North Carolina author and cartoonist, Doug Marlette, will speak and sign copies of his new book at Thompson Theatre Friday at 3 p.m.
Marlette’s second novel, Magic Time, is meant to compliment the University Theatre’s play, Bourbon at the Border, both of which focus on the Freedom Summer of 1964 in Mississippi. The play and book deal with issues of racism — especially voter’s rights–going on in the South during the Civil Rights Movement.
Diane Sanders, the director of marketing for University Theatre, said she chose Marlette when she discovered he was already going to be in town speaking about his book. She said she thinks his novel is interesting because it offers the perspective of someone not directly involved with the events, whereas the main characters in Bourbon at the Border are right in the middle of the conflict.
Having lived in Laurel, Miss., Marlette said he was so close to the events of his novel but “was very cut off from what was going on.”
Upon writing his novel, Marlette said he found out about family ties to the Freedom Summer. His father was one of the many who were in charge of searching for the three bodies of Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney, all murdered by the Ku Klux Klan, according to Marlette.
“My family is like Forrest Gump,” Marlette said, describing how his relatives always seem to be at important points in southern history.
“It’s a milestone in American history,” Sanders said. According to her, this event is still influential today. She said even though most students weren’t around during this period, they probably had parents or grandparents who remember.
Students today may have more in common with the novel than they think, according to Marlette. Growing up, he used to see a man named Sam Bowers almost everyday and believed that he was a nice man. However years later, Marlette said he found out Bowers was the leader of the White Knights, one of the most violent groups during the Civil Rights Movement. For him, it was similar to finding out someone in a church congregation was secretly a terrorist.
According to Sanders, the event is open to both students and the public. She said she hopes to see students, professors and members of the community show up to hear Marlette speak because she said he appreciates the southern culture.
“Doug is a southerner through and through,” she said.
Marlette writes what he knows about, and like most art, his work is somewhat autobiographical, he said. However, Marlette said that should not affect the way people perceive his work.
“The sculpture should not be mistaken for the clay from which it was formed,” Marlette said. “Everyone has different clay.”