Passing Through Florence

 Travels With Jerry (to borrow from Steinbeck)
    Another post for loyal readers and for the other few who wonder where I am (and more importantly, where my wife is.) I just mentioned (bragged) that we were recently in Paris and Rome and, given that we were in those two well-known places, decided to bypass Florence. The Florence passed, I will add, is the one in South Carolina, not the other one in Mississippi. That one was named after some guy's wife, the one skipped was named after General Harlle's daughter. That we skipped Florence was not because of General Harlee's southern past, but because my companion didn't like the name of the river passing through it - the Pee Dee.
   Having attracted you with the names with which you are familiar I will now say that we are in Lumberton, which you may not have heard of, but which once was on the 'Grand Tour' for those returning from the 'Low Country.' From here, I will say only that we are descending to Duck, which will actually be the high point of the trip except, of course, for those encounters with family members.
 
The Bonus:
   Not much substance again, so here is something else to read. It is actually brought to you courtesy of a very large billboard, which displayed in very large letters, these words: VEGETARIAN RECOVERY CENTER. It was for Smokin' D's BBQ. (As an aside (and actually another bonus), I will say that the billboards advertising "adult-type" places seemed to have toned down a bit, perhaps because of the purifying effects of the current President. The one noticed mentioned in it the word "mindful", which may sound a bit 'woke', but not at all prurient. But, back under Biden we passed one that said - "Every Day Is Hump Day."

Post Script: The Duck destination exists. It is at the higher end of the Outer Banks and should still be there this year.

Literary Landscapes

   This post is for those intending to go to the United States and who would like some literary guides. It is also meant for anyone who has no intention to go to the States, but would like to read about some of the more exotic locales from the safety of the couch.
   The literature related to particular places can be very interesting and useful for the travellers passing through them. The descriptions in fiction of the local areas visited are generally better than we can provide and reading them helps revive the memories of trips taken long ago. Local histories supply the background needed if one bothers to explore beyond the interstate intersections which are now all the same. If you are thinking of a road trip, Blue Highways by William Least Heat-Moon will put you in the proper mood. If you are staying home, settle in and read about such places as this one, which is the title of a book by Wallace Stegner about the west: Where the Bluebird Sings to the Lemonade Springs.
   More such books are found below. The first source will direct you to over a thousand novels. The other sources also include works of non-fiction. Many are related to the southeastern U.S., around where I grew up and will soon revisit. The northwest is not neglected, however, and we also hope to go in that direction when we can. 

Start From Here: "1,001 Novels: A Library of America," by Susan Straight. 
   No matter where you are, and whether you are leaving by car or staying on the couch, begin with this website. You can click on a map and quickly find the books and/or authors relating to a particular region. There are eleven of them which are nicely named and two are illustrated above. Some of the others: “Pointed Firs, Granite Coves and Revolution”, which relates to, Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, and “Golden Dreams & Sapphire Waves”, which is about California and Hawaii. Here is a description from: "Mapping USA Via Novels, Not Left and RIght Politics," Giuliana Mayo, KCRW, Los Angeles, June 29, 2023:
"Partnering with ArcGIS Story Maps, Straight began putting together novels that spoke to a broader America....The interactive map allows people to zoom in on locations where novels are set all over the country. “[Story Maps] made it so easy to navigate the map. You click on one of the dots, and you see the exact GPS location [where the book takes place], and then the book cover comes up,” she explains. She also wrote two-sentence thumbnail descriptions for all 1,001 books.

Heading South

 You have missed this year's New Orleans Book Festival, but you can take the SOUTHERN LITERARY TRAIL, to learn about the places lived in, related to or written about by authors from Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia. Among them you will find: Shelby Foote, Lilian Hellman, Harper Lee, Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams, Eudora Welty and Margaret Mitchell, about whom I have posted. 

There is also a Facebook page for the SLT, and for Alabama, more information is found in the Encyclopedia of Alabama. For Mississippi see the "Southern Literary Trail Gallery" at Mississippi State University Libraries. 

