I am obviously new to T&L.
And introductions are best when kept short and sweet–so I figured I would give you a nice picture of my home from the most trustworthy source I can think of: the outsider.
The old man [in “The Violent Bear It Away”] is very obviously not a Southern Baptist, but an independent, a prophet in the true sense. The true prophet is inspired by the Holy Ghost, not necessarily by the dominant religion of his region. Further, the traditional Protestant bodies of the South are evaporating into secularism and respectability and are being replaced on the grass roots level by all sorts of strange sects that bear not much resemblance to traditional Protestantism–Jehovah’s Witnesses, snake-handlers, free thinking Christians, independent prophets, the swindlers, the mad, and sometimes the genuinely inspired.
–Flannery O’ Connor writing a letter to William Sessions, Sept. 13, 1960
About Daniel Buckley
I am a graduate student studying english education in the deep south, and I am endlessly in love with Jesus, Flannery O' Connor, and other social pariahs.
Hey Daniel, it’s good to read you here.
So now we have the Holy Trinity represented on this site: Updike, Potok and O’Connor. We’re off to a good start.
I can’t tell you how pleased I am to have a reason to look up Flannery O’Connor quotes! I’m excited to write alongside you both, and I have been meaning to learn more about your respective writers of choice!