Julie Parker
Flutist, Danville Symphony Orchestra p5
Page 2 January 2022
Photo by Michelle Dalton Photography
Evince Magazine Page 3
Editor’s Note
I
hear the violin section of the Danville Symphony Orchestra (DSO) playing a mournful tune as I write this, my final note as editor of Evince. After working with this community publication for twenty-one years, it’s time for new leadership. I have loved every minute of being the one to connect my readers with their communities. Julie Parker (pictured on the cover) and I were email pals, corresponding about DSO concerts, long before we finally met last month. Read DSO’s interesting history on page 4 and
Julie’s “And the Beat Goes On” on page 5. Read how music CDs multiply at Linda Lemery’s house and her somewhat successful attempts to organize them on page 10. Keep the music turned up as you cook the comfort food Annelle Williams recommends on page 13. Then curl up with a book that Diane Adkins suggests on page 14. As my tenure fades and a new era begins, I thank the advertisers who paid our bills so the community could have this free publication. Thank you, writers and contributors,
who freely gave your time and talent to create a magazine that made us all proud. Thank you, readers, for picking up an Evince each month and for your feedback over the decades. It was always music to my ears. On a final note, I will miss you. Sincerely,
Joyce joycewilburn@gmail.com Credits: Amber Wilson: hair; Catherine Saunders: skin care and makeup; Genesis Day Spa & Salon, 695 Park Avenue, Danville. Janelle Gammon: nails; Salon One 11, 111 Sandy Court, Danville.
CEO / Publisher / Andrew Scott Brooks Editor / Joyce Wilburn (434.799.3160) joycewilburn@gmail.com Copy Editors Jeanette Taylor, Larry Wilburn Contributing Writers Diane Adkins, Brian Buchanan, Courtney Dodson, Lewis Dumont, Helen Earle, Barbara Hopkins, Telisha Moore Leigg, Linda Lemery, Louise Martling, Kevin Matheson, Bernadette Moore, Fred Motley, Julie Parker, Janet Phillips, Liz Sater, Dave Slayton, Joyce Wilburn, Annelle Williams Art & Production Director Demont Design (Kim Demont) Finance Manager Cindy Yeatts (1.434.709.7349)
On the Cover: Photo of Julienne Parker by Michelle Dalton Photography
January 2022
Content
Marketing Consultants For ad information contact a marketing consultant listed below.
Wine 12 Making Resolutions for 2022
by Dave Slayton
Comfort 13 Cook Food
3 Editor’s Note
for Cold Winter Months
4 30th Anniversary
DSO Celebrates Its
Layered Cornbread and Chicken Casserole
by Annelle Williams
In the Beginning... by Janet Phillips
the Beat 5 And Goes On by Julienne Parker
7 Exceptional Customer Spotting
Service by Liz Sater
the Dates 8 Save for Music, Art & Entertainment!
Lee Vogler Director of Sales and Marketing (434.548.5335) lee@evincemagazine.com Kenny Thornton Jr, Account Executive (434.250.3581) kenny@showcasemagazine.com Kim Demont Graphic Design, Marketing (434.792.0612) demontdesign@verizon.net evince\i-’vin(t)s\ 1: to constitute outward evidence of 2: to display clearly; reveal syn see SHOW Deadline for submission of February stories, articles, and ads is Sunday, January 16, at 5:00 p.m. Submit stories, articles, and calendar items to paul.seiple@gmail.com.
and 10 CDs Shoes
Editorial Policies
Evince is a free monthly magazine with news about entertainment and lifestyle in Danville and the surrounding area. We reserve the right to accept, reject and edit all submissions and advertisements.
They Never Leave by Linda Lemery
the 11 Just Skeleton Frame
Fiction by Telisha Moore Leigg
EVINCE MAGAZINE 753 Main St. Suite 3, Danville, VA 24541 www.evincemagazine.com
14
Book Clubbing
For subscriptions to Evince, email info@evincemagazine.com. Cost is $24 a year.
by Amor Towles review by Diane Adkins
© 2022 All rights reserved. Reproduction or use in whole or in part in any medium without written permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited.
