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The Portable Creek: Southern Nostalgia and Other Shenanigans
Paperback
ISBN13: 9781480896277
Publisher: Archway Publishing
Published: Mar 5 2021
Pages: 268
Weight: 0.76
Height: 0.61 Width: 5.50 Depth: 8.50
Language: English
Benefits Charity
This is a family memoir, of sorts, told one newspaper column at a time, a variety of memories stitched together like a patchwork quilt.
So writes columnist Keith Huffman in describing this nifty collection of Southern essays that pay tribute to a charming bunch of characters who personify small-town life. Reflecting on his childhood in the West Alabama town of Gordo, Huffman shares the stories and memories of the folks who made their marks on him, including:
- Pawpaw Buck, the ornery-though-lovable old coot, whose dying wish was to get baptized by the very country preacher who'd been damned determined to save his soul for decades;
- Doe Doe, the author's father, a Crimson Tide fanatic and big-rig ace, whose One True Love was a black and silver 1979 Ford F-150 that flaunted its glorious name across its gleaming windshield: Silver Bullet;
- Mawmaw Sue, expert remover of deadly splinters and master engineer, who once used a shoestring to keep a push mower running long enough to finish the job;
- Aunt Lorene, a beast of a card player, who lacked neither a winning hand nor mocking grin for her brother, Henry, the man who not only named himself but fulfilled an old psychic's prophecy that he'd go overseas and find a gold mine.
Other stories involve bootlegging shenanigans, a drunken cage match with a wild cat, plus the author's burned luck and bitter fishing tragedy. Huffman also shares about how he learned the fine art of backroad skepticism; his ongoing ponderings over how life as a turtle could have turned out; and his musings over the joys of fatherhood... proving that parenting is no easy task, especially when a young'un holds a grudge after dreaming his mother ate his dinosaur.
This collection also includes other newspaper features Huffman has written over the years, highlighting examples of Southern hearts, tragedies, and triumphs.
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