Percy, Walker, 1916-1990

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William Walsh, an Irish-Catholic New Orleanian born in 1925, joined the Society of Jesus in 1942. He left the order in 1973, but remained ambilavent about his decision to enter secular life. Walsh was at a personal crossroads when he read Lancelot, trying to determine his future. Having also been impressed by Percy's earlier writings, particularly The Message in the Bottle, he believed that Percy could be a source of guidance. As it turned out, Walsh and Percy never met in person and they spoke on the phone just once.

From the description of Percy-Walsh Correspondence, 1980-1999. (Loyola University). WorldCat record id: 755028264

Walker Percy was a noted novelist. Romagosa was born in Thibodeaux, Louisiana in 1924. He attended St. Joseph Seminary College in Covington, Louisiana and Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans. Following ordination in 1947, he served in various archidocesan parishes and offices in south Louisiana, mainly in the New Orleans area. In 1963 he helped found the new archdiocesan newspaper The Clarion Herald and served as its editor for twelve years. He subsequently held various positions, including Director of the Stella Maris Maritime Center, Chaplain of the Port of New Orleans, and National Secretary of the Catholic Broadcasters Association. In 1980 he was designated a monsignor. He was also an accomplished photographer, receiving several Catholic Press Awards for his photographs. He died in an automobile accident on August 1, 1999.

From the description of Percy-Romagosa Collection, 1972-1993, bulk 1982-1993. (Loyola University). WorldCat record id: 755013188

Charles Suhor was born in New Orleans in 1935. An educator, literary critic, musician and amateur linguist, Suhor initiated a correspondence with Walker Percy in 1975. At the time of their correspondence, Charles Suhor was English Supervisor for the New Orleans Public Schools.

From the description of Walker Percy and Charles Suhor Letters, 1971-1975. (Loyola University). WorldCat record id: 767525268

American author Walker Percy was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and educated at the University of North Carolina and Columbia University; trained as a doctor, he contracted tuberculosis while working as an intern and, while recovering, began the extensive reading that distinguished his novels and other works. His first published novel, The Moviegoer, won the National Book Award in 1962; subsequent philosophical novels of the new South feature accessible writing with serious themes. He has also written influential essays on language, philosophy, psychiatry, and science.

From the description of Walker Percy letter and Christmas card, 1953-1969. (Pennsylvania State University Libraries). WorldCat record id: 62590109

Walker Percy was raised in Georgia, Alabama, and Greenville, Miss., and lived most of his adult life in Covington, La. He was the author of six published novels: "The Moviegoer" (1961), "The Last Gentleman" (1966), "Love in the Ruins" (1971), "Lancelot" (1977), "The Second Coming" (1980), and "The Thanatos Syndrome" (1987). He also wrote "The Gramercy Winner" and "The Charterhouse," neither of which was published during his lifetime. Works of non-fiction include "The Message in the Bottle" (1975), "Lost in the Cosmos" (1983), and "Symbol and Existence: A Study in Meaning" (collected essays, unpublished as a collection). He also wrote numerous short stories, book reviews, philosophical pieces relating to language and to religion, especially Catholicism.

From the description of Walker Percy papers, 1910-1992. WorldCat record id: 31966166

Novelist, physician, and critic. Born in Birmingham, Ala., in 1916 and died in Covington, La. in 1990.

From the description of [Library of Walker Percy in the Rare Book Collection of the Academic Affairs Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill]. 1853-1999. WorldCat record id: 57616317

Walker Percy was a Southern author who is best known for his philosophical novels set in and around New Orleans, Louisiana, the first of which, The Moviegoer, won the National Book Award for Fiction in 1962.

From the description of Walker Percy interview, 1966. (Louisiana State University). WorldCat record id: 270991056

From the description of Walker Percy letter, 1968 Sept. 9. (Louisiana State University). WorldCat record id: 271013220

American author.