The Lincoln Highway
Page 4 January 2022
DSO Celebrates Its
30th Anniversary In the Beginning...
by Janet Phillips
Janet Phillips earned a Doctorate in Music Performance in 2015. She is now Associate Professor of Music at Averett University where she builds instrumental music and band programs, an early childhood music program, teaches, and performs. In 2016 Phillips performed on a European tour with the UNC Greensboro Wind Ensemble, and on January 1, 2022 she marched in the Band Directors Marching Band in the Tournament of Roses Parade.
B
elow are excerpts from the story that appeared in the March 2008 Evince during Danville Symphony Orchestra’s 15th concert season. The author, Janet Phillips, no longer plays with the DSO. However, she quotes Julie Parker, who continues to be a DSO member. Julie updates the DSO history on page 5. …How does one go about planting an orchestra in rural Southern Virginia where most people’s music preferences seem to be gospel, country and bluegrass? In 1992, Winston Stephens asked himself that question. As a choral music director in Danville, he knew that other than the occasional school band or orchestra and traveling concert, people usually had to drive an hour to Greensboro to hear a live symphony performance, and post-high-school musicians had no performance outlet at all. Stephens started with a letter to every musician he could find in the Danville area, describing the community orchestra he had in mind. I received one of those letters. Soon I sat with about thirty other people on the cool, dusty stage of the City Auditorium for the first meeting of the Danville Community Orchestra and took stock of what we had to work with. A few, like me, were part-time or full-time professional musicians. Others were talented amateurs. Still others hauled instruments from closets and attics that they hadn’t played since high school. Stephens was our conductor. First, we organized ourselves into sections and chose a regular rehearsal time. Next, we decided
to pay dues so we could afford to buy music. Then we set to playing. Our first endeavor was a Christmas concert just three short months after our creation. In the audience were only the bravest of our families and friends. Ours was a tiny, unbalanced group, but we were making progress. We had performed a concert for an audience; we had a handful of supporters, and we had optimism. Now, fifteen years later, the orchestral seed planted by Winston Stephens has blossomed forth. How? Many have tended its growth. The handful of supporters has increased and their names fill pages of our concert programs. Thanks to private contributors, as well as grant and foundation assistance, our annual budget has grown exponentially. Several churches and individuals have made sure we always have access to adequate rehearsal and equipment storage space. A group of dedicated volunteers moves and sets up our equipment for us before and after concerts and ushers for our shows. All of our musicians and our director volunteer their time and talents. Stephens eventually moved on, but we have continued to flourish. Musicians like Julie Parker, flutist and an original member, show up to rehearse every Thursday night from Labor Day until July 4th because, “It gives me a chance to play so I won’t lose what I spent years learning to do. Plus it gives me, me time.” Jerry Franklin, first trumpet, feels that the community supports us because we give back. “I think making concerts free for everyone is a success story,” says Jerry of our decision not to charge admission. He feels
that those who can afford to buy tickets also give donations that provide the entire community the opportunity to hear live orchestral performances. “They see our personal sacrifices of time and talent,” he says, “and I think they appreciate that. I know it means something to me that I can use my talent to give that to the community.” Charles Ellis, with over four decades of music leadership and experience, is in his eighth year as Conductor and Musical Director of the Danville Symphony. Ellis and the board of directors are creative in coming up with programming ideas. We have joined forces with other community arts groups to present distinctive programs... My favorite moment, though, was in 2004 when we teamed with the City of Danville for a concert with country and pop star Ronnie Milsap. I’ve been an avid fan of Milsap for thirty years, so the evening I spent sharing the stage with him was one of the best nights of my life. As an added bonus, Milsap’s arranger and conductor, Charlie Callelo, came with him, giving our symphony members the opportunity to play under the baton of one of America’s top arrangers, thereby sharing the stage with two living legends. That night was a lot of fun, and I believe that fun is the primary key to the Danville Symphony’s success. We play music that we enjoy preparing and our audiences like hearing. We come together for the love of music. We’re young, youngat-heart musicians and nonmusicians, doctors, farmers, parents and children, all doing our parts to tend the orchestra that Winston Stephens planted fifteen years ago. And we’re growing.