Heading Southeast
 Additional information about Georgia is found on the "Guide to Georgia's Literary Landmarks" which provides links to the Georgia Writer's Museum, Flannery O'Connor's Homes, Martha Mitchell's House and others. If you are really interested in O'Connor, see the book: A Literary Guide to Flannery O'Connor's Georgia. I wrote recently about Erskine Caldwell and you can learn more about him by visiting Moreland, Georgia. It is also the home of Lewis Grizzard and if you come by my house I will give you my copy of "Don't Bend Over in the Garden, Granny, You Know Them Taters Got Eyes, for reading this far. 
   For South Carolina, see Libby Wiersema's, "Six South Carolina Literary Landmarks" for information about: James Dickey, Pat Conroy and some other local authors.
   North Carolina's Literary Trails can be explored by ordering a three volume set which covers all the areas of the Tar Heel State, the east, the Piedmont area and the mountains.

 

   "The Mountains volume brings together more than 170 writers from the past and present, including Sequoyah, Elizabeth Spencer, Fred Chappell, Charles Frazier, Kathryn Stripling Byer, Robert Morgan, William Bartram, Gail Godwin, O. Henry, Thomas Wolfe, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Anne Tyler, Lillian Jackson Braun, Nina Simone, and Romulus Linney. Each tour provides information about the libraries, museums, colleges, bookstores, and other venues open to the public where writers regularly present their work or are represented in exhibits, events, performances, and festivals."

 

  "In the Piedmont volume featured authors include O. Henry, Doris Betts, Alex Haley, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, John Hart, Betty Smith, Edward R. Murrow, Patricia Cornwell, Carson McCullers, Maya Angelou, Lee Smith, Reynolds Price, and David Sedaris."

"The third volume focuses on the eastern portion of the state. Georgann Eubanks has organized the manuscript into three “trails”: "The Southeastern Corridor" from Raleigh to Wilmington, "The Middle Corridor" from eastern Wake County to Carteret County, and "The Northeastern Corridor" from Wake Forest to the northern Outer Banks. Each trail is further broken down into several tours of half-day segments. Each tour features a map detailing how to get from site to site, brief biographies of the writers included in the trail, passages from the writers that refer to the places along the trail, reading lists, and web addresses linking to further information about sites and authors."

More Books About Regional Books

The Ideals Guide to Literary Places in the U.S Paperback – January 1, 1998

by Michelle Prater Burke (Author)

"Here is a travel book with a difference! For the armchair traveler, there are fascinating descriptions, sketches, and quotes from the authors. For the more adventurous, there are maps, directions, and information on how to ger there and the features of each place. And there are over 50 places included, each associated with one of America's greatest writers. Clearly and logically presented, this is a beautiful book that is fun to read as well as a practical guide to America."

Traveling Literary America: A Complete Guide to Literary Landmarks Paperback – January 1, 2005

by B. J. Welborn

"Readers and travelers are guided to more than 200 homes and historic sites of America’s greatest writers—from the Jack London Ranch in northern California to William Faulkner’s home in Oxford, Mississippi. Clear driving directions and visitor instructions are combined with unique tidbits about each site and author, such as the story of Jack London’s custom-made furniture and the roll top desk and Dictaphone on display in his study. Literary enthusiasts are guided to the site of Thoreau’s bean field, where they can poke around an exact replica of his cabin. They can drop in on Margaret Mitchell’s recently restored Atlanta apartment or visit John Steinbeck’s haunts in the cozy California seaside town of Pacific Grove. This family-oriented, user-friendly guide teaches literary folk about writers' work, their philosophies, and the forces that compelled them to write. All 50 states are represented, and the literary sites are divided by geographic regions."

A Literary Tour Guide to the United States: Northeast, Paperback – May 1, 1978

by Emilie C. Harting (Author)

"A comprehensive guide to visiting the homes and haunts of American writers and the settings of their works in the U.S. Northeast."

Northwest Passages: A Literary Anthology of the Pacific Northwest from Coyote Tales to Roadside Attractions, Bruce Barcott.

