If it were not for Miss Welty I probably wouldn't. And now the more I read the more I want to share what I have found out! Anyway I am proudly displaying the cover of the collection with a very learned name: "Inerdisciplinary Aspects of Linguistic Studies" Krasnodar, 2009. My article is in Russian and I have posted it on my Russian language website dedicated to Eudora Welty
http://sites.google.com/site/eudoraweltyinrussia/fotografia-v-zizni-udory-uelti