When All Else Is Lost And Gone

I Met People When We Lived Down In Raleigh Who'd Ask Where I Grew Up, And I'd Say About Two Hours West Of Asheville, And They'd Say They Didn't Know There Was Any North Carolina Two Hours West Of Asheville. It Was In Many Ways An Isolated Place.

People Who Are Isolated Interest Me, Whether They Isolate Themselves Or Have Been Isolated By Circumstances.

I Remember My Father Checking On A Mountain Kid Who Hadn't Been Coming To School. My Father Had This Beautiful Harris Tweed Overcoat. He Came Back With A Knife Cut All Down One Side. The Parents Had Told Him It Was None Of His Business Why Their Son Wasn't Going To School.

When Everything Is Immediately Available And Infinitely Reproducible, Nothing Is Valuable.

Hardboiled Crime Fiction Came Of Age In Black Mask Magazine During The Twenties And Thirties. Writers Like Dashiell Hammett And Raymond Chandler Learnt Their Craft And Developed A Distinct Literary Style And Attitude Toward The Modern World.