{"id":3825,"date":"2012-08-14T14:27:20","date_gmt":"2012-08-14T18:27:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/?p=3825"},"modified":"2013-12-18T22:33:08","modified_gmt":"2013-12-19T02:33:08","slug":"hall-to-mcnair-august-28-1984","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/hall-to-mcnair-august-28-1984\/","title":{"rendered":"Hall to McNair, August 28, 1984"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
\"Letter<\/a><\/p>\n

[Click image to view]<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

28 August 1984<\/p>\n

Wes McNair
\nHominy Pot Rd.
\nNorth Sutton, NH 03260<\/p>\n

Dear Wes,<\/p>\n

From what you say about Felix, I think it is still unclear.
\nThis is the plot. In 1984 a man of fifty-five or so is daydreaming
\nwhile driving in his car alone all day. Of course he daydreams about
\nunpleasant things in the recent past\u2026 Then there suddenly a mnemonic\u2026
\nhe sees a sign that makes him remember driving all day with his dear
\nfriend, same age, thirty years ago, just before the friend was killed
\nin the Navy. That is, he and his friend were driving to catch the
\ncarrier where the guy flew an airplane, and shortly thereafter the friend
\nwent off the edge of the carrier and drowned. That is the only accident.
\nBecause he remembers his old friend, he suddenly has a vision of him
\nbeside him sitting there. Naturally enough, he does not see his friend
\nat fifty-five, but at twenty-five\u2026 However, the morbid imagination
\npictures him as rather waterlogged, you might say! In the moment of his
\nvision (not an hallucination, just say a quick flash) he remembers some-
\nthing that happened on this trip, connected with the sign for the Bar<\/span>.
\nThen he remembers that story, just as it happened thirty years ago.
\nHe remembers drinking pitchers, coming out, having a near-accident,
\nand what Felix said. That is all.<\/p>\n

So there was only one accident, and it was the fatal accident on
\nthe aircraft carrier. There is only one Felix, but he remembers another (?)
\nFelix<\/del>, and it is as if the old Felix is restored to the carseat beside
\nhim for a second. When you copied out one line you made a mistake in it,
\nand it is interesting because I have changed the word. You write \u201cthirty
\nyears passed and I was a young man driving\/\u2026\u201d It should have been \u201cthirty
\nyears perished.\u201d I am trying out \u201cdrowned\u201d instead of perished.<\/p>\n

I have got rid of twenty-five-years-old forever. I think.<\/p>\n

You are probably right about my reluctance. I am afraid to be
\nknown as the Vicar of Bray. Some people seem troubled by the great
\nvariety within my work, even within the same book, often. I think that
\na lot of \u201cvoice\u201d is faked continuity. But. Anyway, doubtless I will
\npublish the metrical things under my own name. When I get around to them.
\nWendell Berry hates the Ragpicker with a fierce passion. I hope that
\nyou are the right one!<\/p>\n

Best as ever,<\/p>\n

Don<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\n

Read My Friend Felix<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>(published version)<\/span><\/p>\n\n

\n <\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[Click image to view] 28 August 1984 Wes McNair Hominy Pot Rd. North Sutton, NH 03260 Dear Wes, From what you say about Felix, I think it is still unclear. This is the plot. In 1984 a man of fifty-five or so is daydreaming while driving in his car alone all day. Of course he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2341,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60366,596,42965,35504,77589],"tags":[],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3825"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2341"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3825"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3825\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11427,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3825\/revisions\/11427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}