Shelby Foote
Shelby Dade Foote, Jr. (November 17, 1916 – June 27, 2005) was an American historian and writer. He was an important person for Civil War documentaries. He wrote many books about the war and Abraham Lincoln. His most famous book about the war was The Civil War: A Narrative. Foote was born on in Greenville, Mississippi and died in Memphis, Tennessee.
Shelby Foote | |
|---|---|
| Born | Shelby Dade Foote, Jr. November 17, 1916 Greenville, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Died | June 27, 2005 (aged 88) Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Occupation | novelist, historian |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
| Genre | Non-fiction, documentaries |
| Notable works | The Civil War: A Narrative |
| Spouse | Tess Lavery (1944-1946) Marguerite "Peggy" Desommes (1948-1952; 1 child) Gwyn Rainer (1956-2005; 1 child) |
Early life
Shelby Dade Foote, Jr. studied at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Foote is of Jewish descent, but he was raised as an Episcopalian.[1]
Career
Foote began writing a three volume, 3000-page history, together called The Civil War: A Narrative. The separate volumes are Fort Sumter to Perryville (1958), Fredericksburg to Meridian (1963), and Red River to Appomattox (1974).
When The Civil War by Ken Burns was first broadcast, his telephone number was publicly listed. and He received many phone calls from people who had seen him on television. Foote never unlisted his number, and the volume of calls increased each time the series re-aired.[2]
Personal life
He was married to Tess Lavery from 1944 until they divorced in 1946. Then he was married to Marguerite "Peggy" Desommes from 1948 until they divorced in 1952. They had one child. Then he was married to Gwyn Rainer from 1956 until his death in 2005. They had one child.
Death
Foote died on June 27, 2005 at a hospital in Memphis, Tennessee from heart failure caused by a heart attack and pulmonary embolism.[3] He was 88 years old. Foote is buried at Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis, Tennessee.
Shelby Foote Media
Letter from Foote to childhood friend Grant Stockdale (1962)
Shelby Foote historical marker, Greenville, Mississippi (2019)
References
- ↑ "Shelby Foote". TAEMAG.com. Archived from the original on February 13, 2005. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
- ↑ Chapman, Stuart (2003), Shelby Foote: A Writer's Life, Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, ISBN 1-57806-359-0
- ↑ "Shelby Foote Dies; Novelist And Historian Of Civil War". Washington Post.com. June 29, 2005. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
Other websites
- Shelby Foote Grave
- Shelby Foote Papers Inventory, in the Southern Historical Collection, UNC-Chapel Hill
- Write TV Public Television Interview with Shelby Foote Archived 2018-08-10 at the Wayback Machine
- PBS Civil War
- American Enterprise interview with Bill Kauffman Archived 2013-10-04 at the Wayback Machine
- "Shelby Foote's War Story: How a Memphis novelist’s history of the Civil War made history itself" from Garden & Gun