Barry came to the Sewanee Writers' Conference for many years and his readings were always the highlight of the conference for me. I heard him read "Testimony of Pilot". I heard him read "Constant Pain in Tuscaloosa." I heard him read "That's True". I made tapes of these readings and would listen to them in my car over and over.
One of the first years I was on staff at the conference, I got to read and, right after I finished my story, I walked off the stage and Barry made a beeline for me, a super-intense look on his face. I went numb because I thought, "Barry Hannah is coming up to me to tell me that I am a good writer and to keep it up." Barry walked up to me, put his hand on my shoulder, and said, "Tony, I have broken my glasses and I would really appreciate it if you could find me a little piece of copper wire so I can fix them." So I got Barry Hannah a little piece of copper wire. "You're a saint, Tony" he said when I gave it to him.
When we found out that Leigh Anne was pregnant, she said that I could pick out the name. My two choices were Captain America Wilson ("We'll call him Cap," I told her) and Geronimo Rex Wilson ("We'll call him Rex," I told her). Leigh Anne then told me that she would pick the first name and I'd pick the middle name. That worked out, but, damn, I wish I'd stayed with Geronimo Rex Wilson.
7 comments:
Enjoyed your anecdote. Digging up Airships now, Tony.
Just stopping by to say, Thanks for sharing this here.
great story, Kevin, cracked me up at 330 a.m.
"Tony, I have broken my glasses and I would really appreciate it if you could find me a little piece of copper wire so I can fix them."
Yeah, man, it made me real sad to hear of his passing. I wish I'd gotten to hear him read or be taught by him. You're all lucky SOBs. Thanks for this. I posted something yesterday about him on Metafilter, if you're interested: http://www.metafilter.com/89697/Farewell-Captain-Maximus
--Bill
Kevin,
Enjoyed the piece. I heard him read "Two Gone Over" at Sewanee in 04. Until then, I had never really paid that particular story much attention--now it's one of my favorites.
He was just such a generous guy.
When I saw Barry had died, my first thought was, "oh no!" Somewhere around my tenth thought, I got to, "Poor Barry. He just needed a little piece of copper wire."
I'm sorry for your loss. I wasn't familiar with his work, but it's obvious that it (and he) was meaningful for you.
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