Evince Magazine Page 5
Updating the DSO History
And the Beat Goes On by Julienne B. Parker
T
he Danville Symphony Orchestra continues to be an integral part of musical engagement in Danville and surrounding areas. What started as a small community orchestra has now blossomed into a respected regional symphony. Here are some significant additions to its history. • Maestro Peter Perret, the DSO’s fifth and current conductor, is from Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Julienne Parker is an original member of the Danville Symphony Orchestra and has played with the group since its 1992-1993 inaugural season. This is her 31st year with Danville Public Schools as teacher of the visually impaired. She is a member of the Silver Wind Flute Trio and is a substitute pianist for area churches.
• In 2014, the DSO performed with seventy-five members of the Twin Springs Elementary School’s student chorus. DSO has always encouraged young musicians to play with more experienced players. It has also provided tuition assistance grants for young musicians to receive professional instruction.
• The DSO receives monetary support from its members, patrons, donors, civic organizations, cultural arts funds, and local grants. This support continues the DSO’s longstanding tradition of free concerts for the community. • In 2014, the Danville Symphony Orchestra Endowment Fund was created. • The Dr. Noah Gibson Endowed Chair Violin 1 Principal position was created to recognize the founding member who died in 2017. • Neighboring communities have invited the DSO to perform in local venues to help support specific endeavors. • For more information, visit www.danvillesymphony.net.
Photo courtesy of Images by Swanson.
Page 6 January 2022
Dedicated to helping you maintain a
lifestyle
Evince Magazine Page 7
Spotting
Exceptional Customer Service by Liz Sater
I
’m giving a shout out to Mark Shields on the sales team at PIP Printing, 329 Riverview Drive in Danville. Here is what happened: I was at home trying to mail five boxes of cookies to kids and grands all over the country using USPS.com. I hit “click and ship”. Very easy I thought and I just charged it to my credit card. When I went to print the labels, however, my printer ink had dried up and all I got were blank pages. I then went to PIP Printing. Mark offered multiple creative solutions to my
problem. He quickly found the files and printed them for me. I was back in the cookie distribution business! I don’t think he charged me enough. It’s nice doing business with an honest, hard-working person. Thanks again, Mark. You deserve the Spotting Exceptional Customer Service Award. Evince wants to encourage and recognize exceptional customer service. When someone gives you exceptional service, please let us know. In 300 words or less, tell us what happened.
Page 8 January 2022
Save the Dates
for Music, Art & Entertainment! As you make plans for 2022, include these wonderful community events.
