Civil War authority Shelby Foote dead

AP via CNN.com ^ | 28 June 2005 | Unattributed

[Moose4]

MEMPHIS, Tennessee (AP) -- Novelist and Civil War historian Shelby Foote, whose appearances on a PBS-TV documentary series helped America better understand one of the most defining periods of its past, has died, his family said Tuesday.

Foote's widow, Gwen, said her husband, who was 88, died Monday night.

[Bombardier]

Thanks, Mike.

[labard1]

I don't mean to attack you. Your posting was just that last straw in a series of posts attributing him to other states. Mississippi is the birthplace of a remarkable number of great American writers, as unlikely as that may seem, given the press it usually gets.

[dixiechick2000]

"Most people, if the truth be told, are gigantic bores," he once said. "There's no need to subject yourself to that kind of thing."


Ya' gotta love the old man. ;o)

He was a great historian, and writer.
He lived a good life.
He made Mississippi proud.

Thanks for the ping.

[bourbon]

Agreed. A beautiful accent indeed!

[x]

That is regrettable. He was quite a writer and personality. The interview you linked to was a good one that gave more insight into his personality. You can also see him on C-Span.

There's a funny story about high school students watching Ken Burns's program and writing about it afterwards thinking that Foote served in the Civil War himself.

[Uncle Fud]

A few grest vignettes from Shelby Foote's trilogy that have never left me...

Edward Baker's death at Ball's Bluff - "He who had called for sudden, bold, forward, determined war received it in the form of a bullet to the brain"

Grant sends the army south after the Wilderness - can't quote exactly, but the sense is that the Army of the Potomac had been in the cycle of fight-lose-reorganize for three years. Now they had fought and lost, and yet Grant was taking another crack at Lee....the men sang and cheered as they saw the head of their long column was turning south rather than north

And above all, his chilling account of Lincoln's assasination. Within two months of reading it, I felt compelled to visit Ford's Theatre and the Petersen house to stand where it happened.

[RobbyS]

Celestial music.

[Bar-Face]

My Great Grandfather, A.P. Bradley was a corporal in Forrest's 12th Mississippi Cavalry. So I always enjoyed Foote's Forrest stories.

[Loyal Buckeye]

His 3-book history of the Civil War is a must-read for anybody serious about history.

I couldn't agree more.

[Colonel_Flagg]

His 3-book history of the Civil War is a must-read for anybody serious about history.

Agreed. I've read the entire series twice and it's the best example of narrative history I have ever read. May he rest in peace.

[Bar-Face]

"Agreed. A beautiful accent indeed!"

That is what I have always known as an aristocratic Mississippi Delta Accent, as opposed to us hillbillies here in the hills of Mississippi. That really is not a joke. There is a difference. Delta accent is much smoother.

[bourbon]

Absolutely. My E. MS relatives sound a lot different than my Delta relatives (especially the women).

[Nasty McPhilthy]

Just, damn!

[Charlespg]

godspeed mr foote

[Tax-chick]

There's a funny story about high school students watching Ken Burns's program and writing about it afterwards thinking that Foote served in the Civil War himself.

My daughter thought that my father was in the Civil War ... but she was only 7.

[Tax-chick]

I'll weigh the letters from red-schoolhouse farmboys of the Civil War period ...

Bump that. One of the main things I remember from the TV series was the amazing verbal fluency of the letters from common soldiers. They could really string words together. When you look at the actual texts, you see that they couldn't spell or punctuate, but they could communicate.

I expect it came largely from listening to the Bible, and to the great political speakers of the day.

[Renfield]

Shelby Foote reminded me a lot of my late father (who was, himself, descended from a couple of Civil War heroes, one of whom was with Lee at Appomattox). Sad day.

[hershey]

I really enjoyed his commentary on PBS, as well. Besides all that knowledge, he had a great voice. Mesmerizing.

[stainlessbanner]

Shelby Foote Bump