2 weeks Ago
On Tuesday, Oct. 29 at 6 p.m.
, author Rebecca McCarthy will be at the Aiken Center for the Arts to discuss her new book, “Norman Maclean: A Life of Letters and Rivers.” A short Q&A session will follow her talk. This is a free event.
In the first biography of one of Montana’s most celebrated writers, McCarthy presents a detailed and intimate portrait of Maclean’s life and work, drawing on her long friendship with the author from the time she was a student at the University of Chicago through the rest of his life. McCarthy is a graduate of Aiken High School with many ties to the community. She called Aiken home for many years.
"A River Runs Through It and Other Stories" turned Maclean into a late-in-life literary phenomenon and then a household name after the success of the Hollywood film based on the title story. Yet fewer know of Maclean’s lifelong struggles to reconcile very different parts of himself: the revered teacher and writer in the intellectual hub of Chicago and the Montana man compelled by the wildness and traumas of his home state and family, including the tragic Mann Gulch fire and the murder of his brother. Irrepressible as a teacher, Maclean shared guidance, advice, campus and city rambles, and loyal friendship with generations of students.
Behind the scenes, he honed an art as meditative and patient as his approach to fly fishing. McCarthy’s experiences intertwine with stories from friends, family, colleagues and others to detail an incredibly rich life that seemed destined to remain divided — until the creation of his classic American story. A vivid evocation of an iconic figure, Maclean reveals the forces and events that shaped the author-educator and formed the bedrock of his beloved stories.
McCarthy is a writer who spent 21 years as an award-winning reporter at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Her work has been published in the New York Times, the American Scholar, Fast Company and other venues. For more information, call 803-641-9094 or visit aikencenterforthearts.
org . The Aiken Center for the Arts is located at 122 Laurens St. S.
W..
