Toast of the Town Considers The Source

I recently finished Beryl Markham’s “West With The Night” and can say, in absence of the slightest hesitation, that its pages are the most exquisite I have ever turned. Fitzgerald & Conroy have been unseated by the horse trainer, the enchantrix for whom an impact crater on the planet Venus is named, and the first person to successfully complete a westward, solo, transatlantic flight.
a
Her contention, of a delightfully spirited filly named Balmy, that

“had she made her debut on Park Avenue in the middle of the thirties instead of on the race-course at Nairobi in the middle twenties, she would have been counted as one of those intellectually irresponsible individuals always referred to as being ‘delightfully mad.’ Her madness, of course, consisted simply of a penchant for doing things that, in the opinions of her stable mates, weren’t being done”

made me delight in what it must be like to roll in the mud.
a
When she explained that

“Woody began to back out of the cleft of the rocks with a motion
irrelevantly reminiscent of the delectable crayfish of the South of France”

I felt it on the sides of my tongue.
a
And the men that she referred to when she surmised that

“If a man has any greatness in him, it comes to light, not in one flamboyant hour, but in the ledger of his daily work.” and “If someone has not already said it, someone will say that he was a great man who never achieved greatness, and this will not only be trite, but wrong; he was a great man who never achieved arrogance”

made me realize that we share the ability to spot a fake in the TRUE gentleman department no matter how long it takes us to do so.
a
And of all the delights that her memories delivered to me . . . the most worthy of adoration was the acquaintance that she arranged between the precocious Doctor Turvy and me!

“Doctor Turvy was an ethereal citizen of an ethereal world. In the beginning, he existed only for Blix, but long before the end, he existed for everybody who worked with Blix or knew him well. Although Doctor Turvy’s prescriptions indicated that he put his trust in a wine list rather than a pharmacopoeia, he had two qualities of special excellence in a physician; his diagnosis was always arrived at in a split second – and he held the complete confidence of his patient.”

And, OF COURSE, I became his devoted admirer. Were I to become a Doctor’s wife . . . I would certainly want to be his.
a
And then I stumbled upon a nasty little rumor. It seems that a wanna-be named Raoul Schumacher whose only fame, as far as I can tell, was being married to Beryl for a brief period, began to allege that she didn’t write a word of it. What struck me was not the debate that is often waged over the line between biography and memoir. I have no doubt that she shared the writing process with the man that she loved. What I found to be so inexcusably despicable was the fact that his nasty little accusation was most likely (as I suspect) a complete fabrication and (at best) a deceptive exaggeration. And what for? A bit of attention? An ego boost? To me, it makes him appear only . . . Sad. Insecure. Pitiful. But she knows, as I do, that

“gossip has its better points. Whispers are not restricted to the bearing of bad news and there are those who smell injustice however softly it walks”

aS . . . Ashley Smith


Doctor Turvy Suggests . . .

Sophia: Born from a celebration of love, Sofia Blanc de Blancs began as a gift from a father to his daughter. Our sparkling wine, as bright and effervescent as the woman who inspired it, along with the charming and stylish Sofia Rosé, are a tribute to the romantic, ebullient spirit of women everywhere.


Ooh Girl It Is SO - Hot This Week . . .

Writing Classes! I signed up for the New York Times travel writing class.


Macon native Carrie Preston, Actress, Producer, and Director, who stars as Arlene Fowlerin HBO's hit series True Blood, will hold a question and answer session at Theatre Macon about the education and business of being and actor. Get an insider’s look at the professional world of theatre, film and television. Saturday, September 12th at 2:00pm. The $5.00 charge goes to benefitTheatre Macon. Limited to 220 guests. Email ThisChrisHorne@gmail.com to sign up. Pay at the door.
Also at Theatre Macon: On Golden Pond