Biographer of novelist to speak on his subject

Not many biographers become friends with their subjects. But Rev. Patrick Samway, SJ, not only wrote about Southern novelist Walker Percy -- he even concelebrated the writer's funeral.

Father Samway, a one-time resident of the Albany Diocese and literary editor of America magazine, is the author of "Walker Percy: A Life," and editor of volumes of Percy's speeches, essays and letters. On Nov. 13, Father Samway will speak on the writer's life at St. John the Evangelist Church in Schenectady.

While Father Samway was attending Nott Terrace High School in Schenectady and crossing the street for Mass at St. John the Evangelist, Walker Percy was already working on his first novel, "The Moviegoer," for which he won the National Book Award in 1962. Decades would pass before the priest and the novelist would meet.

Literary life

During that time, Percy wrote fiction ranging from 1971's "Love in the Ruins: The Adventures of a Bad Catholic at a Time Near the End of the World" to 1977's "Lancelot," and a nonfiction work on semantics titled, "Message in a Bottle." He became famous for his bold examinations of society, particularly in the New South.

Ironically, the highly acclaimed novelist had originally intended to be a doctor and only turned to writing after contracting tuberculosis. As he rested in a sanitorium in Saranac Lake, north of the Albany Diocese, Percy converted to Catholicism.

Decades after the advent of "The Moviegoer," Father Samway commented during dinner with a former professor that he'd like to write a biography of the fascinating Percy. "As you enter your 50s, you look at what others have done, and biographies become interesting," the priest explained.

Connections

Having already edited four anthologies of southern literature, Father Samway decided to write to Percy with his request. To his surprise, the novelist replied, not only agreeing to the biography but also instructing that his wife and children would cooperate with Father Samway in writing it.

Thus began a friendship that lasted for the rest of Percy's life. The writer lived in Covington, Louisiana, and Father Samway traveled there often to see him, finally earning a fellowship at the University of Louisiana that enabled the biographer to live nearby and lunch with Percy on a regular basis.

"He was a charming man -- very laid-back, very polite, tall and lanky," Father Samway remembered. While the priest attempted to draw the novelist out about his own life, "he used to kind of interview me. He'd say, `I'd like your opinion on this or that situation.' We developed a nice rapport."

Novel style

"He was a writer who knew how to make up a good story," the priest said about Percy. "He would put characters down on paper and kind of follow them."

Often, those characters were marginalized, such as Binx Bolling, the main character in "The Moviegoer." A stockbroker, Bolling lives on the fringes of society, but gradually gains control of his life and decides to settle down, marry and attend medical school. Father Samway felt that Bolling's journey mirrored that of Percy.

Percy's conversion to Catholicism is also featured in his novels and essays. As the novelist recuperated from tuberculosis, he read the works of noted religious writers.

"He began to think about what it meant to be a person in this world, and [asked], `What role does God play in all this?'" Father Samway said. "He received catechetical instruction along with his wife, was received into the Church and became a very devout Catholic."

Posthumous books

Percy died of prostate cancer in 1990, leaving behind a dedicated biographer as well as his widow and children. Father Samway has since edited "Signposts in a Strange Land," a book of Percy's essays; and "A Thief of Peirce: The Letters of Kenneth Laine Ketner and Walker Percy."

"Walker Percy: A Life" was published recently, and Father Samway remarked that he was eager to return to his old hometown to educate Catholics of the Diocese about Percy's life and work.

"Walker touched chords that spoke to modern society," the biographer explained. "I would like to introduce people to Walker Percy; and for those who are already familiar with him, to remind them that he speaks to modern society.

"He reminds them that they are struggling to go through life, that they perhaps lead lives that are fragile, on the margins of what we consider ordinary society. Through Walker's writings, they can get to know themselves."

(Father Samway's free lecture on "Walker Percy: A Life" will be held Nov. 13, 7:30 p.m., at St. John the Evangelist Church, Schenectady. For information or to purchase Father Samway's book, call 372-3381.)

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