This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Summer Time Reading

Summer reading suggestions penned by Nyack's most famous writer

Today's weather is muggy, or "close" as my parents would describe it. The daily thunderstorm adds to the summer-time feeling.

One of my favorite summer pastimes is picking up a book from the Nyack Library and walking down to the river. It is a bit cooler there with often a soft breeze; a perfect spot for reading. Might I suggest you read one of the novels of Nyack's "Most Famous Author"?  Some might question my title for Carson McCullers, but few who have lived in our community can match her work. 

She wrote strange yet powerful fiction, tender and grotesque; her stories' main characters were often burdened with some kind of deformity. The theatrical worlds often called Carson "the troubled darling of the fashionable people." She was a winner of the Drama Critics Circle Award and a successful woman at the age of 23. 

Find out what's happening in Nyack-Piermontwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

In 1931, her mother bought the house at 131 South Broadway with three stories high, wide porches and overlooking the Hudson. Carson purchased the house from her mother in 1951 using the proceeds of the sale of the screen rights to The Member of the Wedding. Born and raised in Columbus, Georgia, Carson often spoke of Nyack as the town for which she was "always homesick."

I had the opportunity to meet Carson the summer of 1962. Her home was across the street from St. Paul's Methodist Church. She had undergone some surgery (her lifelong illness is another long story) and was confined to a wheelchair. I tagged along with some of the folks from the church who went for a visit. I had the opportunity to tell her how much I enjoy reading The Ballad of the Sad Cafe. (My personal favorite.)

Find out what's happening in Nyack-Piermontwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The gossip and stories surrounding her life in Nyack would give one the impression she was every bit eccentric in real life as any of the characters in her novels, plays and short stories.  To me, she seemed to live in a world where sometimes, fact and fiction were impossible to tell apart. I might suggest you also stop in the Nyack Libary—they have copies of her books to lend, and they make for great summer reading. Her first book The Heart is a Lonely Hunter is fabulous. Next, try Reflections of Golden Eye.

You can also borrow the movie version of A Member of the Wedding with a fantastic performance by Ethel Waters.

Carson McCullers was an amazing writer with a talent for words few attain. How I wish I could have spent more time with her; maybe some of that talent might have rubbed off on me. 

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?