South and West
“which appeared to be the one place in Oxford to buy a book”—Didion’s musings often fall just short of investigation, perhaps still half-asleep or wary under what she describes as nearly a spell of the South, “the idea of wilderness not as an escape from civilization and its discontents but as a mortal threat to a community precarious and colonial in its deepest respect.” Flawed as it may be, both then and now, the South still gives up a few surprising gems to Didion’s pen. Like her account of Mel Bouldin, who attended medical school after the birth of her children to practice as an OBGYN among three male doctors. Or amusing encounters with people like Mrs. Evans who smuggle illegal liquor through dry counties in purses bought specifically for that purpose. An incomplete viewpoint, perhaps, from someone so admired for her critiques of culture and morality. But Didion’s distance plays a special role here—an invite for readers to look closer, make comparisons and hone their identities in what must surely be one of the most distinct regions in modern times.
A WARNING SIGN: “No Hunting of Quadrupeds.” A stark Biloxi lighthouse. Pit vipers and sycamores. A New Orleans pulled from forbidding fairy tales, where “all the king’s men would turn on the king” in a city “dominated by wilderness.” Among these, the impressions captured by famed author Joan Didion of her monthlong travels along the rural Gulf Coast in 1970 employ the same critical eye she has come to be known for, but with an untraditional format that perhaps best suits this departure from her usual work. Published as excerpts of notes and observations jotted down during her journey—embarked upon from her home in Los Angeles—South and West takes root in an attitude that seems at once troubled and curious, and not altogether unfamiliar to contemporary audiences, Southern or not. Didion reserves only the last handful of pages for her travels in California, and the rest—in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama—aren’t necessarily glowing reviews. Although Didion has more or less dug into the dirtier aspects of rural Southern life, at one point literally falling into the mud outside a reptile farm, her perspective remains, in contrast, somewhat sanitary and pervasive with unease. Like her view of an stylish African-American student on the campus of Ole Miss—“I could not think what she was doing at Ole Miss, or what she thought about it”—or her damning remarks about its university bookstore—
INVITATION ONLY
inRegister.com • April 2017
CHRISTIAN ENGLE,
10
new president and CEO of the YMCA of the Capital Area. Engle, a Mississippi native, most recently served as senior vice president and chief operating officer of the Central Connecticut YMCA. Engle succeeds Bob Jacobs, who announced his retirement last fall after 20 years leading the organization, during which time the YMCA went from three local branches to nine. The new president steps in just after the local Y celebrated its 100th birthday earlier this year.
—CHRISTINA LEO
T IT IG BR
E
South and West
LA CO MB E
OFF THE PAGE
Joan Didion
OUR STAFF IDENTIFIES FIVE LOCAL PEOPLE WE IMAGINE WOULD MAKE INTERESTING LUNCH DATES.
SARAH LIBERTA,
herbalist and owner of Baton Rouge-based Herbs by Sarah, who was recently named the winner of the Herb Society of America’s Helen De Conway Little Medal of Honor. The medal, which recognizes outstanding service and dedication to the world of horticulture, will be presented in May at the HSA Educational Conference in Little Rock, Arkansas. Liberta offers classes on growing and cooking with fresh herbs and frequently consults on herb garden plans.
MARLON GRIGSBY,
Baton Rouge native who will play the role of the Prince in Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre’s original production Rapunzel: A Storybook Ballet April 7 and 8. Grigsby is an LSU and BRBT alumnus and a professional dancer with Uptown Dance Company in Houston, and in December he performed the title role in BRBT’s The Nutcracker: A Tale from the Bayou. The Rapunzel performances will also feature Baton Rouge Magnet High School’s dancers and step team.
CLAIRE BABINEAUXFONTENOT,
executive vice president and treasurer of Wal-Mart Stores and a graduate of Southern University Law Center. BabineauxFontenot, an Opelousas native who began her career as a tax attorney in Baton Rouge, will depart her position at Wal-Mart headquarters at the end of April to move closer to family after a stage 1 breast cancer diagnosis. She will lead a cancer fundraiser this month and says she hopes to make a positive impact on the lives of others with cancer.
