Big Grit News Brewing

Well, gentle readers, your correspondent has been negligent with posting to the blog. Contrary to Eliot, April is not the cruelest month. November is. In other words, November has been so busy that it's just been a blur and here it is Decemver and I can't believe that I haven't posted to the blog since October. Oy.

Still, the plans for True Grit this Spring are proceeding apace. On the books for sure: An April 1st showing of the original movie, to be held in Echols Conference room. We'll have one showing in the morning at 9:30 followed by a panel presentation of appropriate topics and discussion, and then another showing in the afternoon with its own panel and discussion.

Not yet for certain, but in the works are the possibility of a courtroom reenactment taken from the book, a demonstration of some of the weapons used in the book, several reading groups (of course), and some possible service projects.

If you have a book club, and would like to read the book with your group and then have some of our students or faculty discuss with you, then call me up and we'll arrange it.

I'd also like to recruit some service groups to go out to local nursing homes and read the novel with or to the folks that live there.

We're also proceeding with some other ideas, and I'll let you know when they develop. In the meantime, Becky Timmons from Lifelong Learning has promised to set up a website to help coordinate these activities. Yay, Becky.

More soon--I promise.

Coen Brothers are moving quickly

I just read that the Coen Brothers have asked Matt Damon and Josh Brolin to star with Jeff Bridges in the remake of True Grit, the film. Evidently, Bridges is set to star as Rooster Cogburn, Damon would take the role of the Texas Ranger (played by Glen Campbell in the original) and Brolin--who's making quite a name for himself playing bad guys--would take the role of the murderer. Scott Rudin, who produced "No Country for Old Men" for the Coens is set to produce. The really wild thing is they are hoping to start production this Spring. Those boys move quickly.

More news on all this, and on the events for Spring, soon. The picture that accompanies this blog entry is of True Grit wine, btw.

Well, time gets away from you when you're supposed to be keeping up with a blog. I think part of the problem that took me away from the blog for the last 10 days was that I was trying to figure how to embed a video into the blog. We'll, I'll get back to that. Aha, just as I was posting this I figured out how to add the video bar--scroll down to the bottom of the page for True Grit videos!

In the meantime, I think it's time to remind everyone (is there an everyone? is anyone reading the blog?) of exactly where we are:

1. Let me remind everyone that we are not "officially" reading True Grit until next semester. That is, the students in ENGL 1213 will be reading it next semester. The rest of us may, of course, go ahead and read the novel now and reread it in the Spring or just work from memory.

2. There will be an opening event of some sort to launch "the Spring of True Grit" but no concrete plans have been made. Still, there will be an opening event in January or early February with an open invitation to faculty, students, and the community. This might happen on campus, or we could do something down at the National Park. No concrete plans yet.

3. One idea I've had came from talking to a delightful woman who lives at the Methodist Home. We really should have students and older folks read and discuss together--perhaps even have students read aloud to the older folks who might have a problem reading the print. As far as reading groups, there will be at least one official reading group in the college (maybe more) that anyone can join. I'd like to see mixed groups as much as possible, though. Wouldn't it be nice to see faculty, staff, students, administrators, and people from the community discussing the book together? I believe that Lifelong Learning is planning a reading group. The library needs to be contacted, too.

4. Someone also suggested that the group that does gun-slinger reenactments could be involved somehow--maybe reenact the trial or something. This might be good for the closing event.

5. In fact, I hope that there can be a big closing event--a celebration of sorts--where students could exhibit the projects that they've done in conjunction with the book (speeches, papers, posters, artwork, dramatic enactments, etc.)

The main thing is that YOU, yes YOU, should make this stuff happen. Don't wait for me to do it. Get faculty in other disciplines involved. Talk to the community. At the very least post your ideas as responses to the blog--and by all means keep reading the blog. Help make this happen; it's up to you!

By the way, the daffodil picture is the True Grit daffodil. Yes, there's a whole industry grown up around the phrase. I've found True Grit boats, wine, a kennel, several restaurants and saloons, a tire store, True Grit Jeans, and lots of other stuff.

