Three volumes for three thousand words! Those words musta been of prodigious length!
A very good writer. Rest in peace.
Deo Vendice
Requiscat in Pacem, fellow Patriot... our time here is tragically short, yet you reached many minds with your unique gift. See you on the other side.
I have never ead any of his books, that's a shame, I will have to do that.
I fell in love with this elegantly spoken man while watching his commentary in the Ken Burns Civil War series. What a true southern gentlemen.
Rest in peace, Prof. Foote.
RIP. What a majestic Vuhginyuh accent the guy had!
Mr. Foote lived very well, indeed.
Today's history "revisionists" (or those who have been educated in public schools) should read Shelby Foote's writings. They might just get an education on what the War Between the States was really about. Foote was a truly great historian.
Sad to hear. The PBS Civl War documentary with his insight was one of the best things I have ever seen on TV.
The story goes that Burns was just supposed to talk to Foote for a couple of hours. Foote was so good, that Burns ended up with 11 hours of usable footage. Frankly, I would pay more to see the uneditted footage than I would for Burns' stilted, agenda driven finished product.
Godspeed, Mr. Foote.
This is very sad news for me. I was fortunate to meet him a couple of times over the years. He was always very kind. When I was a kid, he lived just a short distance from my family outside Memphis. Rest in peace Mr. Foote.
Mississippi ping
I saw him once on CSpans booktalk. I believe he wrote all his books longhand, using an old "dip" fountain pen, where he had to dip the pen's nib in an inkwell everytime, after writing out just a few words.
RIP to a Southern Gentleman.
Bibliopath ping.
Did an hour with him for PBS when the Civil War miniseries premiered. Met him at a studio near his house in Memphis. A small, soft-spoken and courtly gentleman, spoke just the way he did in the series. Very, very smart too, with the mind of novelist, which he was first and foremost. He got teary-eared only once, when we talked about his life-long best friend, the late Walker Percy, an even greater novelist.
Shelby invited me to go out and get some barbecue after the shoot, and I had to decline because my crew wanted to see Graceland. I still regret that one.
But at least I do have some correspondence from him, written in his elegant hand with a dipped pen . . .
Thank you, Mr. Foote for rekindling my interest in the War Between the States and for showing me the value of learning the details and the funny little anecdotes that humanize history. I'll never forget you.