Dr. Stan Deaton Interviews John Ferling About The American Revolution This Sunday on Cover To Cover

Dr. Stan Deaton, Vice-President for Programs and Scholarship for the Savannah-based Georgia Historical Society, takes on the rigors of the GPB Southern Lit Cadre, debuting Sunday night at 8pm with his interview of West Georgia University Professor Dr. John Ferling about his latest book Almost a Miracle: The American Victory in the War of Independence, published by Oxford University Press.

I visited with Stan about the book and why the American Revolution is still important for all of us to think about from time to time.

GPB: Why did you choose to talk with Ferling about this book?

Deaton: Almost A Miracle is the best single-volume military history of the war now available. Penetrating analysis and graceful prose make this must reading for anyone who seeks to understand that crucial event in American history.

Stan Deaton's Top 9 Reasons for Studying the American Revolution:

1. The American Revolution created a form of govt. that was unique on the world's stage--republicanism: representative government in which the people are sovereign and they in turn give limited powers to the govt., which are enumerated in written constitutions and not dependent on the arbitrary power of an individual; govt. is there to serve the people, not the other way around.

2. The American Revolution was led and secured by the most extraordinary group of Americans who ever lived: Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Hamilton, Franklin. They were smart, they were well-read, they were learned, and most importantly they were committed to Enlightenment principles of a secular society based on political and economic liberalism and humanitarian reform.

3. The American Revolution separated Church and State--again, this is unique. Religion in the U.S. would flourish because it would be pluralistic and voluntary, rather than state-supported & monolithic

4. The American Revolution ensured that American life is founded on civil liberties--committed to preserving basic freedoms, like freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of association, and freedom of worship

5. The Revolutionary Generation first grappled with many of the enduring problems we still deal with--race in American society (what is an "inalienable right"?); the proper role of govt. in our lives; the separation of church and state; the growth of party politics; issues of liberty vs. security; states rights v. centralized power; growth of the military in a free society.

6. The American Revolution set in motion the modern egalitarian social and political movements of the 19th and 20th centuries--the abolitionist movements, the women's movement, democratic revolutions, and the civil rights movement.

7. The American Revolution created both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution--two documents that were and are unique in the world and are worth studying all by themselves.

8. The American Revolution established the precedent that Americans have peaceful elections and that they give up power peacefully, exemplified most dramatically by Washington's voluntarily stepping down after two terms and the shift in power from one party to another in the Election of 1800.

9. Finally, the American Revolution established the U.S. as a nation founded on ideas, not ethnicity, not culture, or religion, as so many European, Middle Eastern, and Asian countries would be and are.

Tune in Sunday night at 8pm on Cover To Cover for the conversation between Deaton and John Ferling.

Jesse Freeman Interviews David Fulmer

Join us on Sunday, May 11 at 8:00pm as Cover To Cover introduces a new member of our Southern Lit Cadre, Jesse Freeman. Jesse will be chatting with Atlanta-based noir-culture writer David Fulmer about his most recent novels The Dying Crapshooter's Blues and The Blue Door. The first of these takes place in Atlanta in the 1920's and includes blues legend Blind Willie McTell. Cover To Cover will feature McTell's song of the same name as part of Sunday's show.

Jesse Freeman grew up in Madison, Georgia, where he wrote for the hometown weekly, The Madisonian. He received a B. A. in English from Georgia State University. Jesse is a freelance journalist and video producer in the Atlanta area. He is a GPB TV correspondent for Lawmakers and Prep Sports Plus. His documentary work on the late author Raymond Andrews landed him a speaking appearance at the 19th Annual Southern Writers’ Symposium in Fayetteville, North Carolina. He has also been nominated for a Magazine Association of the Southeast’s GAMMA Award for an article he authored on Andrews.

I interviewed Jesse for the Cover To Cover Blog so that you could get a better idea of where he is coming from

CTC: What is it you like about Southern Literature?

