Flashbacks: Echoes of Past Issues
with sensitivity, the issues serve instead as impetuses to keep the plot moving and twisting. The story’s overall velocity – as gripping as it is – also seems in conflict with some of the writing, as if Hart himself became so caught up in the momentum that he couldn’t slow down enough to pay attention to his craft. Dialogue stalls and repeats as some scenes rush and stumble to find themselves, and elsewhere it’s not entirely clear who’s speaking at all – questions, objections, and interjections jumping into conversations briskly but not clearly in a character’s voice. And this book –
more like his earlier Down River – seems prone to occasionally melodramatic flourishes. Despite these missteps, Hart’s passion as a writer, his dynamism, and his ambitiousness are more than enough to outweigh most objections, and the essential hopefulness at the heart of even the bleakest moments may well serve to prompt readers toward empathy and indulgence. When Hart writes about Julian’s children’s books, he might well be describing his own novels: They’re about damaged people finding a way to move beyond the things that damaged them. They’re about
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light and hope and sacrifice, love and faith and the fight to do better. . . . His characters go through hell and end up close to destroyed, but you see good in the people he makes. You see small strength and the power of choice, movement through fear and loathing and self-doubt. (206–207)
This is almost a mission statement for Hart’s own approach. With Iron House, Hart once more reveals himself as an artist deeply self-aware and engaged in reaching farther and building higher upon the foundations he’s established for himself. Readers are fortunate to be able to enjoy the products of Hart’s artistic development. n
LOST COLONY VETERAN WILLIAM IVEY LONG: Third Hardee rives dramatic arts AWARD RECIPIENT Photograph by Alan Westmoreland; courtesy of the North Carolina State ARchives
The Hardee Rives Dramatic Arts Award was endowed in 2009 by Ralph Hardee Rives. It is “presented annually to an individual, individuals, organization, project, or other entity in recognition of notable contribution(s) to the dramatic arts in North Carolina.” The third recipient, William Ivey Long, grew up in Seaboard, NC, also the home of writer Bernice Kelly Harris. He spent summers in Manteo, NC, where his parents worked on the production of Paul Green’s outdoor drama The Lost Colony. During his acceptance remarks, Long credited Harris for inspiring his father to follow his dream, which brought the family to Manteo, where “Billy” would meet his own mentor, “Uncle Paul” Green. Nominating Long, Bland Simpson, the 2010 recipient of this same award, remarked upon Long maintaining an “astonishingly strong” connection to his native state, particularly given his incredibly successful Broadway career (Long has won five Tony Awards for his costume designs and was inducted in 2005 into the Theater Hall of Fame). Long has served as production designer of The Lost Colony since 1988 and is president of the Eastern Seaboard Trust, a nonprofit “dedicated to the economic revitalization and historic preservation” of Long’s hometown (Long website). Long is also a member of the North Carolina Order of
the Long Leaf Pine and a recipient of the North Carolina Award for Fine Arts. North Carolina Literary and Historical Association Vice-President Monika Fleming presented the Hardee Rives Award to Long, noting that “we are honoring him for forty-six years with The Lost Colony – as actor, producer, and clothing designer.” n
above Photo caption as necessary (use style guide and a back issue as a model) above William Ivey Long at the North Carolina Literary and
Historical Association meeting, Raleigh, NC, 18 Nov. 2011.