OPINION | STEVE STRAESSLE: We will learn – Arkansas Online

The pandemic hit the Central Arkansas Library's Six Bridges Book Festival, scheduled for last April, head on. Limited travel, no large gatherings, hotels and restaurants on pause all created an insurmountable springtime hurdle.

But readers are a determined camp. Authors are naturally inventive. And the good folks at CALS put their creative minds together to craft a virtual book festival (cals.org/six-bridges-book-festival/) that will take place from Oct. 8 to Oct. 18.

A few years ago, I moderated a session at the festival with author Rick Niece, the former president of the University of the Ozarks. He wrote an endearing book, "Side-Yard Superhero," about a neighborhood kid he knew back in his Ohio hometown. The neighbor had cerebral palsy and became a great teacher in Rick's life, one whose lessons drove him to the heights of education. I barely had to work that session. Rick is a gifted speaker, and life lessons reverberated in every sentence he uttered.

When I read this year's lineup of authors, one name stood out on that roster of really good writers including a few stars and a lot of up-and-comers: Cassandra King Conroy. I had briefly corresponded with Ms. Conroy back in 2003 when her husband, famed author Pat Conroy, had come to my school for a speech. Despite being a best-selling author herself, she acted as Pat's planner and travel agent.

I've written before about Pat Conroy's relationship with Fr. George Tribou, the former rector and principal of Catholic High School for Boys. The pair had corresponded over the years, and when Fr. Tribou passed away in 2001, Conroy made plans to visit the school and help with a fundraiser. Fr. Tribou loved Conroy's lyrical prose. Conroy loved that Fr. Tribou took him to task for the profanity in his books, but kept them on the school reading list nonetheless.

Pat Conroy spoke to an evening gathering of fans in the school auditorium, but before, he had asked to visit with the student body. Gathered in our un-air-conditioned gym, all 700 boys waited with paperback books ready to be signed. Conroy entered. The boys rose to their feet in wild applause. A high school boy standing ovation for ... an author.

I recounted the scene in an email to Ms. Conroy and she replied with great emotion: Steve, I wept at the description of the boys standing for Pat!

So, when the Six Bridges Book Festival had her on the list, I volunteered to moderate. Her latest book, "Tell Me a Story," is a memoir of her relationship with her late husband. She writes with his same emotion, but more clearly in many respects. And without the profanity.

Brad Mooy, the festival coordinator, and Amy Bradley-Hole, the moderator chair, gave in to my request, but cautioned that Ms. Conroy would be part of a two-author panel alongside Jaquira Diaz, a writer with whom I was unfamiliar. I dove into Ms. Diaz's latest book, "Ordinary Girls."

"You're reading a book titled 'Ordinary Girls'," my wife said one night, appraising my bedstand.

"Don't be so judgmental," I said. "Maybe I want to learn something new."

She paused. "I won't hold my breath."

The book, a memoir highlighting Ms. Diaz's time growing up in the streets of Puerto Rico and Miami, proved riveting. The theme revolved around the lasting friendships she made in a desperate attempt to handle her raging family dynamics--including a schizophrenic mom and a philandering dad. She describes brutal street fights and touching family scenes in her life-traversing work. She's painfully honest, allowing readers to wince, to feel anger, to shake their heads in disbelief. In the end, she uses her well-timed prose to pull together all those life lessons. I couldn't put it down and am still replaying some of the scenes in my mind.

"Tell Me a Story" stands in stark contrast to "Ordinary Girls." Whereas Ms. Diaz writes with great clarity about the littered streets of her hometown, Ms. Conroy's work takes place in the beauty of South Carolina's low country. Ms. Diaz's book is about growing up. Ms. Conroy's book is about growing older.

"Tell Me a Story" narrates the convivial happenstance that leads to a union between two great writers. Yes, they had in common a love of words. They shared wounded souls and a belief that something better lies out there. However, whereas Pat found the spotlight in whatever scene he entered, Cassandra was best in the background, taking in the sights and scents. She was the perfect counterweight, a necessary ingredient to the most successful marriages.

"Tell Me a Story" flows so easily, the descriptions so vibrant, that even the tragic parts come out leaving the reader feeling that life is going to be OK. Ms. Conroy makes one believe that beauty can be found even in pain.

So, on Oct. 8, this male principal of an all-boys school will host a virtual panel, sponsored by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, of two outstanding female authors. I'll just slip into the background and ask a few questions. Virtual meetings are always awkward, but I know that these two writers have great stories to tell and the audience, limited to a few squares on a screen, will enjoy hearing them.

Memoirists are purveyors of information, dealing out scenes like cards from a deck. Whether the culture is Latinx or Southern, whether it's an endearing story of friendship or marriage, whether it's rooted in anger or bereavement, there's one thing for sure.

We're going to learn something.

--v--

Steve Straessle, whose column appears every other Saturday, is the principal of Little Rock Catholic High School for Boys. You can reach him at sstraessle@lrchs.org. Find him on Twitter @steve_straessle.

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OPINION | STEVE STRAESSLE: We will learn - Arkansas Online