ROD DREHER,
author and LSU graduate whose new book The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation was called by The New York Times “already the most discussed and most important religious book of the decade.” Dreher, who lives in St. Francisville and serves as a senior editor at The American Conservative, writes in the book about how believers can respond faithfully to a hostile modern world by drawing lessons from the early church.
A WARNING SIGN: “No Hunting of Quadrupeds.” A stark Biloxi lighthouse. Pit vipers and sycamores. A New Orleans pulled from forbidding fairy tales, where “all the king’s men would turn on the king” in a city “dominated by wilderness.” Among these, the impressions captured by famed author Joan Didion of her monthlong travels along the rural Gulf Coast in 1970 employ the same critical eye she has come to be known for, but with an untraditional format that perhaps best suits this departure from her usual work. Published as excerpts of notes and observations jotted down during her journey—embarked upon from her home in Los Angeles—South and West takes root in an attitude that seems at once troubled and curious, and not altogether unfamiliar to contemporary audiences, Southern or not. Didion reserves only the last handful of pages for her travels in California, and the rest—in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama—aren’t necessarily glowing reviews. Although Didion has more or less dug into the dirtier aspects of rural Southern life, at one point literally falling into the mud outside a reptile farm, her perspective remains, in contrast, somewhat sanitary and pervasive with unease. Like her view of an stylish African-American student on the campus of Ole Miss—“I could not think what she was doing at Ole Miss, or what she thought about it”—or her damning remarks about its university bookstore—
INVITATION ONLY
inRegister.com • April 2017
CHRISTIAN ENGLE,
10
new president and CEO of the YMCA of the Capital Area. Engle, a Mississippi native, most recently served as senior vice president and chief operating officer of the Central Connecticut YMCA. Engle succeeds Bob Jacobs, who announced his retirement last fall after 20 years leading the organization, during which time the YMCA went from three local branches to nine. The new president steps in just after the local Y celebrated its 100th birthday earlier this year.
—CHRISTINA LEO
T IT IG BR
E
South and West
LA CO MB E
OFF THE PAGE
Joan Didion
OUR STAFF IDENTIFIES FIVE LOCAL PEOPLE WE IMAGINE WOULD MAKE INTERESTING LUNCH DATES.
SARAH LIBERTA,
herbalist and owner of Baton Rouge-based Herbs by Sarah, who was recently named the winner of the Herb Society of America’s Helen De Conway Little Medal of Honor. The medal, which recognizes outstanding service and dedication to the world of horticulture, will be presented in May at the HSA Educational Conference in Little Rock, Arkansas. Liberta offers classes on growing and cooking with fresh herbs and frequently consults on herb garden plans.
MARLON GRIGSBY,
Baton Rouge native who will play the role of the Prince in Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre’s original production Rapunzel: A Storybook Ballet April 7 and 8. Grigsby is an LSU and BRBT alumnus and a professional dancer with Uptown Dance Company in Houston, and in December he performed the title role in BRBT’s The Nutcracker: A Tale from the Bayou. The Rapunzel performances will also feature Baton Rouge Magnet High School’s dancers and step team.
CLAIRE BABINEAUXFONTENOT,
executive vice president and treasurer of Wal-Mart Stores and a graduate of Southern University Law Center. BabineauxFontenot, an Opelousas native who began her career as a tax attorney in Baton Rouge, will depart her position at Wal-Mart headquarters at the end of April to move closer to family after a stage 1 breast cancer diagnosis. She will lead a cancer fundraiser this month and says she hopes to make a positive impact on the lives of others with cancer.
ROD DREHER,
author and LSU graduate whose new book The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation was called by The New York Times “already the most discussed and most important religious book of the decade.” Dreher, who lives in St. Francisville and serves as a senior editor at The American Conservative, writes in the book about how believers can respond faithfully to a hostile modern world by drawing lessons from the early church.
