Tracy Revels

Live On The Road With The Community Of Scholars

As I type this, it's 8:45am and I'm working on a computer at Florida State University's Strozier Library.  I'm here to do research for an essay on Barbara Manning Warren, the wife of Fuller Warren, a 20th century Florida governor.  It's been a surprisingly difficult task, and I hope that three sets of personal papers in the Special Collections here (Fuller Warren's and the papers of the editor of the Tallahassee Democrat and one of the premiere historians of Florida, Allen Morris) will yield more information.  I was asked to write the essay for a book of biographies of First Ladies, and it has reminded me yet again that it's a much more difficult task to reconstruct the life of a woman---even a woman in the public eye---than it is to pull together a synopsis of a male's career. 

Like many things, research and writing can be unexpected.  When I submitted my proposal to the COS, I had no idea that a month later I would be asked to take this on.  So I've been combining a lot of things in the COS work---the Sherlock Holmes pastiche, class planning and reading, and the Warren research (as well as work on another essay for a collection on Florida governors.  My subject for that project is Robert Raymond Reid, a territorial leader.).  Our absolutely terrific librarians have helped me find a wealth of information on-line and from interlibrary loan, but some things just don't circulate, or aren't digitized yet.  Thus we historians spend lots of time in places like this.

FSU is, of course, my old stomping grounds, but the library has changed so much I almost don't recognize it.  I still can't get over the coffee shop in the foyer!  That is just unreal!

Well, it's almost time for Special Collections to open, so I suppose I had better close the live remote and see what (if anything!) I can find.

Community of Scholars Progress Report

I'm just a little proud of myself this evening. I finished my rough draft ( or rough, rough, oh-dear-did-I-really-write-that! draft) of the Sherlockian pastiche. In other words, I wrote a very long Sherlock Holmes story, trying to, as much as possible, mimic the style of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Of course, I did take a few liberties. In fact, I took a lot of liberties, and set this tale in a supernatural world, where a realm of 'Shadows' exists beneath the mundane realities of life in the time of Queen Victoria. Doyle would probably tell me I really need to work on my plotting and character development, but I don't think he'd be too upset with me for writing this story (which does still lack a title). After all, he got so tired of writing about Holmes that he once told another author he could 'marry, murder, or do whatever he pleased' with the great detective. Plus, Doyle was a master of the supernatural tale. Nobody in that time period wrote better spine-tinglers, and supernatural elements do run through the Sherlock Holmes canon.

In the process of working on this story, I've had to stop and do research on various topics. Here's a short list of things that I had to look into.

Voodoo
The 'Stone of London'
The Tower of London Ravens
Hypatia of Alexandria
Dates of electrification
British peerage titles
Witches' familiars
Music halls
Spring Heeled Jack
Streets of Whitechapel
Cocaine use
Relics of Saint George
Myths and legends about fairies
Marie Leveau
The Morrigan
Baron Samedi
Riding attire
Brutus of Troy
Highgate cemetery

I've had a wonderful time working on this project, which is far from finished. The next step will be sitting down with the manuscript, trying to digest it as a whole and tinkering with the ideas. I'll be drafting some friends and good critics to read it as well. But more than the satisfaction I've drawn from working on the story itself, it's important that I've kept in practice with my writing and researching, on a very intense level. Every paragraph written with Holmes and Watson makes it easier to compose essays on Florida Territorial Governor Robert Raymond Reid or a book review or manuscript notes for University of South Carolina press. I'm firmly convinced that no sentence written is ever wasted, even if it's scratched out a half dozen times. I just wish I could convince my students of that!

Do I really expect to ever be published or set the Sherlockian world on fire? No, not really. I don't think I have that kind of talent. But I do think that this work has been good for me, that I'm mentally healthier for it, even if the story is strange and twisted. And I have fulfilled a lifelong ambition, something I'm not sure I would have done if Wofford hadn't given me this chance to be creative as well as productive. And for that I am very, very grateful.

Everything Old Is Appreciated Again

As part of my work for the Community of Scholars I've been going back and rereading many of the Sherlock Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. There are about twenty stories that I read constantly, as they figure into the interims and humanities classes that I teach. But one of my goals in the COS is to revise my syllabi for these classes. Since there are sixty tales in the canon (56 short stories and 4 novels) I have a lot to get through. I'm revisiting episodes that I haven't used, working to decide if maybe I should switch them around and add some of them to the schedule, in place of ones that I've grown a bit weary of teaching.

