Lewis Nordan
Lewis Alonzo Nordan was an American author born on August 23, 1939, in Jackson, Mississippi. Raised in a challenging family environment, he served in the navy before pursuing higher education, earning a B.A. from Millsaps College, an M.A. from Mississippi State University, and a Ph.D. from Auburn University. Nordan's professional career included teaching English at various institutions, including the University of Georgia and the University of Pittsburgh. His writing is notable for blending Southern gothic elements reminiscent of authors like William Faulkner and Flannery O'Connor with Magical Realism akin to Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Central to Nordan's work is the fictional Southern town of Arrow-Catcher, which serves as a backdrop for his characters' unique stories. His acclaimed works include the short story collection "Welcome to the Arrow-Catcher Fair," the novels "Lightning Song" and "The Sharpshooter Blues," and the significant historical fiction "Wolf Whistle," which addresses the tragic lynching of Emmet Till. Nordan's writing often reflects his personal struggles, including his childhood experiences and the loss of two sons, yet he presents these themes with a blend of humor and humanity, portraying complex characters and eccentric narratives that resonate with readers.
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Lewis Nordan
Writer
- Born: August 23, 1939
- Birthplace: Jackson, Mississippi
- Died: April 13, 2012
- Place of death:
Biography
Lewis Alonzo Nordan was born in Jackson, Mississippi, on August 23, 1939, the son of Lemuel and Sara Nordan. Following his father’s death, his mother married Gilbert Bayles, a man whose alcoholism created disharmony in the home.
After graduating from high school, Nordan joined the navy for a three-year stint. His service ended in 1960 and he returned to the United States to attend Millsaps College, where he earned his B.A. in 1963. He earned an M.A. from Mississippi State University in 1966 and a Ph.D. from Auburn University in 1973. From 1966 until 1974, Nordan was an instructor of English, first at Auburn and then at the University of Georgia at Athens. From 1981 to 1983, he taught English at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville before accepting a position at the University of Pittsburgh.
In 1962, Nordan wed Mary Mitman; they had three sons before they divorced in 1983. He married Alicia Blessing in 1986 and the couple settled in Pittsburgh.
Nordan continues the Southern gothic traditions associated with William Faulkner and Flannery O’Connor, combined with the Magical Realism reminiscent of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Like Faulkner, Nordan creates a fictional Southern town named Arrow- Catcher that acts as a catalyst for his characters’ misadventures. Nordan’s first collection of stories, Welcome to the Arrow-Catcher Fair, is a collection of vignettes that accentuate the region’s eccentricities, including one about a rampaging elephant sentenced to death. The book also introduces Sugar, a recurring character in Nordan’s fiction, who engages in a fantasy gone awry in “The Sears and Roebuck Catalog Game.”
His novel Lightning Song relocates events to the outskirts of Arrow-Catcher. The novel follows the tragicomic adolescence of twelve-year-old Leroy, whose desire for a baton twirler is eerily paralleled by his uncle’s desire for his mother. Another novel, The Sharpshooter Blues, features two memorably eccentric characters, a midget and an encephalitic boy who deter a brutal robbery and transform lives in the process. Nordan’s acclaimed novel Wolf Whistle is a fictional account of the death of Emmet Till. Till, a black teenager visiting relatives in the South in 1955, was lynched for whistling at a white woman.
Nordan’s first nonfiction work, Boy with Loaded Gun: A Memoir, is an account of his childhood in the Mississippi Delta, his marriages, the loss of two of his three sons, and his bout with alcoholism. Ultimately what saves him, the author notes, is his desire to write. The title refers to his failed attempt to shoot his stepfather.
Nordan’s short story, “Rat Song,” received the John Gould Fletcher Award for Fiction from the University of Arkansas in 1977. The Sharpshooter Blues was named a Notable Book by the American Library Association in 1992. Wolf Whistle received The Southern Critics Circle Award for Fiction in 1993.
Extending a tradition of Southern storytelling into the twenty-first century, Nordan’s misfits are rarely repellent. The author imbues their tragic lives with humanity, and humor takes the edge off their pathos. His fragile characters’ experiences ring true and make Arrow-Catcher a place familiar to readers despite, or perhaps because of, its peculiarity.