From the description of Love in the ruins [manuscript], 1971. (University of Virginia). WorldCat record id: 647820407

Novelist and essayist Walker Percy was born 28 May 1916 in Birmingham, Ala., the oldest son of Leroy Pratt and Martha Phinizy Percy. After his father's death in 1929, when Percy was 13, the family lived in Athens, Ga., until 1930 when his mother moved the family to Greenville, Miss. Martha Phinizy Percy died on 2 April 1932 in an automobile accident. Thereafter, Percy and his two brothers lived with their father's cousin, William Alexander Percy, lawyer, landowner, and poet of Greenville, Miss. From Greenville, Percy went to the University of North Carolina (B.A., chemistry, 1937) and then to the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, from which he was graduated in 1941. The next year, while working as an intern, he contracted tuberculosis and spent the following two years in a sanatorium in the Adirondacks. An attempt to return to Columbia to teach in 1944 failed when he suffered a relapse. Upon his recovery, Percy decided to abandon medicine in favor of a career in writing.

In 1946, Percy married Mary Townsend ( Bunt ), a native of Mississippi, and settled shortly afterwards in Covington, La. He and his wife became Roman Catholics at about the time of their marriage. Percy published a number of essays in the 1950s and his first published novel, The Moviegoer, won the 1962 National Book Award for fiction. Other published novels were The Last Gentleman (1966), Love in the Ruins (1971), Lancelot (1977), The Second Coming (1980), and The Thanatos Syndrome (1987). He published two works of non-fiction, The Message in the Bottle (1975) and Lost in the Cosmos (1983).

Walker Percy died of cancer on 10 May 1990. He was survived by his wife and their two daughters, Mary Pratt Percy Lobdell and Ann Boyd Percy Moores.

(This note draws from material in Southern Writers: A Biographical Dictionary ; Robert Coles, Walker Percy: An American Search ; and the Encyclopedia of Southern History .)

