Postcards From A Green Planet
By Jim Ewing
Enjoyed Book Signing, Reading of ‘Flying Shoes’ at Lemuria
I’ve just returned from a delightful book signing at Lemuria Books in Jackson MS, where author Lisa Howorth read from her book ‘Flying Shoes.’
Howorth? Hmmmm, some readers may say, trying to recall. Yes, the Howorth name is synonymous with books, but perhaps not in the way of actually writing novels.
Lisa and her husband Richard own Square Books in Oxford, MS. 'Flying Shoes’ is Lisa’s first novel and, based on what I’ve read so far, I hope it’s the first in a long series of novels. She certainly has a flair for writing – not just selling – books.
Square Books is one of my favorite places on earth and whenever I’m anywhere near Oxford, I always slip in and buy a book. One of my other favorite places is Lemuria Books. (In fact, I probably hang out there too much.) How could anything be greater? Lemuria and Square Books, all in one, with Lisa and Richard and Lemuria’s John Evans all there at the same time. Naturally, I had to attend.
And I’m glad I did because the book is a thriller, too.
'Flying Shoes’ is based on real-life events. Lisa’s stepbrother’s body was found in 1966, the victim of a brutal murder and sexual molestation. The novel is a fictionalized version of the events and, as she observed at the book’s reading at Lemuria tonight, it goes well beyond that.
In some ways, the novel is a way for her to deal with the tragedy that occurred so many years ago, and dealing with the fact that it’s still an unsolved murder. But it’s also way too grim to focus solely upon, she said, and it gave her an opportunity to say some things about life, about race, about living in Oxford, MS.
People who are familiar with Oxford as a literary place are, no doubt, familiar with some of its past denizens such as Larry Brown, Willie Morris and Barry Hannah. (I’ve written about Willie and Barry in this blog.)
An impetus for writing the book, Howorth said, was Brown and Hannah telling her that the town they knew was changing and “somebody” needed to write about it. 'Flying Shoes,’ set in a fictional Mississippi town much like Oxford, is her attempt at chronicling some of those peculiar facets.
Howorth was reared in the Washington, DC, area and moved to Oxford with Richard to open Square Books in 1979. So, she’s witnessed much about the town (where he also served as mayor for a while), and she has been at the heart of its literary life.
I remember when Square Books opened and wrote a great deal about it back then. It’s now a state, regional and even national institution as one of those rarest of flowers: an independent bookstore flourishing in a small town.
After the signing and reading, Lisa and I shared a few moments to reminisce. I had read that she wrote her book longhand on a legal pad. I laughed and told her she was in good company: That’s how Willie Morris used to write his books.
Once, while visiting with him, Willie showed me his way of writing. He would first put the telephone (one of this big black ugly dial types back then) in the freezer, so he wouldn’t hear it ring.
Then, he would carefully arrange his legal pad at the head of the dining room table. Next to it, neatly aligned, were four or five sharpened pencils. Then, he would sit at the table and write. It was his job, he said, to sit and write.
I said, “Well, do you always write?”
He replied, no. But he always would sit at least for an hour even if he didn’t write a single word.
Sometimes, he would start and would find that several hours had passed and he had written a great deal. Sometimes, he would just go back over what he had written before and mark through or rewrite passages, or write in the margins. But sometimes the would just sit and think. "That’s part of writing, too,“ he said.
"The important thing,” he said, “is to be writing.”
I’m glad Lisa Howorth is writing.
Willie would be proud. Readers, I think, will be grateful.
Jim PathFinder Ewing is a journalist, author, and former organic farmer now teaching natural, sustainable and organic agricultural practices. His latest book is Conscious Food: Sustainable Growing, Spiritual Eating (Findhorn Press). Find Jim on Facebook, follow him @EdiblePrayers or @OrganicWriter or visit blueskywaters.com.