"Souls on Fire in the South"

A Discussion of Art, Biography, and Southerly Places
Followed by a reception
Thursday, November 15 4:30 pm

In the fall of 1886, the painter Vincent van Gogh wrote his brother Theo in a letter:

"In Spring, say February or even sooner, I may be going to the South of France, the land of blue tones and gay colors"

He continued in another letter after his arrival:

"My dear brother, you know I came to the South and threw myself into my work for a thousand reasons. Wishing to see a different light... Wishing also to see this stronger sun...because one feels that the colors of the prism are veiled in the mist of the North. All this is still pretty true....added to this is the natural inclination toward this South....and that occasionally I have also found friends and things here that I love."

Vincent van Gogh, Walter Inglis Anderson, Laura Riding Jackson

Souls on Fire in the South assumes that sought out, "Southerly Place", (named or otherwise), the subjects of this literary panel came to seeking that "different light", or choosing something already familiar and engrained in their vision. The panelists will discuss these eccentric figures of art and literature; the problems of biography and influences of the South on their work and lives.

The authors of this panel are leading authorities on their subjects brought together by moderator and local artist, Sean Sexton, who proclaims: "It is a fabulous thing, rare and privileged for us that one of our subjects, Laura Riding Jackson, actually chose this vicinity in which we live. You will see many connections among these artists in this illuminating discussion. I've suspected all my life there is magic here, something unusual to this place my Grandfather, Waldo Sexton, chose for our family in 1913. Throughout his life, he looked for a "Fountain of Youth" and it isn't implausible that the great Spanish explorer, Juan Ponce de Leon, might have landed close by in that same pursuit."

Authors
Cliff Edwards, The Shoes of Van Gogh
Elizabeth Friedmann, A Mannered Grace: The Life of Laura (Riding) Jackson
Christopher Maurer, Fortune’s Favorite Child: the Uneasy Life of Walter Anderson
Mary Pickard Anderson, Form And Fantasy: The Block Prints of Walter Anderson

Moderator: Sean Sexton, local cattleman, artist and author

November 15, 2007, 4:30 p.m.
Leonhardt Auditorium Vero Beach Museum of Art
3001 Riverside Park Drive
$50/person, Reservations Required — Click Here to Reserve
RSVP by Nov. 9 to 772.569.6718 or
www.verobeachbookfest.com
This event is not sponsored or endorsed by the Vero Beach Museum of Art

A Novel Evening
November 16

Enjoy an evening with the Authors of the 2007 Vero Beach Book Festival

Authors & Guests

  • Larry Baker
  • Colette Bancroft
  • Ted Bell
  • Bill Belleville
  • JB Berkow
  • Laurel Blossom
  • James O. Born
  • Rick Bragg
  • Sydney Park Brown
  • Chef Robert Catherine
  • Jan Cullinane
  • Tim Dorsey
  • Cliff Edwards
  • Mary Anna Evans
  • Cathy Fitzgerald
  • Gilbert Fletcher
  • John Freeman
  • Elizabeth Friedman
  • David Hagberg
  • Fredric Hitt
  • Mike Hoyt
  • John Sims Jeter
  • Dennis Johnson
  • Stephanie Keating
  • David Kipen
  • Eliot Kleinberg
  • Chauncey Mabe
  • Malcolm MacPherson
  • Christopher Maurer
  • Rick Monday
  • Sena Jeter Naslund
  • Suzan Phillips
  • Mary Anderson Pickard
  • Colin Robinson
  • Heather Rogers
  • Sean Sexton
  • Enid Shomer
  • Georgia Tasker
  • Louhon Tucker
  • Steve Wasserman

Children's Authors
And Guests

  • William Adams
  • Brigitte Benchimol
  • Marianne Berkes
  • Etan Boritzer
  • Saideh Browne
  • Diana Carr
  • Kristie Dagenais
  • Michele Ivy Davis
  • Judy Gelman
  • Gerald Hausman
  • Mark Hoog
  • Darrell House
  • Ben Keckler
  • Francis & Hugh Keiser
  • Debra Killeen
  • Vicki Krupp
  • Janeen Mason
  • Leslie McGuirk
  • Rick Monday
  • Jane Wood
  • Rick Yancey

Location & Cost

7:00 pm Friday, November 16
Indian River National Bank Main Office
958 20th Place, Vero Beach

$35 per person minimum donation