HALL, Wade H. 1934-

PERSONAL: Born February 2, 1934, in Union Springs, AL; son of Wade (a farmer) and Sarah (Waters) Hall. Education: Troy State College (now University), B.S., 1953; University of Alabama, M.A., 1957; University of Illinois, Ph.D., 1961. Politics: Democrat. Religion: Baptist.

ADDRESSES: Home—1568 Cherokee Rd., Louisville, KY 40205. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: High school teacher of English and social studies in Opp, AL, 1953-54; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, instructor in English, 1957-61; University of Florida, Gainesville, assistant professor of English, 1961-62; Kentucky Southern College, Louisville, associate professor and head of department of English, 1962-69, chairman of the Division of Humanities, 1965-69; Bellarmine College, Louisville, KY, chairman of department of English and Division of Humanities, 1969-88. Military service: U.S. Army, 1954-56; became sergeant.

MEMBER: American Studies Association, National Council of Teachers of English, English-speaking Union, South Atlantic Modern Language Association, Kentucky Historical Society, Kappa Delta Pi, Phi Kappa Phi, Filson Club.

AWARDS, HONORS: American Library Association award, 1967.

WRITINGS:

Reflections of the Civil War in Southern Humor, University of Florida Press (Gainesville, FL), 1962.

The Smiling Phoenix: Reflections of Southern Life in Southern Humor, University of Florida Press (Gainesville, FL), 1965.

The Truth Is Funny: A Study of Jesse Stuart's Humor, Indiana Council of Teachers of English, 1972.

The High Limb: Poems, Kentucky Poetry Press (Louisville, KY), 1973.

(Editor and compiler) This Place Kentucky, Data Courier (Louisville, KY), 1975.

The Kentucky Book, Data Courier (Louisville, KY), 1979.

(Editor) The Rest of the Dream: The Black Odyssey of Lyman Johnson, University Press of Kentucky (Lexington, KY), 1988.

Greetings from Kentucky: A Post Card Tour, 1900-1950, University Press of Kentucky (Lexington, KY), 1994.

(Editor, with Rick Wallach) Sacred Violence: A Reader's Companion to Cormac McCarthy: Selected Essays from the First McCarthy Conference, Bellarmine College, Louisville, Kentucky, October 15-17, 1993, Texas Western Press (El Paso, TX), 1995, 2nd edition, 2002.

Hell-Bent for Music: The Life of Pee Wee King, University Press of Kentucky (Lexington, KY), 1996.

A Visit with Harlan Hubbard, University of Kentucky Libraries (Lexington, KY), 1996.

(Editor) Passing for Black: The Life and Careers of Mae Street Kidd, University Press of Kentucky (Lexington, KY), 1997.

James Still: Portrait of the Artist As a Boy in Alabama, King Library Press, 1998.

One Man's Lincoln: Billy Herndon (Honestly) Represents Abe (play), Kentucky Humanities Council, 1998.

Conechu People: Words of Life from the Alabama Black Belt, Black Belt Press (Montgomery, AL), 1999.

High upon a Hill: A History of Bellarmine College, Bellarmine College Press (Louisville, KY), 1999.

The Outrageous Times of Larry Bruce Mitchell, New-South Books (Montgomery, AL), 2002.

Waters of Life from Conecuh Ridge: The Clyde May Story, NewSouth Books (Montgomery, AL), 2003.

Also author of numerous forewords, introductions, and prefaces to books. Contributor to periodicals and professional journals, including Southern Folklore Quarterly, South Atlantic Quarterly, and Kentucky Review.

WORK IN PROGRESS: An anthology of 200 years of Kentucky writing, to be published by the University Press of Kentucky.

