By Paul Yarbrough
I once told a friend there were three books every Southerner
should have in his library: Gone with the Wind, I’ll Take My Stand,
and the Bible. I did comment––“Not
necessarily in that order.” It’s not
that all Southern prose, from Virginia to Texas, is captured by these, but they
do reach into the Southern soul for a view of life––past, present and
future. That is what I want to write and
read about, the South and its life; past, present and future. The South is more
than worthy of study.
There hardly exist, in my opinion, a population of characters more
colorful and charismatic than Southerners. But they exist when, as Dr. Clyde
Wilson has stated in Defending Dixie, one understands that one of the
greatest Southern writers, William Faulkner. 1 wrote about Southerners who were
not simply “aristocrats” and “poor whites.” Because Faulkner knew the South and
knew that they were not simply that. Most were between those groups. And they
all were made of flesh with demonstrably great accomplishments as well as great
sins.
The three works I mentioned above encapsulate the greatness and
wonder of the American South which includes it treasures, its pride, its
kindness and its flaws. The South has never been puritanical. That is, again my
opinion, a Yankee trait. i.e. New England.
Southern stories include blemishes of its characters. I
Certainly recommend Flannery O’Conner at this point. Puritanical stories are
largely about a mythical “American exceptionalism.” No defects.
The South has had its greats such as George Washington, Thomas
Jefferson and Robert E. Lee. It also has had its murderers, drunkards and
vagabonds. Gone With the Wind demonstrates in historical novel fashion
this wide variety; I’ll Take My Stand in multiple essay accounts shows
the humanness, hard work and sincerity of the South.
The Bible in no uncertain terms reveals greatness and failure
(Saul for example). But the ultimate revelation is that there is no chance for
the puritanical polish of mankind by other men. Purity comes from the sacrifice
of one man. The South did not give itself the name “The Bible Belt.”
The name was given to it. I was born and raised in the South, Mississippi;
schooled and married into the wonderful state of Louisiana; and have lived and
probably will die in one of God’s most prized places on earth—Texas.
There may be those who know the South better than I. But there are
none that love it more.
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Paul Yarbrough was born and reared in
Mississippi and have lived in both Louisiana and Texas. I have spent most of my
business career in the oil business. I took up writing as a hobby 15 years ago
and love to write about the South. I am just about finished with a fourth novel
which takes place in Texas, circa 1953. I write some short stories and essays.
One of my favorites is a Southern site, The Abbeville Institute. They have even
posted a couple of short stories of mine as well as essays and one poem. I
like to write poetry though I have only one poem posted. I mostly do it like
the rest of my writing, as a hobby. I had a former friend in another Southern
state, herself a fine writer, offering advice but she dropped out. So, I don’t
do so much verse now.