Subject: Eudora Welty, 92, dies
From: Tim O'Connor (oconnort@nyu.edu)
Date: Mon Jul 23 2001 - 17:41:10 GMT
It was a great and sad shock to have a last glance at the Times web
site before the end of the day and see that the great short-story
writer Eudora Welty has died at the age of 92.
Welty was a massively important influence on the American short story
and on fiction writing in general. For me she was a gentle voice out
in the wilderness, with always a guiding hand offered through her
work. A few years ago I had a chance to see her read, a night I've
cherished ever since and will always remember fondly.
I'm not inclined to write, nor feel capable of writing, a professional
obituary, but wanted to mention it to those subscribers who might not
have heard about this. And I guess, though I hate to admit it, in the
back of my mind I have that great fear that every time I look at a
newspaper obituary section I'll see an obituary that I dread, of a
certain 82-year-old man in Cornish, NH. So, I suppose part of me
offers this up to ward off evil spirits -- as crazy as that sounds.
In case you're wondering, there's a popular email program for Macs and
PCs called "Eudora" that many people here may use; the author of the
software wrote it and named it after Eudora Welty, because of a classic
story of hers called "Why I Live at the P.O." I don't know if this
bit of trivia will make it into obituaries, but I thought it of some
small interest.
The world goes on, of course, but it feels just a bit heavier and
sadder than before. Good luck, Miss Welty, and good luck, from one
devoted reader.
--tim o'connor
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b25 : Mon Sep 10 2001 - 15:29:39 GMT