SIDELIGHTS: Wade H. Hall specializes in books relating to the people and events that shaped the American south, particularly the state of Kentucky. In his oral history The Rest of the Dream: The Black Odyssey of Lyman Johnson, Hall introduces readers to Johnson, an African-American history teacher who experienced much of the country's history in his eighty-two years. Johnson relates how his grandparents were slaves, though Johnson's father became a college graduate and a principal of a black high school. It was his father's strong ideals that influenced the young man; for example, as a Kirkus Reviews critic noted, Johnson instructed his son to forego going to the movies rather than patronize a segregated movie theatre. By the time Johnson himself became an educator, he "faced a dilemma during the days when 'separate but equal' was the law of the land," according to the Kirkus Reviews contributor. The Rest of the Dream goes on to chronicle Johnson's life in the South during the Civil Rights era. To Choice reviewer G. Lipsitz, the value of the book lies less in its depiction of history than in "the insight, philosophy, and vision displayed within Johnson's narrative voice."

Hall's Passing for Black: The Life and Careers of Mae Street Kidd likewise tells a story that is "quintessentially American," in the words of Booklist's Donna Seaman. Kidd, born in 1904 to a black mother and a white father (the latter of whom disavowed the child) was light-complexioned enough to pass for white, but still embraced her African heritage. Bucking the odds of a "double minority"—black and female—Kidd went on to become a successful Kentucky politician. Seaman praised Hall for his "superb job of preserving the essence of Kidd's feisty and impressive personality."

In Sacred Violence: A Reader's Companion to Cormac McCarthy: Selected Essays from the First McCarthy Conference, Hall served as coeditor to present the views of eighteen McCarthy scholars. David Cremean, in a Western American Literature review, found elements of the book to criticize—namely, a lack of contextualization and some noticeable typographical errors—but summed up the work as a collection that helps "plumb the depths" of the complex author; indeed, said Cremean, Sacred Violence "takes McCarthy criticism a few leagues further beneath the surface."

Hall told CA: " I think the major influences on my writing have been the oral storytellers, both black and white, whom I knew as a farmboy in rural Alabama in the 1930s and 1940s. From them, I learned of the power of words to describe, excite, frighten, soothe, inspire, and motivate us all. Most of my poems originate in events—a friend's birthday, a brother's wedding anniversary, a loved one's death. Most of my prose writing—oral biographies, plays, essays—is in response to my interest in particular people.

" Whether I write fiction or nonfiction, poetry or prose, I start with an idea or concept; then I gather details from research or from my imagination, which I structure into a reasonable pattern. It's a process I follow whether I'm writing a short poem or a 275-page biography. After I get the basic content down, I write a rough draft, followed by as many revisions as it takes to make the piece say what I want it to say in the words that I feel are most expressive and appropriate.

"Indeed, I hope that my books, which have been mostly about the extraordinary lives of ordinary people, will continue to assert the inestimable value of all people, regardless of their education, class, income, age, sex, color, or beliefs.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

periodicals

Booklist, February 15, 1997, Donna Seaman, review of Passing for Black: The Life and Careers of Mae Street Kidd, p. 998.

Choice, July-August, 1989, G. Lipsitz, review of The Rest of the Dream: The Black Odyssey of Lyman Johnson, p.

Country Music, March-April, 1997, Rich Kienzle, review of Hell-Bent for Music: The Life of Pee Wee King, p. 67.

Journal of American Culture, spring, 1998, Katherine Johnson, review of A Visit with Harlan Hubbard, p. 90.

Journal of American History, March, 1990, Robert Slayton, review of The Rest of the Dream, p. 1323.

Journal of Ethnic Studies, fall, 1989, Bruce Tyler, review of The Rest of the Dream, p. 140.

Journal of Southern History, August, 1990, David McBride, review of The Rest of the Dream, p. 558; August, 1997, David Stricklin, review of HellBent for Music, p. 690.

Kirkus Reviews, October 15, 1988, review of The Rest of the Dream, p. 1506.

Library Journal, November 1, 1996, review of Hell-Bent for Music, p. 42.

Oral History Review, spring, 1990, Howard Green, review of The Rest of the Dream, p. 101.

Progressive, April, 1989, John Egerton, review of The Rest of the Dream, p. 43.

Southern Folklore, spring, 1999, James Nelson, review of Hell-Bent for Music, p. 107.

Southwestern Historical Quarterly, April, 1996, Tom Pilkington, review of Sacred Violence: A Reader's Companion to Cormac McCarthy, p. 591.

Western American Literature, September, 1997, David Cremean, review of Sacred Violence, pp. 79-80.