Jesse Freeman: I love the attention to character. That's the hallmark of Southern literature, I think...that it is character-driven. Bocaccio begins his Decameron, "Human, it is..." and I think Southern writers write that way, with a rich understanding of what it is to be human.

As far as contemporary Southern writers, I really like Richard Bausch. His debut novel, Real Presence, which I think was published in 1981, is a wonderful novel and it encapsulates the best of what I just mentioned about Southern writing. He has some personal shortcomings that have been talked about lately, but he has done as much as anyone to promote young Southern writers. I interviewed Bausch once and he told me a story about how thrilled he was to be on a flight with Bob Dylan. I thought to myself how thrilled I was to be having a conversation with Richard Bausch.

My favorite Southern writer of all time is Faulkner. That doesn't put me out on a limb, but what are you gonna do? His writing is without parallel. Henry James, James Joyce, Naqib Mahfooz--they're all great, but Faulkner resonates like no other. He demands a tremendous investment from the reader, but pays back in great dividends.

CTC: What do you like about David Fulmer, who you are talking with on Sunday about his two most recent novels?

Jesse Freeman: What I like about Fulmer's writing is partly due to the fact that it is in contrast to the Southern tradition. His characters are good enough, but they're not subtle and masterful. Rather, it is the plot that drives his novels. This sets him apart. Plot is often lost on Southern writers. It's not lost with Fulmer. Also, I love that he seems to take great joy in writing. He loves music and cars and drinking and it seems he loves to write about things. He takes it upon himself to mention these things, though it is sometimes unnecessary and sometimes redundant. He is a guy's guy. He has a lot of female fans, but so does Springsteen. Fulmer loves to write about the blues and jazz and big cars and drinking liquor. I enjoy reading someone who seems to enjoy writing.

We hope you enjoy Jesse's interview with David Fulmer on Sunday's edition of Cover To Cover. Questions or comments to ask@gpb.org.

Cover To Cover Off May 4, Great Lineup Coming

Cover To Cover is taking Sunday, May 4 off to make room for the live Big Band Jump Jubilee, which pushes The Infinite Mind into the 8pm hour. But don't fret, GPB literature fans, the Southern Lit Cadre will be back starting next Sunday with a series of entertaining and informative conversations with writers we know you will enjoy.

On May 11, Jesse Freeman interviews novelist David Fulmer about his most recent two novels, including The Dying Crapshooter's Blues, which takes place in Atlanta in the 1920's and features legendary bluesman Blind Willie McTell as a character. Upcoming interviews will include Dr. Stan Deaton's debut as a member of the cadre with his interview with historian John Ferling and his book about the American Revolution, Almost A Miracle. Jeff Calder will be talking with Milledgeville-born poet Sean Hill about his new collection Blood Ties and Brown Liquor.

Melissa Stiers will be talking with Pearl Cleage about her new novel Seen It All And Done The Rest, and Frank Reiss will be talking with Georgia Bulldog legend Herschel Walker about his new memoir Breaking Free.

So enjoy The Infinite Mind Sunday night, but know that Cover To Cover will return at 8pm on Sunday, May 11. If you have questions or comments for Cover To Cover, just email us at ask@gpb.org.

John T. Edge From The Southern Foodways Alliance On This Week's Cover To Cover

This weekend on Cover To Cover Frank Reiss interviews John T. Edge, the Director of the Southern Foodways Alliance at the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi. Edge, a Macon native, has just released a revised and expanded edition of Southern Belly, a travelogue and appreciation of Southern Food and what it says about Southern Culture. He's also edited Volume 4 of Cornbread Nation-The Best of Southern Cooking. Frank and John T are old friends, and their free-wheeling discussion of Southern Food and how it has an integral role in our culture and our relationship to each other makes for an entertaining listen. Although if you listen before you have Sunday dinner you might be compelled to duck out for some barbecue or fried pies before the interview ends. In fact, John T walked into his interview with Frank at the GPB Talk Studio in Atlanta carrying a box from full of fried peach pies from The Varsity. Hear the interview Sunday night April 27 at 8pm on Cover To Cover.