"Northwest Passages, an anthology of approximately 90 short pieces and excerpts from longer works published over the last two centuries, is by far the more exhaustive treatment of the region. Its selections, from the legends of native tribes to the stories and poems of the freshest transplants, provide a remarkably complete history of the Northwest. As for what the area is like, the answers to be gleaned from works by Rudyard Kipling, Chief Joseph, lack Kerouac, Theodore Roethke, and Raymond Carver, to name just a few, are as varied as a landscape that includes deserts, mountains, fertile valleys and plains, forests, beaches, and water in unparalleled abundance. The only unanimity is inspired by the weather. The explorer William Clark reported "rain falling in torrents," and, on the evidence of these pieces, the sky has scarcely cleared since. As Seattle poet Denise Levertov notes, "Gray is the price/of neighboring with eagles, of knowing / a mountain's vast presence, seen, or unseen."

Local London Readers: 

  As I mentioned above somewhere, I am willing to part with my copy of Grizzard's book about Granny. Almost by accident, I suppose, I have acquired other books of regional interest, which I am quite willing to lend if you want to come by and pick them up. Without looking around much, I can think of:

About ten books by Reynolds Price (North Carolina.) 
About the same number by RIchard Russo (New York State.)

A few by Pat Conroy and Padgett Powell (South Carolina)

A few about the Northwest - e.g. Notes From the Century Before, Passage to Juneau and Far Corner.

If you wish to leave the continent, there are more books, such as this one about some remote islands in the Indian Ocean - Kings of the Cocos. 

Just remember, I used to work in libraries and there will be fines. 

Blogging While Travelling

   For my very few loyal readers I feel I should provide something. My excuse this time for lack of activity is that we were on the road and one is not allowed to text while driving, let alone blog. Even in the U.S., where one should be allowed to do anything.

  Although I don't usually blog about things personal and certainly don't provide photos of things personal, the one above is a photo of what our destination would look like if we arrived after the Memorial Day holiday. 

   There is a lot to be said for the "Shoulder Season." The real photo above is what the beach looked like when we arrived. The view is north and the one looking south is much the same. If you look very closely, you might spot, at the top, tiny figures who may be large Secret Service Agents since President Biden has a place nearby in Delaware. Otherwise, there are not many people around. One of the things one can say about the "Shoulder Season" is that it is cheaper than the peak one. That is odd to me since I would have thought that people would pay more to have less people around. Rich people do, but they have other ways to give the rest of us the shoulder.

 

  The trip south in search of the spring became more colourful in lower Pennsylvania and now that we are below the Mason-Dixon line it is much greener, although one does notice spots of political red. The route chosen from Harrisburg, PA to Ocean City, MD was the less travelled one on the right above and it took us through very tidy Pennsylvania Dutch country where much was in bloom.

  The sun that we have not seen for a while showed up on time and is expected to arrive every day for the next few days. We gather that will be true up in Ontario as well and perhaps it will be a little greener when we return

Post Script:

   Admittedly, the short piece above is a slight one and for something better read about Edwin Way Teale, who slowly came North With the Spring. Very slowly, since he meandered about each day, until the spring was ready to move along. Just how much wandering he did to get from Florida to New Hampshire is revealed in the subtitle of the book: A Naturalist's Record of a 17,000-Mile Journey with the North American Spring.

The Bonus: (For Adults Only)

Among the red blemishes amid the blooms were some signs for "Adult Stores" and these two caught our attention. The first one may be difficult to interpret for the growing number of people who have never worked a full week, but here it is: "Every Day Is Hump Day." The crassness of the name of the next one is mitigated  somewhat by a hint of tenderness, but it is more likely that even purveyors of porn appreciate irony: "Bend Over: A Romantic Adult Store."

Travelling About

Adventurous Women

   In my recent post about Northwestern University Press's "Marlboro Travel Series" I noticed, when finishing it, that two of the works are by women: the ones by Freya Stark and Ella Maillart. Then I remembered Virago Press which began in the 1970s to publish works by interesting and adventurous women. At the risk of being accused of 'appropriation', I will say in my defence that I am trying only to achieve some balance and am promoting books by women. There is below even one by a Canadian woman.

