in on a candid chat with a historian

"Beg pardon? Did you say 'historian'? Since when do you do things like that? I mean, sure, you once had such chats with your stepdad, Frank, who was an avid history buff. But he's been gone quite a while. So, what gives?"

Funny that you should mention him. He's the main reason I even considered this event from the Georgia Historical Society. I did have two other factors driving my attendance, though. First, GHS was awarding the historian entry into the honors group known as The Vincent J. Dooley Distinguished Fellows Program. You know how I love pomp and circumstance!!! Not that I knew anything about that group, of course. It's just for historians, not scientists.

"Yes, dear. And what was your other reason?"

Well, as I told Joe Buttner when I ran into him afterward, I was curious. To my knowledge, I've never been around a Pulitzer Prize-winning author before, and this man has won that prestigious award twice. Twice!!! The first time was for History in 1996, then he won again for History in 2013.

"How nice to run into Jersey Joe! How is he doing these days? Is he still volunteering for the Savannah Philharmonic?" 

He's fine, thanks, and apparently seeing Amanda Kulkowski from time to time. I saw another volunteer from the Lucas Theater days, too, Julie. Nice! But I hadn't known either of them were there until the end. The event was held at St. Paul's Lutheran Church, at Bull and 31st, and it was packed! I guess a lot of folks took advantage of this USA-250 event to come see someone renowned!

"I just realized that you have yet to say the author's name..."

Oops! The event was "An Evening With Alan Taylor" and the man is almost exactly three years older than I am. He has quite a sense of humor and a penchant for facts. Case in point: in his bio, it was stated that he was "born in Portland, Maine". However, during the interview with Stan Deaton of GHS, Taylor was quick to correct him when he said that Taylor was "from" Portland. After all, Portland is the big town with the two hospitals that service a wide community of smaller towns, so "everyone from that area is born in Portland". As Taylor elucidated, just being born somewhere doesn't mean that's were you're from. Alan Taylor is definitely from one of those small towns, and is sure to acknowledge it as home.

"Hahahaha! That sounded like something Frank would have relished!"

Oh, no doubt. By the way, Taylor is the taller of the two men in the photo above, and Deaton is the shorter. The two women are the widow and the daughter of Vincent J. Dooley.

"Wait a minute... the Georgia Bulldogs football coach??? What does he have to do with all of this???"

Well, the GHS saw fit to honor him as a Georgia Trustee in 2011. Then, in 2018, they established that Fellowship Program in his name, to recognize "senior scholars in the field of history" and to "mentor emerging historians". Alan Taylor, of course, falls into that first category of recipients.

"Wow. Learn something new every day!"

I certainly try! One of the questions Stan Deaton asked was "who he would most like to talk with from the past". Alan Taylor replied William Cooper, the man for whom Cooperstown is named. That's where the National Baseball Hall Of Fame And Museum is located, you know. (smile!) Even though Taylor's book about the politician won him that first Pulitzer Prize, the said there was so much more he would have like to know about him, but there just wasn't that much out there.

"Nice!"

A few minutes later, Deaton asked him how he thought historians were at predicting the future. Taylor said if anyone had asked him twenty years ago to predict where the US government would be today, he would have been completely wrong. So, what was going on back in 2006? Well, the US had been riding a high in world opinion every since the attacks on New York City, the younger Bush was President, and it looked like the USA was going to get its first African-American President. In other words, great strides in progress were occurring back then! Then the rug got pulled out and placed on top of the Blond Man's head and things have been falling backward ever since. Please note that those are all my words, not his.

"So noted, dear. Nice of him to acknowledge that slide backward, though, even without naming names."

Oh, I think he took us for thinkers who could work it out for ourselves. Remember, he's a writer, so if we knew his books, we must be readers. He even gave due thought to questions from the audience. For instance, a woman asked what he deemed a turning point in US history, no doubt expecting "the Revolutionary War" or "the Civil War". Neither of those were his answer. Surprisingly, he said that would have to the the War of 1812. The fledgling USA had declared war on the United Kingdom for restricting its trade with France. The USA then proceeded to lose battle after battle in Canada, while also suffering economically from the British blockade of the US coast. Within three years, the USA was poor, demoralized, and suffering from a failure to enlist more men to fight its losing war not only against the United Kingdom, but also against the Native Americans that were impeding the push westward. If not for England pulling out with the Treaty of Ghent, the USA might have collapsed. As it was, we came out of that with our national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner", written in August 1814, about six months before that war ended.

"Oh, nice to have some context on that! I bet a lot of folks think that was composed during the American Revolution."

That would not surprise me one bit. I'm really glad that I was there for this award ceremony and interview. Very educational! Plus, it was good to see old friends again... and to be seen as well! (smile!) Now, I'm going to relax with Michael Keaton. That's right, Comcast has rewarded me with "Batman", to have and to hold as long as I have my account with them! So good to be able to see this again!!! I just may get up and dance, too, during the museum scene. Hahahaha!