Poet Ed Pavlic Joins Jeff Calder On Cover To Cover Sunday, April 20

This Sunday on Cover To Cover we welcome the debut of GPB Southern Lit Cadre Member Jeff Calder. Jeff will cover a range of subjects on the program in the months to come, but his 'beat' will be poetry. On Sunday's show he talks with University of Georgia Professor Ed Pavlic. Pavlic's new book is entitled Winners Have Yet To Be Announced: A Song For Donny Hathaway.

The book is Pavlic's attempt to see inside the life, music and untimely death of this elemental soul music artist, a man remembered for efforts as diverse as "Where Is The Love" with Roberta Flack or the theme to Norman Lear's 1970's sitcom "Maude." But Hathaway was highly influential in his own way, known as "your favorite soul singer's favorite singer." Pavlic tries to inhabit Hathaway, who left little in the way of legitimate biography or history after his jump from the 10th floor window of his room at the Essex House in New York City in 1979.

Writer and musician Jeff Calder and Pavlic talk about Hathaway, and Pavlic's approach to poetry. Listen in and you will also hear portions of Hathaway's songs "Give It Up" and "The Ghetto." We hope you enjoy this week's show. All comments, bouquets and brickbats to ask@gpb.org.

Anne B. Jones and Jaclyn Weldon White On Cover To Cover Sunday, April 13

Southern regional writers Anne B. Jones and Jaclyn Weldon White join Rob Maynard this weekend on Cover To Cover. Jacklyn Weldon White's new book is Mockingbird In The Moonlight, a thriller set in Macon Georgia amid the annual Cherry Blossom Festival. White talks about the book, and how her background as a former Gwinnett County detective shaped the narrative and her book's newest literary crime-stopper Dixie McClatchey.

Anne B. Jones joins us to talk about her upcoming serial killer-thriller set on St. Simon's Island, called Blackwater Rising, as well as the Writer's Vision Quest 2008-Tapping Into Your Native Spirit Writing Conference, held April 25-27 in Flovilla, Georgia.

Anne B. Jones and Jaclyn Weldon White are both published by Indigo Custom Publishing, based in Macon, Georgia.

Georgia Review Names New Editor

It is said that “everything comes to he who waits.” That is certainly true of Stephen Corey.

Corey [pictured below right] is the longtime associate editor of The Georgia Review. He joined the Review’s staff in 1983 as assistant editor serving under the great Stan Lindberg. In 1998, when Stan’s health deteriorated to the point where he could no longer continue to work, Corey was named acting editor. He “acted” as editor while UGA did a search and in 2001, when T.R. Hummer was appointed editor, Corey resumed the associate’s role.
Since the middle of 2006 Corey has once again been acting editor, Hummer having left the Review and moved to Arizona State University.

And now Corey gets the top job himself, a position he richly deserves. He has been named the permanent editor effective immediately. I received the news from Corey himself in an email yesterday.

No one knows the Review like Corey. He served his apprenticeship under the tutelage of Lindberg; he has spent long periods as acting editor; and he was involved in the redesign of the journal that Hummer instituted.

It should also be noted that the National Magazine Award the Review won last year was for a piece from an edition that Corey edited.

Besides being an editor at the Review, Corey is also a very fine poet with nine published volumes to his name.

Recognizing him as “one of the more influential literary figures in the state,” the New Georgia Encyclopedia Companion to Georgia Literature states that Corey “has helped shape the literary landscape in this country for the past two decades.”

I’m so very glad UGA has finally awarded Corey the top job at the Review. He will continue and enhance the tradition of excellence the Review has come to embody, a tradition that Corey himself has been intimately involved in creating.

Congratulations Stephen!

[Comments and questions? Email me at covertocover@gpb.org.]