In the process, I've been reminded of just how brilliant Doyle was. I certainly wouldn't argue that he was the greatest writer of the English language, but I would feverishly defend the proposition that he was one of the greatest storytellers of the ages. Last evening, I attended my scion society meeting and the story under discussion was "Wisteria Lodge." It's nobody's favorite---it has a plot hole in it large enough to steer the Lusitania through--but on second reading, we were all struck by how masterfully Doyle manipulated us. The story begins as a tale of odd behavior, then it twists into a murder mystery, then it twists again and we're led to believe it will be a story of thwarted love. Suddenly---without warning---it dips into horror fiction territory. Take a breath and it's back to the detective work until, abruptly, it all resolves and we learn about evil dictators and heroic rebels. We can say 'oh, well, deus ex machina to the rescue', but we have to admit that a keen storyteller has manipulated our emotions and kept us turning pages. We might be a little irked with Doyle for not giving us a classic work, but at the same time, we were never bored.

I think everyone in academia has something they need to rediscover and rethink from time to time. It might be a set of experiments, a text, a document, or even a piece of art or music. We get a little numb, teaching as intensely as we do. Going back and renewing one's sense of wonder or joy is a very important thing; otherwise it's easy to get burnt out and cynical. Learning---and re-learnng---should be a joyful process.

And it certainly doesn't take a Sherlock to figure that out!

The Friday Tradition

Most every Friday, a number of Wofford retired faculty members get together for lunch. The location floats around, the only requirement being that the restaurant have enough room to seat everyone together at a large table and be reasonable in price. This tradition began a number of years ago, shortly after Dr. Lewis P. Jones retired. It started with his friends and fellow professors from the History Department taking him out, to give him a weekly treat. Years passed, Professor Jones was eventually unable to attend, and as we all remember, about this time last year we lost our beloved former Chairman and friend. But the lunch has continued in his honor, and it's a weekly highlight not only for retired members of the History department, but for other former professors from Wofford and occasionally Converse. Some of us who attend whenever possible aren't even close to being retired!

I've enjoyed every Friday meal that I've shared with this group. It's a way to keep in touch and keep up with the friends I no longer see on a day to day basis. It makes me really jealous of the fun the retirees are having. And I'm grateful that the people who were here when I arrived at Wofford are the 'founding fathers' of this group, and I can still turn to them for advice and support.

I'm also so very grateful to these gentlemen for introducing me to Dr. Jones. He only taught one class after I came to Wofford, so it would have been easy to leave me out of the loop. But they didn't, and as a result I got to know the gentleman who was the heart and soul of Wofford. I still miss Dr. Jones, with his dry sense of humor and his beautiful voice and his total command of all things South Carolina and historical. I think he would be pleased to know that the fellowship established around him is still going strong.

New Computer! Finally!

I can proudly point to a way that the Community of Scholars has made my life better. Certainly the interaction with students and faculty has made this the best summer I’ve had in many years.  It’s good to simply be in town, to be able to have lunch and talk to people and gather new ideas for classes and projects, not to mention finally having time to get reading and writing done.

But the thing I can actually point to as a direct result of the Community of Scholars is my brand new Mac computer.  And I think it’s safe to say that I wouldn’t have purchased it without the help, encouragement, or---if your prefer---outright prodding of my students in the Community.  After almost three years without one, I finally have a desktop computer at home.  I’m sure my colleagues will note the improvement in my posture immediately, since I’ll no longer be hunched over a tiny laptop.

I’ve always been a PC person, so I know I’ll struggle at times to learn a new system, but I find that I learn about technology, about what works and doesn’t work, from listening to my students.  (With added assistance from two close non-student friends who use Macs at home---yes, Phillip and Michele, I’m talking about you!) They’re more up to date and well-informed than anyone else I know.  And I trust them the way that I don’t trust the ‘experts’ on TV shows.  I can’t drag an expert to my house to show me how something works.  But a sob story, or even pizza bribery, will usually bring a Wofford student to the rescue.

I’m really looking forward to working on a bigger screen with a much faster processor and (hold onto your hats!) cable internet service. Goodbye dial-up! I hedged for a long time---I’ll probably still regret spending the money because I’m just a bit of a tightwad---but right now I couldn’t be happier.  My Community project looks better already!