Averett University
Pritchett Auditorium in the Violet T. Frith Fine Arts Center, 150 Mountain View Avenue, Danville 434.791.5600 www.averett.edu
Dream and Hoedown from Rodeo by Aaron Copland. Van Voorhis Hall at Chatham Hall, 800 Chatham Hall Circle free 3pm
January 22 Faculty Concert: West Main Baptist Church, 450 West Main Street, Danville free 7pm
Liverpool Legends
March 18
February 17, 18, 19 Peter and the Starcatcher $10/8 7pm
April 7-10 Head Over Heels: $10/$8 7pm on Thursday, Friday, Saturday; 2pm on Sunday
April 22 AU Cougar Band Spring Concert: 7pm free April 24 Averett Singers Spring Concert: 2:30pm free
Old Dominion Classic Sports Car Club 434.548.9862
Cars & Coffee: See classic cars, sports cars, muscle cars, and more in the parking lot at Crema & Vine, 1009 Main Street, Danville 9-10:30am on the third Saturday of every month
Rainier Trio Concert: presents a program of Romantic era trios for violin, viola and piano by Sergei Rachmaninoff, Robert Fuchs and Ignaz Lachner. 7pm free Emmanuel Episcopal Church 66 N. Main St. Chatham
April 29 Piano & Violin Concert: pianist Judy Clark & violinist Kevin Matheson will present Beethoven’s Kreutzer Sonata and Dvorak’s Sonatina 7pm Emmanuel Episcopal Church 66 N. Main St. Chatham
Danville Concert Association March 12
band jazz, and New Orleans swing. 7:30pm AU Pritchett Auditorium tickets at Eventbrite.com starting February 1
Danville Museum of Fine Arts & History
www.danvillemuseum.org 975 Main Street 434.793.5644 Attic Sale Donation Drop Off: DMFAH Tuesday-Friday 10am-5pm; Sat12-5pm; Sun 2-5pm no clothes, no electronics furniture accepted with appointment davidc522@comcast. net 305.766.2979
January 1-8 Harriet Fitzgerald & the Abingdon Square Painters Storefront Exhibit: Curated banners feature the work of the Danville native and founder of Abingdon Square Painters, plus
Liverpool Legends: four lads handpicked by Louise Harrison, sister of the late George Harrison of The Beatles, play in this tribute band 7:30 pm GW High School. tickets at Eventbrite.com starting February 1
Chatham Concert Series Kstrings1@hotmail.com
January 23 Roanoke Ballet Theatre will perform to Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. The Rainier Trio will provide live music for the concert also featuring ballet with Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s
April 30 Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass: This brass ensemble brings together top musicians from across the country to play classical, big
Mindbender Mansion
Director Peggy Anderson and the current director, Anthony Mavilia, outlining a legacy of cultural exchange between Danville and New York City. The storefront windows at 501 Main Street
Danville Science Center
www.dsc.smv.org 677 Craghead Street 434.791.5160
January 15 – May 8 Mindbender Mansion: an eclectic place full of puzzles, brainteasers, and interactive challenges guaranteed to test the brainpower and problem-solving skills of puzzlers Gather hidden clues and secret passwords found by solving key puzzles.
Evince Magazine Page 9
Danville Symphony Orchestra
www.danvillesymphony.net Danville City Auditorium, Floyd Street
March 5
Winter Classical Concert: Once Upon a Time, Peter & the Wolf, Sleeping Beauty, Scheherazade doors open 7pm first note 7:30pm free
May 14
Spring Pops Concert: SuperwomanAll My Favorite Heroines: Wonder Woman, Rey’s Theme from Star Wars, Over the Rainbow from The Wizard of Oz, Evita Medley, Wicked doors open 7pm. first note 7:30pm
Opera Ebony
www.danvillestorytelling.com
February 5 Danville Storytelling Festival (Virtual): 12:30pm-3pm free
Wednesday Club
We’re
1002 Main Street, Danville 434.792.7921 www.TheWedClubDanvilleVa.org All programs are free and begin at 3:45pm. They are open to the public.
February 7 Preservation Virginia: Sonya Ingram will speak about the mission of the statewide preservation leader in fostering, supporting and sustaining Virginia’s historic places.
on Danville!
February 9 South Pole Adventure: Shelly Calabrisi, former Science and Technical Project Services Supervisor at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station in Antarctica, will tell about her experiences while stationed there.
February 16
Donna Gibson Owner
Catherine Kelly Music from the Melting Pot
Music from the Melting Pot: Catherine Kelly, classical soprano, will sing a medley of American songs and arias accompanied by pianist, Stephen Gourley.
March 2 Meet Danville’s Fire Chief: David Coffey will speak.
HOLLEY & GIBSON
February 23
March 9
339 Piney Forest Rd., Danville, VA 24540
The Birth of God’s Pit Crew: Karan Johnson will present the history of Danville’s non-profit crisis response organization.
Watercolor…Riding the Tiger: Jerry Franklin will present watercolor techniques that will demystify the challenges of painting in watercolor.
