A Southern Missive

Not long ago, as you may remember from my blog notes, I was in Dublin, Texas. In the parade, I was reminded of our debt to Mexico. Here is a photo:

Here are the Dublin Beauty Queens! What beauties!

Here I am, waiting on the parade and orders to march.

And here is a photo of a beautiful girl. I call this photo, “California Bonnie.” She is standing underneath a statue of the Greek goddess, Diana, the Huntress.

I do try to take as many photos as I can these days.  I throw away many. But I’ve learned those Kodak moments can really mean something in the future, but if we lose them, we have to live with the regrets.

After listening to The Tin Roof Blowdown on audio CD by James Lee Burke, I am more impressed than ever with Burke’s writing.  His writing has fascinated me for some years now. Since first lines in writing a novel are so important, I decided to take a look at the first lines of some of the Dave Robicheaux novels:

In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead “The sky had gone black at sunset, and the storm had churned inland from the Gulf and drenched New Iberia and littered East Main with leaves and tree branches from the long canopy of oaks that covered the street from the old brick post office to the drawbridge over Bayou Teche at the edge of town.”

Jolie Blon’s Bounce “Growing up during the 1940s in New Iberia, down on the Gulf Coast, I never doubted how the world worked.”

A Stained White Radiance “I had known the Sonnier family all my life.”

Black Cherry Blues ” Her hair is curly and gold on the pillow, her skin white in the heat lightning that trembles beyond the pecan trees outside the bedroom window.”

Heaven’s Prisoners “I was just off Southwest Pass, between Pecan and Marsh islands, with the green whitecapping water of the Gulf Stream to the south and the long, flat expanse of the Louisiana coastline behind me–which is really not a coastline at all but instead of huge wetlands area of sawgrass, dead cypress strung with wisps of moss, and a maze of canals and bayous that are choked with Japanese water lilies whose purple flowers audibly pop in the morning and whose root systems can wind around your propeller shaft like cable wire.”

Dixie City Jam “Not many people believe this, but in the early months of 1942, Nazi submarines used to lie in wait at the mouth of the Mississippi for the tankers that sailed without naval escort from the oil refineries at Baton Rouge into the Gulf of Mexico.”

*Though there are several other novels I could have used, I think these are representative of Burke’s style. Writing in the first person, he is a master of narration with wonderful diction and insights into the human condition. I would like to know your thoughts on Burke, so drop me an email with Burke in the “reply” window.

Thoughts on Jefferson Davis: After refraining from reading our local paper for months, I was once again reminded why I had made that decision. One of the AP articles the Monroe-News Star ran on Sunday, Feb. 24, and on the front page, was entitled, “Other Civil War leader gets little respect at 200.” The AP article claims that people are not excited about Jefferson Davis’ birthday celebration planned for this year. It points out that President Bush was excited about Lincoln (the article called him the Great Emancipator; is the author of the article kidding?) The article claims that Davis’ 200th has “turned out to be something of a lost cause.” This author is so out of touch and it is biased press like this that makes me distrust many modern journalists in print and media. To contest this article, I want to make these points:

1) The claim is without evidence. Those (thousands of them) who do want to make this year special for Davis know that excitement is high.

2)  This is the year of Jefferson Davis. Note this article printed at: http://shnv.blogspot.com/

Jefferson Davis was born 200 years ago and 2008 will be a special year for the Sons of Confederate Veterans as we honor the memory and legacy of the one and only Confederate President. As your Commander-in-Chief, I will ask every Compatriot, Camp and Division to do whatever is necessary to see that the Davis record is honored both as a Confederate President, patriotic soldier, loving family man, and as an American statesman.

The General Executive Council has decided that something unique needs to be done to truly honor Jefferson Davis. By a unanimous vote, the SCV will commission famed sculptor Gary Casteel to create a statue of Jefferson Davis which will be here 100 years from now as a token of the respect of the membership of the SCV in 2008. This will be our token of affection and gratitude for what Jefferson Davis did and what he stood for. It is hoped that the statue will be completed this year.

Our monument will emphasize the humanity of Jefferson Davis. It will consist of three figures, Jefferson Davis, his son Joseph, and their adopted black child Jim Limber, a person lost in history by revisionist historians who felt his existence would impair their contrived notions of Davis. The statue will serve as an educational reminder that Davis was much more than the villain today’s politically correct historians castigate.

The statue will be paid for through individual contributions. There will be no corporate or municipal shakedowns such as when the Abraham Lincoln statue was forced into a Confederate landmark, the Tredegar Ironworks. A careful fundraising program will be created for SCV contributions and freedom loving Americans who understand what Davis represents. The SCV statue will represent the love of the Southern people who Davis bore much of the suffering for. We have not determined the exact location of the statue but will determine a suitable spot during the time the statue is being constructed.

I ask all members to be a part of this historical endeavor. Our statue will be the first public statue of Jefferson Davis in a century. Every member, Camp and Division are asked to contribute to this when we begin fundraising. The SCV may be the only organization in this country who will honor the memory of Jefferson Davis and that includes many Southern organizations. Next year will be the bi-centennial of Abraham Lincoln. I am sure you can guess the hoopla that will entail. This year is the bi-centennial of our President. Let’s show the world that Jefferson Davis was not only a man of his times but a man for the ages.

Christopher Sullivan
Commander-in-Chief
Sons of Confederate Veterans