Civil War authority Shelby Foote dead

AP via CNN.com ^ | 28 June 2005 | Unattributed

[Moose4]

MEMPHIS, Tennessee (AP) -- Novelist and Civil War historian Shelby Foote, whose appearances on a PBS-TV documentary series helped America better understand one of the most defining periods of its past, has died, his family said Tuesday.

Foote's widow, Gwen, said her husband, who was 88, died Monday night.

[SuziQ]

He was what made Ken Burn's Civil War series worth watching. He was just so low key, and had that soft gentleman's Southern Accent. He was also born the year before my Daddy, though my Daddy will have been gone 24 years this August.

[SuziQ]

Would you classify him as a "historian"?

I'd say he was BETTER than most historians. He made history come alive, and made people WANT to read and understand it.

[SuziQ]

Brian Pohanka! I just went and googled him. He was only 50 years old! Just damn!

[Leatherneck_MT]

Loved his books and loved listening to him. Sad passing indeed.

[Jasper]

Sad indeed!

Mr Foote, may you gently rest in arms of the Lord.

Deo Vindice

/jasper

[reagan_fanatic]

But, O Sarah! If the dead can come back to this earth and flit unseen around those they loved, I shall always be near you; in the gladdest days and in the darkest nights . . . always, always, and if there be a soft breeze upon your cheek, it shall be my breath, as the cool air fans your throbbing temple, it shall be my spirit passing by. Sarah do not mourn me dead; think I am gone and wait for thee, for we shall meet again . . .

*Sigh*

Folks back then had such a way with words. Now, it's 'Yo, b*tch, if I'm offed in a drive-by, I still be wich you and that fine @ss of yours, aight?'

[RightWinger]

What a shame that he's gone.
A man who presented both sides of a complex issue.

[FlyingHellfish]

From the AP story:

'During World War II, he was an Army captain of artillery until he lost his commission for using a military vehicle without authorization to visit a female friend and was discharged from the Army. He joined the Marines and was still stateside when the war ended.

"The Marines had a great time with me," he said. "They said if you used to be a captain, you might make a pretty good Marine."

Rest in Peace

[Ditto]

There's a funny story about high school students watching Ken Burns's program and writing about it afterwards thinking that Foote served in the Civil War himself.

LOL, but sad.

[Bahbah]

I will miss Shelby Foote.

[osagebowman]

FYI - a true gentleman.

[stainlessbanner]

He was a great person. Loved to hear his soothing voice tell those stories like he was there.

[nonliberal]

And yes, unlike most professional (academic) historians, he wrote in a way that most of us enjoyed reading his works. He did bring history alive, and that strikes me as the finest quality of a good historian.

Probably why he was not an academic. He and David McCullough brought history to the masses.

Foote was a great author and a great historian.

[04-Bravo]

IMHO, the best books about the Civil War are:

1. The three-volume series "The Civil War" by Shelby Foote.

2. The three-volume series "Lee's Lieutenants" by Douglas Southhall Freeman.

3. The three-volume series about the Army of The Potomac written by Bruce Catton, that ended with "A Stillness at Appomatox."

[HereInTheHeartland]

I remember being awestruck hearing those words in the series.
How can someone write so eloquently?

[buzzsaw6]

Condolences to the family. Reading his trilogy now (1/3 thru book 2). He was thoroughly enjoyable on the Civil War series on PBS. RIP. A fan.

[processing please hold]

I just read your link. Thank you. I really enjoyed it.

[BigCinBigD]

That's they they wrote and talked back then. So much has been lost in the name of progress.For more examples also see God's and Generals.
I posted that letter because that's the one thing that stuck in my mind from the series, and thought it a appropriate epitaph for Mr. Foote.

[Ditto]

Good interview of a very interesting and talented man. He accomplished much in his four score and "eight".

[Barney59]

There is a wound in the soul of the south tonight... a great man of letters has passed...

Rest in Peace.