REALTY COMPANY Office: (434) 791-2400 Fax: (434) 791-2122 Visit our website at
www.holleyandgibsonrealty.com
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Sports Injuries Cartilage Restoration Ligament Reconstruction Outpatient Joint Replacement Partial & Total Knee Replacements
200 W. Wendover Avenue • Greensboro, NC 223 W. Ward St. • Suite B • Asheboro, NC 336.333.6443 • www.SMJRortho.com
STEVE LUCEY, M.D.
Page 10 December 2021
CDs and Shoes
They Never Leave! by Linda Lemery
W
e listen to music at home and that creates some continuing household problems. The first problem is that my husband Steve puts music on in the kitchen and then wanders off to another room so that the music can serenade the kitchen appliances. I can’t concentrate on writing with music playing in the
background, so I’m compelled to wear noise reduction headphones to screen out the audiodistraction. If he’s gone, I turn off the music. When he comes back in, he wonders why the music is off and turns it on again. And so on. The second problem with Steve being a music lover is that he collects CDs. They’re spilling out of every surface they land on. Every square millimeter in a tworoom radius from the CD player is jammed with CDs. There are CDs he’s collected for his sister who is also a music lover. I have suggested that he mail these to her. He prefers to wait until a holiday, but holidays come and go and the CDs are still piled up. “I don’t want to overwhelm her by sending too many,” I imagine him saying. There are CDs that he hasn’t heard yet that are waiting to be heard like patients in a walkin clinic waiting to be triaged. As to the new CDs he listens to, he appears to like them all because none of them ever seem to leave. I have posed the idea of Steve’s selling them to a used CD store. “I’m going down there next week,” I say cheerily, a week ahead of time. “Please pull together 50 CDs and I’ll take and trade them in for good hard cashola.” The day before the trip arrives. I ask for the outgoing CDs. He gives me a blank stare. I remind him that I’m leaving in the morning, at which point under great duress, he might have rounded up two. Because we’re now out of time, I leave with two CDs and the trade-in place rejects one because it has a scratch. “Gadzooks,” I say. “Why did you buy a scratched CD?” Off
goes Steve, zing, zing, zing, on the tangents that he thought it might play, that maybe not playing might be the CD player’s fault, and that maybe we need a new CD player. When Steve saw this column draft, he pointed out that I have too many shoes. I said that some didn’t fit and I needed to get rid of them. He suggested that I wear different pairs to area events so that I could determine whether they fit comfortably. So, I tried on fifteen seemingly illfitting pairs, walked around on inside carpet and gave the first pair an extended trial by walking from the car-to-concert venue. I ended up limping like I had ten severely ingrown toenails. When I finally collapsed into my chair and rested my hoofies, all too soon it was time to walk back to the car in those death-by-slowtorture shoes. I immediately bypassed the extended trials, cleaned up the rest of the shoes, and took them to the sales place. “Begone,” I said, “and never reclutter my life again!” However, decluttering math revealed that I only decluttered fifteen pairs of shoes and two CDs this month. That was before the great shoe trade-in place rejected most of the shoes. I’m not anxious to unpack all the used CDs Steve got during a holiday trip. So, let’s crank up that music. It’ll drown out all the muttering about decluttering CDs and shoes. About the Author: Linda Lemery, llemery@ gmail.com, has a fractious yet persistently hopeful relationship with decluttering. She wishes readers, “Happy Decluttering New Year!”
