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fareWelL By Stephanie Sonnenfeld Special to G&B I was lucky enough to meet James Dickey three times in my life. The first time wasn't very personal, but still contained a bit of excitement. He was signing books at Oxford Bookstore in Atlanta. Two friends and I made the 20minute trek from our hometown of Marietta, Ga., to Atlanta to see Dickey. To us, getting to simply see Dickey was a treat. He was a real live author; one who lived a life we simply read about in textbooks and heard about in English class. We were rushed through a quick book-signing, where we were allowed to say hello to Dickey, but nothing more. We were just three out of a few hundred who had come to see him. The second and third times I met Dickey was here at USU. lwenty some odd days into my freshman year, I was invited by Don Greiner (then an English professor, now interim provost) to have lunch with Mr. Dickey and Ben Franklin, another USC English professor. The three of them had been dining every Tuesday and Thursday for more than 13 years at USC's I WAN I 739 ->mv 1 Mon $29 *No other coupons accep fjeco Ye.z>tf 2> Phyz Ed DIE Pcpartmerrt Come by ? new an I07J BOOK SALE ; (Text Books & Specia Annual Clearance Th All Used Books 10c Selected Mercl to a CaroU Faculty House. There they discussed everything from golf to Goethe to Mozart. Every so often, a "mystery guest" was invited to join the three for lunch. In the fall of 1994, I went to lunch as a mystery guest. We sat by a cement fountain outside next to the Faculty House on a gray September day. When Mr. Dickey arrived, he was just what I expected him to be: he was confident, wildly intelligent, a bit racy and ready to shock whomever and whatever was around. He impressed me; he made me laugh; he made me feel completely at ease. That day, he asked me where I was originally from and I told him Marietta, Ga. He smiled when I told him. Since he was a native of Atlanta, he knew where Marietta was. He asked me how the town square was and told me a few stories about Marietta. I told him how I loved his poem "Hunting Civil War Relics at Niblewell Creek" because it reminded me of searching the dirty noc r\f Dnnocour X/fAnnfain i\711 Wl IWlIll^jaVY IMVUliLUlll ?? War Battlefield in Marietta with my father for reminders of a war I CAQV on|y3 trlO I miles from 0221 campus th for ).95 ted Expires 2/7/97 inrA t -ti/ife: I V-C<L )?^ ioltfponF mi !i? and brows* our solothan of )d usod exoniso equipment Borden St. * 152-9383 30% Off Entire Stock il Orders Not Included) urs. 30th - Sunday 2nd !o off Calendars and landise 50% off [ 725 Saluda Ave. 799-5390 Mf># yf f /m could never imagine. Dickey told me how he'd gone to Kennesaw when he lived in Atlanta and how he knew exactly what I was speaking of. For a freshman away from home for the first time and entirely homesick, Mr. Dickey did a wonderful job of reminding me what I left behind, and he made me remember it fondly, not sadly. The second time I dined with Mr. Dickey was in 1995. This time, we talked of writers I liked, and he told me about writers he liked. He also told me stories about writers who were his friends. rv_l I u? ?A L^ICK-Cy IU1U 11IC LIU W L1C dim Flannery O'Connor used to sit on her front porch in Milledgeville, Ga., and watch her peacocks walk around the front yard as the mystical sun took its nightly setting. He told me about teaching Pat Conroy and knowing Anne Sexton. Now that Dickey is gone, I know he'll be remembered for his novel Deliverance and his numerous works of poetry. He'll be known for the awards he won and the visions he verbally created. But I prefer to remember the Dickey who sat on the porch with Flannery O'Connor, watching the | Pleas ! ^ SI ji ^ sun set in the Georgia sky; the Dickey who searched for Civil War bullets and uniform buttons in the red Georgia clay; the Dickey who made me laugh; and the Dickey nese 74m Year ie join us for food ar Sunday, Februa jySvX'X-S'l-X-XvX'XW^ ajgfcsS:30pn Russell House Cj\?0<VP rticO xttmauuuoauuuwvaatfunavBau ^ ^V, I " '*rrtj|] ||J j ^l 1 ?3 i Sm ofl James Dickey who made me appreciate the mere beauty of a couple of words he simply placed by each other's side. That's how I remember James Dickey. Celebration id entertainment! ry 2,1997 I n Ballroom | Sponsored by the 'rfendshlp Association of Chinese Students or more information, contact | aopeng Jiang at 765-9985 or ! a A H i i i 8 mgxmb^miDS.Daam.sc.eau | Garnet & Black, January 31, 1997 7