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- Most of us know Roy Hoffman as
writer-in-residence for the Mobile Register. He writes about the
people, places, and perceptions that define Mobile, Alabama and this
remarkable part of the coastal Deep South. But that's the older, wiser
Roy Hoffman who returned home. There are two other Roy Hoffmans—the
wide-eyed observant young fellow who grew up in midtown Mobile and the
ambitious young man who moved to New York, wrote a novel, and spent
twenty years writing for the New York Times, the Washington Post,
Esquire, the Oxford American, Preservation, and other noted
publications.
"Mobile is a town some people define by leaving," wrote
Hoffman. "Whatever people yearn for—riches or fame, anonymity
or glamour—seems to lie beyond the far hill. In some cases, though,
leaving home is really about going far away in order to come back
again." And that's precisely what Hoffman did—he came back
home.
Drawing from his experiences as a young Mobilian and his New York
journalistic seasoning, Hoffman has written a delightful collection of
articles, essays, and memoir vignettes (most of them previously
published in the Mobile Register). The University of Alabama Press has
now compiled many of these articles and essays in a handsome 336-page
hardback titled Back Home—Journeys through Mobile.
As one might expect, Hoffman's subjects vary wildly—from the famous
to the obscure. In one story, Hoffman interviews Mobile novelist and
American Academy of Arts and Letters inductee Albert Murray. In
another, Hoffman writes about anonymous yet heroic Laotian refugees
who settled along Alabama's Gulf Coast to process seafood and live
their lives in peace. One of Hoffman's most bizarre stories introduces
us to some unusual fellows who shoot anvils into the sky with
gunpowder (just to see who can shoot them the highest. Huh?).
"Anyone's life is interesting if you linger long enough, listen
up closely, pay attention to the person's way of talking, thinking,
gesturing. Everyone's life touches someone else's—a parent, a child,
a friend."
But Hoffman's stories are not just about people. Many are about
simpler times in a charming old town. Some are about unique Gulf Coast
events (Jubilee!). Others are about casual perceptions that many of us
take for granted. "I have felt compelled to write short, personal
essays inspired by nothing more than an event of the hour, of the
holiday or season."
Those who sustain a love affair with this wonderful 300-year-old city,
who appreciate laid back lifestyles in small towns along Mobile Bay's
eastern and western shores, who treasure Alabama's pristine central
Gulf Coast will appreciate not only Hoffman's works, but his outlook
on life.
The young Roy Hoffman took it all in, the adventurous Roy Hoffman
honed his skills in a far away place, and the wise Roy Hoffman brought
it all back home. And we of Southern persuasions are the richer for
it.
Joseph
Sackett- Southern Scribe Reviews
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© 2001 Southern Scribe
Reviews, All Rights Reserved |
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