From the guide to the Walker Percy Papers, circa 1910-1992, (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Spencer, Elizabeth, 1921-. Elizabeth Spencer papers, 1911-2003 (bulk 1999-2003. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
creatorOf Percy, Walker, 1916-1990,. [Library of Walker Percy in the Rare Book Collection of the Academic Affairs Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill]. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
referencedIn Ziff, Lloyd. Happy birthday N.B.C.C. 1974-1984 ; the National Book Critics Circle tenth anniversary, 1985. Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
creatorOf Percy, Walker, 1916-1990. Letters : to Jean Stafford, 1962-1971. University of Virginia. Library
referencedIn Hobson, Linda Whitney. Linda Whitney Hobson papers, 1971-1996. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
referencedIn Meredith, William, 1919-2007. William Meredith papers, 1947-1979. Library of Congress
creatorOf Erskine, Albert, 1911-1993. Albert Erskine papers, 1930-1999. University of Virginia. Library
referencedIn Jones, Madison, 1925-. Madison Jones papers, 1950-1989. Emory University. Special Collections and Archives
referencedIn Foote, Shelby. Shelby Foote papers, 1935-1999 [manuscript]. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
referencedIn Spalding, Phinizy. Phinizy Spalding papers, 1910-1994 (bulk 1931-1982). Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library
referencedIn Simpson, Lewis P. Lewis P. Simpson papers, 1923-2004 (bulk 1980-2000). Louisiana State University, LSU Libraries
referencedIn New Yorker records New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division
creatorOf Darwin, Charles 1809-1882. Authors Collection, [16--?] - [19--]. Boston College. John J. Burns Library
creatorOf Percy, Walker, 1916-1990. Walker Percy letter, 1968 Sept. 9. Louisiana State University, LSU Libraries
referencedIn Harper's Magazine Records, 1847-1983, (bulk 1940-1983) Library of Congress. Manuscript Division
creatorOf Hawkins, John R. John R. Hawkins '56 literary manuscript collection, 1972-80. Haverford College Library
referencedIn McDonald, Ralph Waldo, 1903-1977. Ralph Waldo McDonald papers, 1936. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
referencedIn Toole, John Kennedy, 1937-1969. John Kennedy Toole papers, 1930-1999. Tulane University, Howard-Tilton Memorial Library
creatorOf Percy, Walker, 1916-1990. Walker Percy papers, 1910-1992. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
referencedIn Berry, Jason. Papers 1966-1987. Tulane University, Amistad Research Center
referencedIn McInerny, Ralph, 1929-2010. Papers, 1943-[ongoing]. University of Notre Dame, Hesburgh Library
referencedIn Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Inc. records, 1899-2003, 1945-1989 New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division
referencedIn Rubin, Louis Decimus, 1923-. Louis Decimus Rubin papers, 1945- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
creatorOf Hopwood Awards Collection, 1930- University of Michigan
creatorOf Percy, Walker, 1916-1990. Walker Percy and Charles Suhor Letters, 1971-1975. Loyola University (New Orleans, La.). Monroe Library
creatorOf Percy, Walker, 1916-1990. Percy-Walsh Correspondence, 1980-1999. Loyola University (New Orleans, La.). Monroe Library
creatorOf Durr, Virginia Foster. Papers, 1904-1991. Alabama Department of Archives and History
creatorOf Percy, Walker, 1916-. Autograph letter signed : Covington, La., to Bob M. Weingrad, 1980 Dec. 20. Pierpont Morgan Library.
creatorOf Percy, Walker, 1916-1990. Walker Percy letter and Christmas card, 1953-1969. Pennsylvania State University Libraries
creatorOf Percy, Walker, 1916-1990. Walker Percy interview, 1966. Louisiana State University, LSU Libraries
referencedIn Letters. University of South Alabama, Marx Library
creatorOf Walker Percy Papers, circa 1910-1992 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection
creatorOf Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Inc. records, 1899-2003 (bulk 1945-1989). New York Public Library System, NYPL
creatorOf Carson, L. M. Kit. The moviegoer : a screenplay, 1975 / by L.M. Kit Carson ; from the novel by Walker Percy. Ohio State University Libraries
referencedIn Reynolds Price Papers, bulk, 1927-2010 and undated, 1956-2006 David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library
referencedIn Doar, Harriet. Papers, 1938-1991 (bulk 1938-1982). University of North Carolina, Charlotte, J. Murrey Atkins Library
referencedIn Kerr, Samantha Jane. Walker Percy plots the American soul / by Samantha Jane Kerr. University of Houston, Clear Lake, Alfred R. Neumann Library
referencedIn Donald Barthelme Literary Papers 2002-007., 1956-2001 Special Collections, University of Houston Libraries
referencedIn Cleanth Brooks papers., 1927-1986 (inclusive), 1960-1986 Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
referencedIn Woodward, C. Vann (Comer Vann), 1908-1999. C. Vann Woodward papers, 1804-2004 (inclusive), 1804-2000 (bulk). Yale University Library
referencedIn Barthelme, Donald. Donald Barthelme literary papers, 1956-2001. University of Houston, M.D. Anderson Library
creatorOf Percy, Walker, 1916-1990. Love in the ruins [manuscript], 1971. University of Virginia. Library
referencedIn New Orleans Review Collection, 1968-1980, bulk 1970-1978. Loyola University (New Orleans, La.). Monroe Library
creatorOf Percy, Walker, 1916-1990. Percy-Romagosa Collection, 1972-1993, bulk 1982-1993. Loyola University (New Orleans, La.). Monroe Library
referencedIn McConkey, James. James McConkey papers, (ca. 1948-1990). Cornell University Library
creatorOf Percy, Walker, 1916-. The second coming : photocopy of chapters 10, 11 and 12 of the corrected typescript, [1980]. Pierpont Morgan Library.
creatorOf Black, Karen. [Option agreement for the rights to Walker Percy's The moviegoer] : typescript, 1975 Oct. 22. Pierpont Morgan Library.
referencedIn Shelby Foote Papers (#4038), 1935-1999 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection
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Place Name Admin Code Country
Southern States
Mississippi
Louisiana
Louisiana
Subject
American literature
Authors, American
Authors, American
American fiction
Novelists, American
Books
Cover letters
Existentialism in literature
Families
Male authors, American
National Book Awards
Occupation
Authors, American
Collector
Activity

Person

Birth 1916-05-28

Death 1990-05-10

Americans

English

Information

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