   If you are interested in books for your club, or trying to lure your daughter or granddaughter away from a screen, check out the list below (trigger alert: some of these works might be too adventurous and scary for you sons or grandsons. Perhaps I should issue another one - some of these women might not pass muster when viewed through the very narrow 'post-colonial' lens.) 

   If you are not that interested, then simply purchase the abridged version noted above. But, if you are curious about such things as Untrodden Peaks and Unfrequented Valleys, then peruse the list below. You will also benefit from my blurbs and see that one of the young women kept a snake in her hair and that Ms Birtles was a rather naughty girl.

   These books are all readily available and some can be read for free via the Internet (see, e.g. High Albania and Station Life in New Zealand where I have provided direct links.) The titles that are bolded are available close by at Western University.

A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains by Isabella L. Bird.
Bird flew around. Find her below in Persia, Japan and the Yangtze Valley.

China to Me by Emily Hahn
Got a degree in Mining Engineering at the U. of Wisconsin before leaving for Europe and hiking across Africa.

The Cruel Way by Ella Maillart (Below in Iran in 1939/1940)

Apart from travelling and writing, she competed in the 1924 Olympics (as a sailor) and was a skier as well as the captain of the Swiss field hockey team.

Death's Other Kingdom by Gamel Woolsey
Born on a South Carolina plantation, she died in Spain. See the very interesting Wiki entry for her.

The Desert and the Sown: The Syrian Adventures of the Female Lawrence of Arabia by Gertrude Bell.
Surely the most popular 'Gertrude' ever.

Farewell Spain by Kate O'Brien
"This distinctly personal elegy was written during the early days of the Spanish Civil War by a writer whose future was indelibly marked by a year of travelling in a unique and changing country. A series of reminiscences, impressions and vivid insights, Kate O'Brien's thoughtful journey offers something unique at every stage, and captures perfectly the spirit of a lost place and the experience of travel and memory."

The Gobi Desert by Mildred Cable.
Surely the most popular 'Mildred' and this book "may be the best of many good books about Central Asia and the old Silk Road through the deserts of Western China."

High Albania by M. E. Durham
This is the first sentence from the no nonsense Preface which is available here:
"IF a book cannot speak for itself, it is idle to speak for it. I will waste but few words on a Preface. In my two previous Balkan books I strove to give the national points of view, the aims and aspirations, the manners and customs, of the Serbs and of the mixed population of Macedonia. I would now do the same for the people of High Albania."

In The Vine Country by E. OE. Somerville.
"Somerville was a devoted sportswoman who, in 1903, had become master of the West Carbery Foxhounds." She is found again below in Connemara. See also: the Wiki entry for Somerville and Ross. 

Journeys in Persia and Kurdistan : Including a Summer in the Upper Karun Region and a Visit to the Nestorian Rayahs. Vols. I, II by Isabella L. Bird

Letters from Egypt by Lucie Duff Gordon
"By the age of 13 she was reading the "Odyssey" in the original. She also kept her pet snake twined into her plaited hair, and was thought to be "un peu unmanageable" by her mother and "a potential homicide" by a friend of the family."

The London Journal of Flora Tristan by Flora Tristan.
Peruvian born, Flora Tristan's life, works, and ideals have proved fruitful for the excavation of women's work through time. See Peregrinations below.

My Journey to Lhasa by Alexandra David-Néel.
This should be enough for some of you: She "was a Belgian–French explorer, spiritualist, Buddhist, anarchist, opera singer, and writer."

North-west by North by Dora Birtles.
An Aussie and surely the most popular 'Birtles'. "She was ahead of her time in studying at the University of Sydney in a period when few women received a tertiary education. However, she was suspended in 1923 for a poem appearing in the literary magazine Hermes, which describes post-coital bliss. Her future husband, poet and journalist Bert Birtles, was expelled for a still more explicit poem describing their tryst on the roof of the university quadrangle."

The Passionate Nomad: The Diary of Isabelle Eberhardt by Isabelle Eberhardt.
"Eberhardt moved to Algeria in May 1897. She dressed as a man and converted to Islam, eventually adopting the name Si Mahmoud Saadi. Eberhardt's unorthodox behaviour made her an outcast among European settlers in Algeria and the French administration."

