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Today would have been Charles Portis's 87th birthday, so it's apt to revisit the tributes to him written after his death in February. He would want you just to read his books, but maybe some of these encomia—a word and genre he would disdain—will make you want to buy one. 1/6
His fellow journalist at the Arkansas Gazette Ernie Dumas eulogized his friend at the memorial service in Little Rock and agreed to let @oxfordamerican publish his remembrance. 2/6 https://www.oxfordamerican.org/item/1913-jell-o-rule
The @oxfordamerican also published short tributes from @harrisonkey, @jimatdeltaco, Paul Theroux, Graham Gordy, Katherine A. Powers, @rebeccabengal, and @royblountjr 3/6 https://www.oxfordamerican.org/item/1903-man-with-the-keys
This great essay by @kalebhorton in @slate locates Portis in his Arkansas and Southern particularity and writes that in that specificity is also universality. 4/6 https://slate.com/culture/2020/02/charles-portis-obit-true-grit-norwood-masters-atlantis-gringos.html
Wells Tower beautifully distills the cult of Portis in this line for @newyorker: “When we come across a fellow-member, we recite our favorite moments from Portis until people make us stop.” 5/6 https://www.newyorker.com/culture/postscript/what-charles-portis-taught-us
And Donna Tartt dropped this gem over the summer, describing her previously unrevealed correspondence and phone calls with him. This essay will be included in a revised edition of Escape Velocity in 2021. 6/6 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/09/books/charles-portis-true-grit-dog-of-the-south-gringos-masters-of-atlantis.html
