Shelby Foote Diaries

FRIDAY 1 JANUARY 1988 1st Day 365 days follow New Year's Day New Year's cold weather moving in [?] rain-drenched two weeks cereal breakfast; [?] + eggs lunch Read some Trollope -opening chapters of Phinsastien which I bypassed before May or may not open with it; in any case a relief from Harog's Dynasts Write to [?] saying I come before March 10-11 arriving the night before + leaving the day after stipulated no autograph business no text for Georgia Review All [?] agreeable including residence [?] Me [?] Fee is $1500 plus travel expenses Hugs slept late recovering from [?] New Years blowout as Peabody weight 162 commitment for next four months twice a week 1 1/2 hour class at Rhodes on Civil War ; 28 classes , 25 1 hour devoted (one each) to that number of chapters in my narrative First class Jan 13 las on April 25 ten-days late Feb early March midway break

JANUARY 2 SATURDAY 1988 2nd day 364 days follow slept late; breakfast near 10 oclock the latest in years Mailed [?] letter; also one to Minor League Club in NY agreeing to speak between Feb 26 + Mar 5 but otherwise terms to be arranged Oyster lunch - sleep at Louie' win [?] lita plus his son Gregory + wife New place up to [?] as elsewhere foudn the country cold weather right on freezing all day New leaf grate gas heater [?] came into its own Much appreciated too as John Cannon used to say- before he vanished

SUNDAY 3 JANUARY 1988 3rd day- 363 days follow still colder; below freezing at 8 a.m. just above by 11- when snow began falling one inch within an hour, but it didn't last + soon melted away except on roof tiles Seessel's run; get strip sirloin steaks Boston lettuce asparagus mustard + mexican beer , brown + serve French bread we cooked dinner together hugs + [?] + I + I broke out a 44 Palmer left in case [?] gave me about fifteen years ago splendid meal Bank balance $9, 943 /41 But neaty nicks are coming - AMEX Algonquin Est Tax 4 [?] security ,etc, etc well ove $5,000 I expect

JANUARY 4 MONDAY 1988 4th day 362 days follow Stewart's hardware; got nails for backyard fenc repair Gwyn took down Christmas tree I removed stand + restored it in playroom for another eleven months + two weeks goodbye, Xmas Hugs left at 1 oclock to photograph a black guitar player Didnt get back in time to help on fence work I walked 1 1/2 miles in 25 mins; played Bartok Qt 1; then Qt 3 when I got back Continued reading Phineastine ; with increasing pleasure.

TUESDAY 5 JANUARY 1988 5th day- 361 days follow

Colder by the minute Hugs + I went out + repaired the fallen section of backyard fence Damn near froze Afterwards drove to [?] edge got this blank journal ($12/12) without words then drove to Dillard's looked at used style typewriters for Hugs On to bedding store (David's) where Hugs got sheets for NY + I got all oversized polyester pillow[?] my bed here Back home Hugs went over to John Wills for jumbo brown barbecue sauce [?] which we ate by the living room fire

JANUARY 6 WEDNESDAY 1988 6th day- 360 days follow Violent snowstorm predicted for Arkansas + West Tennessee Hugs spent morning packing for afternoon departure I took him to the airport at 3.30 then came back home Snow was already falling by then For dinner fixed a hash stew using the leftover portions of our Sunday night sirloin strips - onions carrots celery garlic plus bay , mushrooms worchester good- as always Passed mid point of PhinesesFinn snow got heavier by evening as predicted

THURSDAY 7 JANUARY 1988 7th day- 359 days follow

Eight inches of snow on ground with more on the way Paid bills; continued Phineas Ate leftover stew for dinner plus french fries Moosehead beer to wash it down watched an hour of TV "LA LAW" then came back to gas heated room + Phineas

JANUARY 8 FRIDAY 1988 8th day- 358 days follow Snow still eight inches deep unmelted by subfreezing weather Phone call from Stuart Prallet to NY Union League Club I'll speak there- give a reading that is, with a follow up discussion on March 3 a Thursday Fee: air travel plus $1000 letter will follow Seessels's in afternoon driving on slippery pavements; got perch filets for dinner tonight plus bread milk potatoes + such like Came back + finished Phineas Finn at 4.30 Trollope is a solid truthful writer; the John O'Hara of his time (Note: Found the Clarksvilles note, Vol V pg. 578-79 "A gloom rests over the city...") Cooked the perch filets in peanut oil planters, not the used expensive brand Boiled potatoes Italian bread bottle of Macon Village Blanc

SATURDAY 9 JANUARY 1988 9th day - 357 days follow Wrote to Ken Burns quoting the Clarksville passage + telling him I'll be in New York in early March Alas, didnt finish it until too late to catch the postman Read Joyce's "The Dead" a justly respected story but a long way short of [?] his best; or Maupassant for that matter Cold continues snow unmelted streets too slippery to risk driving on Made cornbread in old oven to go with pork medalions + collards Good but that up to last because I had to use peanut oil instead of bacon drippings Margaret came by + got $20 Trouble again with Landlady; will be moving In bad shape all around but I don't at all know what to do about it What's best I mean; even [?] to help [?] at all if she wont help herself

JANUARY 10 SUNDAY 1988 10th day- 356 days follow

Scribbled note on back of envelope to Ken Burns calling attention to the Presque Isle Talladega quote in Vol V concerning the fight for Little Round Top Cold continues but sunshine has begun to melt ice on south side of the house streets are apparently still slippery though I havent ventured out on them since that first day of the storm on Friday Played some sit-by-the-fire Bach: unaccompanied violin sonatas + partitas sent [?] $438 for security 1988