Being in the music business, I hear a lot about mentors. Ive known some, and Ive even been called one (Blake Shelton said I was part mentor and part tormentor). But I never knew what serious mentoring was until I decided to write a book several years ago, and my dear friend, the author John Egerton, took me under his wing. He became mentor, editor, and encourager-in-chief. And then he became my agent and placed the book with a first-rate publisher. I literally could not have written the book without him, and I went through the same process again with a second book that I recently completed, and again, I could not have done it without John and his cheerleading. What is amazing is that this man has done the same thing for many people. I am talking about my close friend. Many people would tell you that he was THEIR close friend too, and they would be telling you the truth. And all of us were deeply saddened today when we learned that this literary giant had died suddenly and unexpectedly at his home in Nashville this morning. I guess I shouldnt be so surprised that John is gone, because after all he was seventy-eight years old. But because he was so vital and his mind so sharp and finely tuned, he didnt seem old at all, and I just assumed that he would continue to be around for a long time. I guess I should know by now that what we want, what we think, and what we plan is never a given. But whether its predestined by fate or by God, or just randomly accidental, I dont have to like it, and it will take me a long time to get used to this wonderful man not being around, and hearing him say, when somethings not going well, Damn, son. Or hearing him say when somethings going very well, DAMN, son! This is not to suggest that the man had a limited vocabulary, because he was the most eloquent person I ever knew. Being erudite, which he was, is one thing, but knowing how to turn those many words into beautiful phrases is a rare gift. He wrote so well that his e-mails read like little books. Ive always referred to John Egerton as the great Southern writer, but he was also a great writer of books about food, especially Southern food (I have also heard him described as a food historian). His biggest-selling books may have been of a culinary bent, but I liked him most of all when he was writing about people and events. His GENERATIONS centers around a Kentucky couple. both around 100 years old, and tells the story of their grandparents coming from Virginia in a covered wagon, and in a sweeping saga he carries the story all the way from pioneer days to the lives of their young present-day descendents, in a book that sold very well in Japan where family is particularly important. His SPEAK NOW AGAINST THE DAY is about fighting racial injustice BEFORE the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, winning him the Robert F. Kennedy Award for the best book about civil rights. My daughter was at my door this morning, to bring me the sad news about the man she had known since she was a little girl (and who in 2009 helped her with HER book, a parenting memoir). I first knew John in the 1970s. Years earlier, in the early 1960s, back when most Southerners were still segregationists, John was light years ahead of his time, a rare sight, this white Georgia-born Kentucky-raised Tennessean, crusading for the rights of African-Americans when it was not only uncommon in the South but often dangerous. John Egerton was a brave man, a wise man, a talented man, a modest man, a kind and gentle man, a good man, and yes a great man. My condolences go out to his wife and best friend Ann,. his two fine sons and their families, and his countless good friends who, like myself, will never forget a wonderful human being named John Egerton.
Posted on: Fri, 22 Nov 2013 04:10:37 +0000
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