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Brown Bag Lecture: David Madden to present dramatic reading on Civil War
KNOXVILLE -- The next Brown Bag lecture is set for noon on Wednesday, July 24 at the East Tennessee History Center.
In a dramatic reading, David Madden will assume the persona of a fictional character to take attendees back to a 1928 meeting of the United Daughters of the Confederacy at Bleak House. Willis Carr, a character in Madden’s Civil War novel, Sharpshooter, is addressing the UDC members, and from his memories, is comparing the fiery newspaper editor, William “G.” Parson Brownlow, Unionist, with his Confederate counterpart, historian Dr. J.G.M. Ramsey.
The reading is based on a chapter from the novel that did not appear in the published version of the book. Madden first became intrigued with the personalities and histories of Brownlow and Ramsey while researching for his book, Bijou. Stark enemies, the two were leading spokesmen for their Confederate and Union viewpoints. Ramsey was a banker, gentleman farmer, and the foremost East Tennessee and Tennessee historian of the time, having been involved in the establishment of both the East Tennessee Historical Society (1834) and the Tennessee Historical Society (1849). He was active in many aspects of business and culture in Knoxville and a strong advocate for bringing the railroad to East Tennessee.
A Methodist circuit riding preacher, Brownlow was a staunch Unionist and an equally strong believer in what he called the divinely ordained institution of slavery, the editor of the Knoxville Whig and Rebel Ventilator, and became governor of Tennessee during Reconstruction.
David Madden is a native Knoxvillian, born in a “plantation” cabin in the Lincoln Park area and into a branch of the family that has lived in Knoxville for more than a century. Since 1961, the accomplished author has published more than 50 books, 13 of them novels, including The Suicide’s Wife, a CBS move-of-the-week starring Angie Dickinson, and last year, London Bridge in Plague and Fire. He now lives in Black Mountain, North Carolina and returns to Knoxville often. He holds an M.A. from San Francisco State and attended Yale Drama School on a John Golden Fellowship. He was the writer-in-residence at Louisiana State University from 1968 to 1992, director of the Creative Writing Program there from 1992-1994, founding director of the United States Civil War Center from 1992-1999, and is now LSU Robert Penn Warren Professor of Creative Writing, Emeritus.
The program is sponsored by 21st Mortgage, and free and open to the public. The lecture will begin at noon at the East Tennessee History Center, 601 S. Gay Street, Knoxville. Guests are invited to bring a “Brown Bag” lunch and enjoy the lecture. Soft drinks will be available. For more information on the lecture, exhibitions, or museum hours, call 865-215-8824 or visit the website at www.EastTNHistory.org.
Published July 17, 2013
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