Keep on reading, Pilgrim.

Been on the road for a few days, so haven't had a chance to report on the gathering on Wednesday night at the Varsity. So the report is: we had a rousting good time. About a dozen folks showed up, including people from all over the campus. Good job. The rest of you need to make it next time. We talked a little about possibilities for the Spring, but mostly we just talked among ourselves. One of the issues was whether it mattered what portion of the semester most of the activities took place in. In the end, it probably doesn't matter, since folks will be reading with their classes at various times. April is always a very crowded month, so we'll probably do lots of things early on. We definitely want to blend the discussion groups so that community readers are interacting with students and faculty.
We also talked a bit about how to approach Charles Portis, which must be done with caution. We don't want to scare him.
We also talked about lots of interfacing we need to do: with the city, with the Marshall's museum people, with the library. Guess we'll have to get to work on that.
In the meantime, it's been a great week. The newspaper coverage was a real shot in the arm and the project moves forward.

Jeff Bridges at the Varsity

Well, ok, Jeff Bridges will not be at the Varsity with us tomorrow, but he does talk about True Grit in this news release.

Don't forget to make plans to be at the Varsity on Wednesday at 5:30.

The Times Record Has Definitely Got Grit!

We were extremely pleased this morning to see the very thorough and interesting reporting about our little project on the front page--yes, the front page--of the Times Record. Thanks so much to their intrepid reporter Amy Sherrill (that's two r's and two l's) for the coverage. Thanks also to Dean Rinne for his support, to our current favorite graduate, Jacqueline West, for her input, and, of course, to Professor Kelly Jennings for doing the "smart part" of the interview. We are pleased to see that Fort Smith and the region's best newspaper have, in fact, Got Grit.
Don't forget--and you won't 'cause I'll remind you--about our gathering on Wednesday evening at 5:30 at the Varsity. All interested parties from both the campus and the community are invited to attend. We'll just get acquainted with each other and share ideas in an informal atmosphere. After all, this should be fun, right? By the way, the picture accompanying the blog post this morning is of Charles Portis with John Wayne on the set of the movie.

Let's get together

Excitement is really, really building about this project. This weekend we should receive some press; I'll report about it when I'm sure. One thing we're learning: this idea has some real wheels on it.

In the meantime, we'll propose a little get-together. If you are interested in reading with us or possibly using the book in a class (if you're a teacher) then come join us at 5:30 at the Varsity in downtown Fort Smith--just a few hundred yards from where some of the book takes place--on Wednesday, September 30th. We'll meet, have a libation, and share some ideas.

Put this on your calendar. You are going to want to be on board for this ride. It's going to be fun. More later. Remember to respond to the blog. That's the thing about blogs--they can be two-way. Write something in the comment section. Show your grit and be brave.

Phrase Origins

So our fellow traveler and Chair of Art stopped by today to pick up his copy of the novel. He asked about the history of the phrase "true grit." I had actually wondered the very same thing only this morning. Someone needs to do some more research, but here's what I found when I consulted the great god Google. This comes from a site called "Word Wizard."

"In the early 19th century, perhaps because ‘grit’ provides traction when something is slippery, such as an icy road, it came to be associated, as a colloquialism, with firmness or solidity of character, indomitable spirit, stamina, braveness or strength – to have genuine spirit or pluck. The expression 'to be clear, hard (etc.) grit' or ‘to be the grit’ meant to be the ‘right sort,’ the genuine ‘article.’

1825 “Proper fellow he was too; ‘cute enough, I tell you— sharp as a razor—CLEAR GRIT.”—‘Brother Jonathan’ by John Neal, III, page 386

1843 “If he hadn't a had the CLEAR GRIT in him, and showed his teeth and claws.”—‘Attaché’ by Haliburton, II. i. page 13

1863 “His main deficiency was a lack of GRIT.”—‘Our Old Home’(1883) by Hawthorne, I. 322

Shortly after the appearance of ‘grit,’ TRUE GRIT meaning “unfaltering courage; devotion to what is right; indomitableness; of a solid character” became a common expression in the western United States to define one who is devoted to doing what is right regardless of the danger involved.