Evince Magazine Page 11
Just the Skeleton Frame fiction by Telisha Moore Leigg
F
allen, This night, the New Year’s stars are far up above us, way higher than we think, but it’s like they are held up by that old billboard sign I bought by Creighton’s Farm. Tonight, it’s cold on the blanket we are sitting on under that billboard, but I’m not cold. It’s night, 11:52, hours before dawn, and few cars drive by us, their taillights like red, busted ornaments trailing fire. Fallen, you are quiet, pensive; you shiver in my arms; our girls sleep softly in the car--one, our Sarah gently snoring with the rhythm of the car’s heater with the windows cracked for safety. Outside that car, I know as I see our breath mingle in white puffs of cold mist that we cannot stay here much longer. Tonight, I’m supposed to make a New Year’s Resolution, but, Fallen, I already have, long ago. And what resolution could I make…. Tonight, I look at those stars and think of love, how my father, that old holiness pastor to maybe three members and the old drunk from Martin Street, how he told me what God really was when he saw me, a white, country-boy, gazing at the half-black girl in a Woolworth in southern Sustain, Virginia, in 1999. My mother would have pulled me back but my father stayed her hand; he kept her back though her lips pursed like she had lemon citrate on her tongue. She didn’t say what she wanted and only told me to eat my hot dog and that it was wrong to stare at folks. I was 21, on my own, visiting for the weekend, quiet, having just started working at the lumber mill in Boris, but I didn’t have any dreams to speak of…until you.
And of speaking, well, to make it worse, I stammered more back then, and I thought you would leave before I could get to you, or worse that I would have nothing I could say to keep you from going out on the sidewalk and away from me. That you would not understand me. I remember my Daddy said, “Sometimes God smiles.” Fallen, in my life, I wanted one thing, and I got it. It was you, Fallen, our girls, this life. I don’t think you completely feel the same about me, or truly understand that love I have for you. That’s okay. God is ruthlessly kind. that would be better… Most people say they want love, but do they really? To love is to weigh your heart with stones, pierce and anchor your joy to the hopes of someone that could just walk away. And, Fallen, you have been running from me forever. That’s okay. My legs are strong. than the one I already did? Tonight at the billboard, you thought I brought you to see some new message up there just under these new year stars. Even earlier this week, a townsperson, Jackson Stonewill, sucking on a Camel cigarette, thought it strange when no new message went up, both nudging and annoying me with his suggestions to make something pretty up there. I don’t think love is pretty, but I didn’t know how to tell him that without stumbling out something wrong, besides I know my mind and I know my heart. Fallen, I love you…and the weight of it… is…heavy, deep, full. Some men want more than what they got, Fallen. Not me. On this New Year’s Eve, Fallen, you too puzzle when you see nothing but the billboard, just the skeleton frame, rust that bled through the paint-over I gave it, little bits of vinyl that didn’t come down from times past. I kiss the top of your head huddled in the hoodie under your coat. We will kiss for New Year’s, at midnight. We will wake the girls and go to that all-night diner one town over; all that’s traditional, and I accept it. Even if you never love me back like I love you, Fallen. The gift of love is the love…raw, sweetruined, bare to the night. Allan
Page 12 January 2022
Photo by Dave Slayton.
Making Wine Resolutions for 2022 by Dave Slayton
a member of the Master Court of Sommeliers
I
It’s time for 2022 resolutions: exercise more, become organized, etc. How about a wine resolution? Here are some possibilities:
Try a different food and wine pairing. More often than not there is more than one wine that pairs with your favorite dish. Tap into your sense of adventure.
Try tasting different wines from different regions. Having a wine from a particular region as your favorite is all right, but try others. For example, if you really like sauvignon blanc from New Zealand, try a sauvignon from another area such as California, France or South Africa.
Try a group tasting. Get together with friends and have everyone bring a different wine. Discuss why you like it. Wine is always better when shared with friends. Will everyone like every wine? No, but you might discover more wines that you like.
Try different grapes. If you like sauvignon blanc from New Zealand, try a different grape varietal like chardonnay from the same region. Try a new wine. If you are a dedicated white-wine drinker, try a light-bodied red such as pinot noir, beaujolais or lambrusco. Try a wine you can’t pronounce: grüner veltliner, gewürztraminer or zweigelt. You will learn the pronunciation with a little effort. Be brave.
Try a diet friendly wine. With a little research, you can determine which wines contain the least amount of sugar. Also, if you are a sweet wine drinker, gradually try wines with less sugar until you can appreciate and enjoy wines that do not have a lot of residual sugar. It’s a big wine world out there. Don’t cut yourself off from tasting a wine you might really enjoy. Make 2022 a year of discovery. Cheers!
