| by the book | at either the front or back of their book.
E
LEFT: r enry
ranha a for oel
Chanler arrs early
eucaton at the atonton
caey for oys
RIGHT: Flannery
OConnors hlosohy
rofessor r eorge
eswanger connce
her to go to owa where
she colete a aster
of Fne rts egree
Every author’s book contains an
“acknowledgments” section located
It is the author’s opportunity to express
gratitude to helpers who aided in making
their book possible. e commonness
of book acknowledgments reminds
us that authoring is far from a solo act.
While the author sings their praises
to their readers, these special people
remain unsung heroes. For example,
over 100 million people have read
J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter and the
Sorcerer’s Stone,” but few people know
Christopher Little, the agent she thanks
for supporting her from the beginning.
is column will spotlight unsung
heroes who had quiet inuence on three
giant literary gures from Georgia’s
Lake Country.
Dr. George Beiswanger
Flannery O’Connor moved to Milledgeville
as a teenager. Finishing at Peabody
High in 1942, she entered Georgia
State College for Women (now Georgia
College & State University). Her dream
was to become a political cartoonist.
However, some of her teachers saw the
24 LAKE OCONEE LIVING | SUMMER 2022
genius of her writing and encouraged
her to write for the college newspaper.
Heading for Duke Graduate School
after graduation, her philosophy professor,
Dr. George Beiswanger, hired in
1944, did more than arm her literary
prowess. He changed her direction and
very likely her professional life.
Beiswanger had completed his Ph.D.
at State University of Iowa, so he had
rsthand experience with their extraordinary
writing curriculum. He not only
convinced Flannery to go to Iowa, but
he also wrote a glowing recommendation
and secured a scholarship for her.
She completed a Master of Fine Arts
Degree at Iowa.
Beiswanger, who always taught in a
suit, was a renowned dance critic and
served as editor of eatre Arts magazine.
He was the dance critic for Atlanta
Journal from 1967-1972. He also served
on the dance panel of the National
Endowment for the Arts.
Years after Flannery graduated, he returned
to Atlanta and taught at Georgia
State. He died in 1993 at the age of 91.
Birda Reynolds Simmons
Alice Walker grew up on Wards Chapel
Road near Eatonton. Alice’s mother
knew that as soon as Alice was capable
of picking cotton, the landowner would
put her in the elds.
She talked Birda Reynolds into accepting
four-year-old Alice into grade
school at East Putnam Consolidated
School, located near Alice’s house. e
school had been established in 1948 on
land donated by David Henry Simmons,
who would later marry Birda.
“She was a really nice woman who
really loved children,” says Ms. Frances
Waller. Waller, now 95 years old, taught
with Birda. Birda would tell biographer
Evelyn White in an interview in 1995,
as White prepared to write “Alice: A
Life,” “A lot of children passed my way,
but Alice Walker was the smartest one I
ever had.”
In 1952, the Walker family moved to
Milledgeville. Alice had earlier been accidentally
shot in the eye with a bb gun,