Peregrinations of a Pariah 1833-1834 by Flora Tristan
See "The Bonus" below.

Roughing it in the Bush by Susanna Moodie.
You will know enough about her, but probably not that she was born in Bungay which is in Suffolk.

Station Life in New Zealand by Lady Barker.
It begins at sea and here are the first few lines from Project Gutenberg:
Port Phillip Hotel, Melbourne. September 22d, 1865. .... Now I must give you an account of our voyage: it has been a very quick one for the immense distance traversed, sometimes under canvas, but generally steaming. We saw no land between the Lizard and Cape Otway light—that is, for fifty-seven days: and oh, the monotony of that time!—the monotony of it! Our decks were so crowded that we divided our walking hours, in order that each set of passengers might have space to move about....

Through Connemara in a Governess Cart by E. OE. Somerville

Travels in West Africa by Mary Kingsley. 1982.
I discovered this in the stacks years ago and enjoyed it. "The notable success of Travels in West Africa was due in no small part to the vigour and droll humour of writing, that, in the guise of a ripping yarn, never wavers from its true purpose – to complete the work her father had left undone."

Unbeaten Tracks in Japan by Isabella L. Bird

Untrodden Peaks and Unfrequented Valleys: A Midsummer Ramble in the Dolomites by Amelia B. Edwards.
If, like me, you are untalented, this you will find irritating: "She published her first poem at the age of seven and her first story at the age of twelve....In addition, Edwards became an artist....Thirdly, Edwards took up composing and performing music for some years, until she suffered a bout of typhus in 1849....Other interests she pursued included pistol shooting, riding and mathematics..." 

Up the Country; Letters From India by Emily Eden.
She wrote novels as well and these two titles are good ones:
"Eden wrote two successful novels: The Semi-Detached House (1859) and The Semi-Attached Couple (1860). The latter was written in 1829, but not published until 1860. Both have a comic touch that critics have compared with that of Jane Austen, who was Emily's favourite author.[6] The first of the two has been described as "an accomplished study in the social contrasts of aristocratic style, bourgeois respectability and crass vulgarity."

The Virago Book of Women Travellers by Mary Morris

West with the Night by Beryl Markham.
"On 4 September 1936, she took off from Abingdon, England. After a 20-hour flight, her Percival Vega Gull, The Messenger, suffered fuel starvation due to icing of the fuel tank vents, and she crash-landed at Baleine Cove on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada. She thereby became the first woman to cross the Atlantic east-to-west solo, and the first person to make it from England to North America non-stop from east to west. She was celebrated as an aviation pioneer." I have a copy of her biography: Straight On Till Morning, and will give it to you if you email me.

Yangtze Valley and Beyond by Isabella L. Bird. 1985.
"In January 1896, at the age of 64, the indomitable Isabella Bird set off to explore the Yangtze River and the lonely mountain region of north-west China. A veteran of twenty years travel in America, Asia and the Near East, it was her last great adventure, but one as full of drama and spectacle as anything that had gone before. Eschewing the leisure enjoyed by England's expatriate community in Shanghai, she was thrilled and occasionally aghast at what she found in the little-known land which lay beyond. Travelling alone by riverboat and basket chair, she made her way almost to the Tibetan border, staying in inns and mission stations, observing with fascination the landscape and customs of the people, surviving the terror of a lynching mob, the hostitily of officials who would block her path and the perils of snow storms at 12,000 feet." -

Sources:

   For information about Virago, see the Wikipedia entry for Virago Press. Although Virago Press no longer exists as a separate entity, as a subsidiary Virago imprints are still available here. Some of you will appreciate that it began as Spare Rib Books. 

   Dervla Murphy is not mentioned above. I have her, Cameroon With Egbert and Transylvania and Beyond and she is a subject in my post On Barfing.  She will be 90 next month. Egbert was her horse in Africa.

The Bonus: 

Flora Tristan is Paul Gauguin's maternal grandmother. He also was a fascinating traveller and the Wiki entry for Paul Gauguin will keep you busy for the rest of the day.