Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Fall 2005 - (Page 69)

of it from close range, from the beginning to the end.” He good-naturedly escorts the flighty, demanding woman to a number of book-related events, including a trip to New York for an appearance on Tom Synder’s television show, told in hilarious detail. Fletcher believes: “the key to understanding Ken, his achievement and his tragedy, lies in understanding Thelma. She was the force that shaped him, and, ultimately, a force that helped destroy him.” Thelma is an archetype familiar to New Orleanians — she’s a woman who can trace her lineage back to some glorious figure, but who is now living in nearpoverty with the sheerest façade of gentility, a real-life Amanda Wingfield. In Thelma’s case, one of her Creole ancestors fought in the Battle of New Orleans and was buried in the famous St. Louis Cemetery Number One. P.A. Ducoing, Thelma’s father, is described as a philandering “dandy” who spent little time with his family. Thelma shared his love of theatre, and with barely more than a high-school education, became the director of dramatic productions for local schools, and later a teacher of elocution. After marrying a man who could barely make a living, her modest income picked up the slack. John Kennedy Toole, born in 1937, becomes Thelma’s focus — he is talented, a gifted mimic like his mother, and excels in school. However, Toole’s academic successes didn’t lead to work that would support his entire family. By the mid 1960’s he had taken a full-time teaching position at Dominican College, which made him the breadwinner and put him directly under Thelma’s thumb. The tension between mother and son must have been extreme for both of them. Fletcher comments: “After his death, Thelma had only the highest praise for Ken, then always her genius son, but it was probably a different story when he was alive and they were living in close quarters, and age and poverty and disappointment were closing in on her.” Fletcher is as kind as he can be when faced with Thelma’s demanding personality. In a passage that reveals much about himself as well as Thelma, he writes: “I was very fond of her, and very grateful she was not my mother. After the publication of Confederacy, her misery was alleviated by its success and the commotion surrounding it. Thelma emerged from her sadness to embrace that commotion energetically, and for the remaining years of her life [until 1982] she devoted herself to furthering the fame of Confederacy and the memory of her ‘genius son.’ She also spent a great deal of time and energy promoting her version of why Ken had killed himself, controlling her version of why Ken had killed himself, controlling the legend of his death.” As she put it, “I walk in the world for my son.” Toole’s correspondence with Robert Gottlieb, his editor at Simon and Schuster, is presented with brief, illustrative commentary. Although the chapter is entitled “Anatomy of a Rejection,” that’s not quite what happened to the manuscript. Toole had begun Confederacy in the early 1960’s during his military service in Puerto Rico, and had reworked it over the years. The long editorial process was well underway, but a few comments (now legendary among Toole scholars) take on an ominous tone when viewed against Toole’s 1969 suicide. In retrospect, the letters’ messages are perplexing — Toole’s talent and politeness appear to have been at odds. He wanted to please his New York editor by making changes to his manuscript, but was convinced that he had created a good piece of literature. Fletcher notes: “The letters show that [Gottlieb] continued to be extremely interested in and sympathetic to Ken and to give him what he considered good advice. Far from abandoning Ken, Gottlieb was one of the first to recognize his genius, and the decision to break off the relationship was Ken’s, not Gottlieb’s.” Fletcher clears up a long-standing misunderstanding by presenting the letters to his readers. As he notes, “Thelma’s portrayal of [Gottlieb] as an insensitive, heartless villain who single-handedly destroyed her son, which has become an integral part of the Confederacy myth, is grossly unfair, as the letters clearly show.” Fletcher feels compelled to mention other Toole-related biographies, including Ignatius Rising, by Deborah Hardy and Rene Pol Nevis. That work that was not particularly well-received, and roundly criticized for inaccuracies and exaggerations, “substituting factoids for facts,” as one scholar put it. Fletcher is self-effacing and remarkably objective. This is not a comprehensive biography of Toole, but it is rich with stories, sidebar information and intriguing details that make it thoroughly engaging. What Fletcher has written sounds and feels honest. He takes readers into scenes so authentic that we will grieve all the more for what has been lost in these recent weeks. Thomas Uskali, a New Orleans-based writer and actor, also reviews books for the Mobile (Al.) Register. Wear us out! Humanities La he p el P Now you can take the LEH everywhere you go — on your lapel, shirt collar, handbag . . . wherever. Show your support for the humanities in Louisiana by wearing this new commemorative pin designed by acclaimed artist Francis X Pavy of Lafayette. They are available for $8, plus postage. Bulk purchases of 10 or more are $6 each, plus postage. To order, call the LEH in New Orleans at (504) 523-4352, Ext. 110, or toll-free from within Louisiana at 1 (800) 9097990, Ext. 110. Summer 2005/LOUISIANA CULTURAL VISTAS 69 t Lou en isian a End owm rt fo in

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Fall 2005

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Fall 2005 Contents Editor’s Column Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities Louisiana State Museum After Katrina and Rita Tabasco: Edmund McIlhenny and the Birth of a Louisiana Pepper Sauce Historic New Orleans Collection Louisiana Association of Museums New Orleans’ Coffee Connection No Man’s Land Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism Bookstand (Book Review by Thomas Uskali) Sound Advice (Music Review by Ben Sandmel) Forum (Commentary by Roy Blount, Jr. )

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Fall 2005

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