A South Carolina memoir to pair with the news
Every week, The Thread recommends a book that offers a fresh perspective on the news.
For a book that pairs well with the analysis of the Democratic primary results in South Carolina, I recommend a memoir from one of the Palmetto State's favorite sons.
South Carolina is indelibly stamped on Pat Conroy's literature. His father, the volatile Great Santini of one of Conroy's early books, moved the family there when Conroy was in high school.
It was in South Carolina that Conroy encountered the English teacher who would change his life. The third chapter in Conroy's memoir, "My Reading Life," is devoted to Gene Norris.
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Norris introduced his students to the beauty of language by playing records of the account of a bullfight, and asking his students to write an essay about it. Conroy wrote from the perspective of the bull.
Norris taught Conroy about manners and nobility and poetry. He defended his class's reading of "Catcher in the Rye" before the school board. And he was the first to spot Pat Conroy's talent.
Conroy writes, "Gene Norris didn't just make his students love books: He made us love the entire world. He was the essential man in the lives of a thousand boys and girls who dwelled in the shadow of his almost unnoticeable greatness."
My Thread Must-Read this week, inspired by South Carolina's time in the news, is Pat Conroy and his wonderful memoir, "My Reading Life."
Tell me what you're reading on Twitter @KerriMPR.