tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8858658620782341078.post4906120698985131761..comments2020-07-26T05:56:27.589-07:00Comments on L. A. Piltz: Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8858658620782341078.post-45418688618745409462014-06-27T19:28:11.418-07:002014-06-27T19:28:11.418-07:00Yes, we were on the same circuit, even then. From ...Yes, we were on the same circuit, even then. From the hot asphalt to the hot seat to the hot blazing Parchman sun. Not to mention the hot riffs of the Mayberry man. It seems almost Incredible he wrote Harlem Nocturne! I remember your terrific scene from Patron Saint of the dance. I'll have to read it again now. It hadn't occurred to me when I wrote this post last night. My group had to leave before dark because of our long ride to the coast. I did get to sit in the prison barber chair with the inmate barber thwacking that long-handled razor blade back and forth across the sharpening strap. The guards told us to ask him what he is 'in' for. As we each took a turn sitting there, with the blade moving like a pendulum, naturally he said, "murder". We knew it was a bit, but the momentary vulnerability was real enough to raise a gulp and it be a relief to let someone else have their turn. I felt a relief upon getting up from the chair in the gas chamber too. Mostly though what I remember is the unbearable sadness of the place, and a there but for fortune feeling. If I'd been in junior high at the time instead of a senior in 1969, I think it might have been a bit more of a giddy experience.News Naghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17888268522821162619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8858658620782341078.post-48897282070191067222014-06-27T14:35:40.707-07:002014-06-27T14:35:40.707-07:00Amazing! The Mississippi schools were on the same ...Amazing! The Mississippi schools were on the same circuit -- we 8th graders at Whitten Junior High bussed it up to Parchman "Farm" for a tour and a gracious invitation to take a seat in the "hot seat," the chair in the gas chamber. Lord have mercy! We've got to exchange memories, Larry. Did the prison band entertain y'all, too, for an evening dance in the cafeteria, once the tables were cleared away? I think I sent you and Grace a copy of my second novel, The Patron Saint of Red Chevys, which has a scene of that absurdly comical visit to Parchman. <br />And Whitten, too, was "entertained" by the whistler for the Mayberry tune. Man, was that hot stuff! Love you, dear friend!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18327550733935696391noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8858658620782341078.post-28980134246166731812014-06-26T21:01:45.639-07:002014-06-26T21:01:45.639-07:00Larry Piltz. In retrospect, regarding the America...Larry Piltz. In retrospect, regarding the American cultural revolution of the 1960s and earlier 1970s, for all the positive impact it had resensitizing Americans to the brutality and absurdity of war for war's sake, sometimes when I see footage or certain photos of that era, from Paul Revere & The Raiders, The Monkees, Wavy Gravy (bless his living memory), die-ins, levitating the Pentagon, Tiny Tim, Doc Severinson's wardrobe, the Vidal-Buckley debates - worthy ideas, people, and pursuits all! - I sometimes think the real cultural competition was to see if the youth culture could become even more corny than the black-and-white 1950s culture it was trying to replace. I Love Lucy and The Honeymooners versus Good Times and Maude. May the corniest culture win! And hopefully the more peaceful. Which took itself more seriously, the gray flannel suit culture or the tie-dyed bell bottom culture? It might have been a tie.<br />18 mins · Edited · LikeNews Naghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17888268522821162619noreply@blogger.com