The most memorable moments of my time at Sewanee tend to be the less predictable, unscheduled, highly human moments, like those with Barry Hannah in his latter years at the Conference.
Like the ill-fated night he decided to light up a cigarette in the downstairs bathroom of the Women’s Center during a Richard Bausch reading, causing the alarms to thunder, and pushing Bausch into a comedic show until the alarms were doused twenty minutes later.
Or, after I had spent time with Barry in Fayetteville, Arkansas, at a conference, and in the little airport we shared coffee and stories, and he asked me about rap music, and to whom he should listen. Much to my surprise, I suggested Eminem, whose recent album I found particularly refreshing.