Evince Magazine Page 13
Cook Comfort Food for Cold Winter Months
by Annelle Williams winner of the national 2002 Sutter Home Recipe Contest
W
ith my strict COVID protocol at our house, I am looking for comfort every-where, especially in my kitchen. This is a multi-tasking casserole that can serve as dinner or breakfast, or
even a really good side. I wish you all the very best 2022 has to offer. May it bring a lot of healing and strong connections to the ones you love.
Layered Cornbread and Chicken Casserole 3 eggs 1/2 cup corn oil 1 1/2 cups whole milk 2 tsp. sugar 2 tsp. salt 1 (15oz.) can creamed corn 1 1/4 cup self-rising yellow cornmeal 8 oz. shredded cheese, Cheddar and Monterey Jack mixed
2 cups shredded cooked chicken or turkey 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro 1/2 cup sliced, pickled jalapeños, drained salsa and sour cream as condiments
Preheat oven to 350°. Oil a 9” x 13” casserole dish. Whisk eggs in large bowl. Add oil, milk, sugar and salt. Whisk to combine. Add corn and cornmeal. Stir until well mixed with the liquid. Pour half the mixture into casserole. Top evenly with chicken, cheese, cilantro and jalapeños. Top with remaining cornmeal mixture. Bake for 55-60 minutes, until golden and a cake tester comes out clean. Cool for about 15 minutes before serving. Serve with salsa and sour cream. To use as a breakfast casserole, replace chicken with cooked sausage or bacon and omit the cilantro and jalapeños.
Page 14 January 2022
Book Clubbing
his way—literally—to settle scores.
The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles review by Diane Adkins
A
mor Towles takes his time, but his books are worth the wait. He wrote Rules of Civility that was published in 2011 and A Gentleman in Moscow in 2016. Unlike its immediate predecessor, which ranged over three decades, this book’s action is compressed into ten days in 1954. The story begins in Nebraska. Emmett Watson, sent to prison for involuntary manslaughter, is granted early release after his father’s death. His young brother, Billy, wants them both to head to California via the Lincoln Highway, the first U. S. coast-tocoast highway, to search for their
mother who left the family eight years before. Then they discover that two fellow inmates, Duchess and Woolly, have stowed away in the warden’s trunk. Duchess steals Emmett’s car and he and Woolly head to New York. Emmett and Billy hop a freight train in pursuit. For the entire ten-day period, Emmett and Billy are never closer to California than they are at the beginning of the book. The road trip is a culturally familiar trope. “They’ve all come to look for America,” as Paul Simon puts it. But often travelers are seeking to learn something about themselves as much as about the others they encounter on their trip. These
young men represent different slices of the American story. Emmett has grown up in Nebraska and represents the classic Midwestern virtues of hardworking reliability. He’s not on the journey he envisioned—going west to start anew—but rather the one he is forced by circumstance to make. Woolly, an uncommonly gentle man, is part of a New York City family of great privilege. It is his trust fund located in a safe in the Adirondacks that he and Duchess are trying to retrieve. Duchess is the son of a failed Shakespearean actor and con man. He is outgoing and personable but with a fluid sense of what is right and wrong and prone to going out of
And then there is Billy, who is obsessively reading and re-reading a book entitled Professor Abacus Abernathe’s Compendium of Heroes, Adventurers, and Other Intrepid Travelers. This book-within-a-book, and Billy’s frequent references to it, provides a backdrop of the tales of heroes and their exploits that gives the novel’s escapades a larger-than-life frame. The narrative is told from eight different points of view. Each of the characters, major or minor, has a story to tell, a truth to speak, his own personal version of the hero’s quest. Their voices are integral and necessary, woven into the larger story of a journey to self-discovery. The book is filled with humor and with a measure of sorrow. In the hands of a writer as skilled as Towles, this is a road trip worth taking. Diane S. Adkins is a retired Director of Pittsylvania County Library System.
Evince Magazine Page 15
Page 16 January 2022