Author Barry Hannah Dead at Age 67

The small town of Oxford, Mississippi, is mourning the loss of one of their long-time favorites this week. Barry Hannah, renowned author, died in his home town of Oxford, Mississippi, on Monday, March 1, 2010. According to "The Oxford Eagle," Hannah died from natural causes after a long battle with cancer.

Barry Hannah was the author of "Geronimo Rex," his 1972 novel which won the William Faulkner Prize and was also nominated for the National Book Award. One of his other works, "High Lonesome," a 1996 collection of short stories was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Other awards included a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Robert Penn Warren Lifetime Achievement Award in Fiction, and many other prestigious accomplishments.

I met Barry Hannah while working on the campus of the University of Mississippi. He came to Ole Miss in 1983 as a writer-in-residence and lived there until his death. At that time we met, he was teaching a short-story class and had an office in the same building where I worked. Barry was attracted to our office for two reasons: his son, Po, worked part-time in our office, and we also housed the community coffee pot for everyone in the building.

Nearly every day, Barry would wander into the office and get a cup of coffee, and seldom did he leave without telling some little story about someone in the Oxford area, or maybe he would tell us about some interesting tidbit from his past. Either way, I looked forward to his visits because they always livened up our office.

After meeting Barry, I read some of his work, and it made a strong impression on me. His characters were vivid, realistic individuals that I could easily envision knowing. I also liked the fact that, although a gifted writer, he still maintained a very personal and comfortable one-on-one presence with everyone he met.

It was not uncommon to see Barry somewhere around the Oxford Square, whether he was heading to Square Books or maybe one of the local restaurants. I have on occasion run into him sitting on a bench outside on the sidewalk where he would be people watching and exchanging conversation with an occasional passerby. He always seemed to know everybody and really enjoy spending a few minutes passing the time of day.

Barry Hannah was set to be honored by the 17th annual Conference on the Book beginning Thursday in Oxford. Organizers of the event are shocked and disappointed, but they intend to go ahead as planned.

Barry Hannah will be missed around the Oxford scene. He left a lasting impression with his presence, and the small town of Oxford was proud to consider him a friend.

Source:

"The Oxford Eagle" Newspaper