Shelby Foote, Novelist and Historian, Dies at 88...

I will miss this fine gentleman, a self-described "Yellow-Dog Democrat."
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/arts/AP-Obit-Foote.html?hp=&pagewanted=print
June 28, 2005
Shelby Foote, Novelist and Historian, Dies at 88
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 1:42 p.m. ET

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- Novelist and historian Shelby Foote, whose Southern storyteller's touch inspired millions to reads his multivolume work on the Civil War, has died. He was 88.

Foote died Monday night, his widow, Gwyn, said Tuesday.

Foote, a Mississippi native and longtime Memphis resident, wrote six novels but is best remembered for his three-volume, 3,000-page history of the Civil War and his appearance on the PBS series ''The Civil War.''

He worked on the book for 20 years, using a flowing, narrative style that enabled readers to enjoy it like a historical novel.

''I can't conceive of writing it any other way,'' Foote once said. ''Narrative history is the kind that comes closest to telling the truth. You can never get to the truth, but that's your goal.''

That work landed Foote a leading role on Ken Burns' 11-hour Civil War documentary, first shown on the Public Broadcasting Service in 1990.
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Thank you and RIP Mr. Foote.

deserves credit for the entire genre that Burns' launched with that doc. He certainly is a major player in "The Civil War".

I enjoyed seeing him.

research set the standard, I think.

RIP Shelby. You did well.

Very sorry to hear he's gone (but certainly not forgotten).

RIP

I quite liked that dude. :(

but his works, and his participation in the Civil War documentary, really made me rethink that period in history.

He seemed like a true Southern gentleman. I had no idea he was that old. May he rest in peace.



Ed: Maybe he will get together with Steven Ambrose and have some real good conversations. Or for that matter, maybe he'll get with Grant and Lee.

I had the pleasure of chatting with Mr. Foote some years ago, at Gettysburg no less.

He gave a speech on the significance of the Gettysburg battle and Lincoln's subsequent Gettysburg address.


As a Civil War buff, I was able to get some great insight into his knowledge from our one on one conversation. He had a great sense of humor.

I'm a chick, a Quaker, and just about the furthest thing from a civil war buff as you can get, but I've read "The Stars in Their Courses" three times.

He made poetry out of something as awful as the carnage at Gettysburg.

If you're not the type to plow through 3 thick volumes of civil war history, pick up this one chapter excerpted from the middle volume. Beautiful stuff.

If you like reading a "book of letters", I think that this is one of the best. It's a bit one-sided because even though Percy kept most of Foote's letters, Foote didn't start saving Percy's letters until the 70's. But from the context of Foote's letters (and the occasional footnotes - no pun intended) it's very easy to follow.

Tim

was telling a story about a particular event during The Civil War. For instance before Picketts Charge at Gettysburg, Confederate soldiers in an apple orchard were throwing apples at each other as if they were in a snowball fight.

This is sad. I always loved to hear him talk in that Southern cadence he had. Quite the storyteller. RIP, Mr. Foote.

the battlefield, he spoke as if he could see their faces and the sweat dripping from their noses.