Ever had a really odd memory bubble up to the surface unexpectedly?
Everyone on my dad’s side of the family was a big fan of Jerry Clower’s tales of the Ledbetter family, partly because any one of the stories could have come from our own dysfunctional hick-lit-come-to-life pedigree. I even have cousins named after that chainsaw-wielding rascal, Marcel Ledbetter.
One of the earliest spoken-word-on-LP records I heard was Clower’s “Coon Hunt” story about the hunter climbing a tree and meeting up with a lynx—a “souped-up wildcat.” At the end of the story, John (“Knock ‘im out, Johhhhhhhn!”) tells his hunting party to shoot the lynx but they worry that they’ll hit John instead.
To which John replies something like, “Jes’ shoot up ‘n here amongst us—one o’ us has got t’ have some relief!”
Rite of Awakening — Southern Gothic with bite, Book One of the Rites of Passage. Available direct from the author →
I hadn’t thought of that story in years…until I saw the price of gas today.
Southern Gothic, Book One of the Rites of Passage: magick, betrayal, and a reckoning.
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