“We don’t like to leave a real true grit American . . . among a lot of cowardly Diegos.”—‘The Knickerbocker, 1846.

Note: In the above context the Spanish and Portuguese given name Diego’ is being used as a slur for the Spanish or Mexicans.

In 1969 John Wayne won Academy Award for portraying Rooster Cogburn, the old, one-eyed reprobate, who discovers that he has hidden courage, in the motion picture True Grit and as a result the expression enjoyed a revival in popular use. Upon being diagnosed again with cancer it was reported in Time:

“John Wayne . . . accepted the news with true grit. "‘I've licked the Big C before,’ he said.”

Developments

Exciting developments over the weekend. Great responses from the Center for Lifelong Learning, whose director, Becky Timmons, reports that they definitely "got grit" and want to be included. The College Preparatory folks are also on board. We know they "got grit" over there. We'll have to set up a planning meeting (more meetings!) to get everyone together. In the meantime, we've had several behind-the-scenes developments that could put us in direct touch with the author (the highly reclusive Charles Portis) and with the Coen Brothers. Who knows?

Responses

If you're just starting to read the blog, be sure to read the initial post (it's called "What we're up to"), so you'll know what's going on.

Well, evidently lots of people "got grit," because initial response to the project has been terrific. We've heard from lots of folks who want to read with us, both from around the campus and from the community. Someone has pointed out that news has come out that Jeff Bridges has been slated to play Rooster Cogburn this time, and I've learned that we actually might have an "in" with the Coens. More on that as it develops.

It's still early in the Fall semester and we won't start reading with the students until Spring, so we'll have to work to keep the momentum up. Still, I wanted to give people who will be teaching and want to incorporate the project into their syllabi plenty of time to plan.

In the meantime, we did order 50 copies of the book, which are currently being held in the Dean's office (Vines) 226. We'll be glad to let you have one, especially if you're going to be looking at it for possible use in your classes. Or you could just get an early start on your reading. Still, we won't officially begin reading until Spring.

One last thing--don't be afraid to comment or respond using the comment function below. That's how blogs work. It's open to comment and to posts from other folks. If you want to comment, just comment. If you want to post something, just send it to me by email and I'll post it for you.

What we're up to

This spring, students and faculty in the College of Languages and Communication are reading Charles Portis’s novel True Grit, which is set in and around Fort Smith. Most know the novel as the source of the John Wayne movie, but the novel is much better. In fact, the novel has been called one of the great undiscovered masterpieces of American literature. Word is that the Coen Brothers (Fargo, The Big Lebowski) are currently filming a remake.

While we’ve stopped short of calling this a campus-wide reading initiative, we would like to invite folks from other departments and colleges to participate. Here’s some of the ideas we’ve had:

• Invite reading groups from the community to read and discuss the book with us.
• Screen the film version and have a discussion afterwards on the differences between versions.
• Have public readings of the novel.
• Invite speakers to campus to discuss the book (who knows, maybe Portis or the Coens).

While this is a college initiative originating in English and Rhetoric, we’d like to invite teachers in other disciplines to explore the possibilities of interacting with this text and with students reading the book. Here are some ideas we’ve had to involve other faculty and courses:

• Could a group from historical interpretation take groups to places mentioned in the book?
• Might history teachers or students deliver papers and talks on the historical period?
• Could music students explore and then perform music from the period?
• Might art students create visual representations of events and characters from the book or
make a poster for the new Coen Brothers movie?
• Could creative writing students work on dramatizations of scenes from the book and theater
students put them on?
• Might business students design a marketing plan for the movie?

We’re open to any ideas to make this Spring the semester of True Grit. If you’d like to join with us in planning events in your courses, in your college, or if you’d just like to read the book with us, email jhardin@uafortsmith.edu or respond below.