Important Links:
Listen to Michael Malone read his story, “Uncle Tatlock and the Town Clock” from the anthology, 27 Views of Hillsborough: A Southern Town in Prose & Poetry:
10 Things I Can’t Do Without:
https://southwritlarge.com/bios/michael-malone/
Listen to the radio production of A CHRISTMAS CAROL with Michael Malone & Allan Gurganus, with Jane Holding, Bob Brower & Alice Brower. From the archives of WHUP in Hillsborough:
Obituary from the Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/08/22/writer-michael-malone-dead/
Purchase 27 Views of Hillsborough (Eno Publishers):
FAMILY SECRETS. Music for this episode includes “The Cemetery,” lyrics by Michael Malone, composed by Daniel Thomas Davis, and sung by soprano Andrea Edith Moore. The banjo solo from “The Cemetery Interlude” is played by Hank Smith, also composed by Daniel Thomas Davis. Both are included in the music drama “Family Secrets: Kith and Kin,” a composition by Davis that features the words of several prominent North Carolina writers. A recording is available from Albany Records
Other music for this episode includes the song “So They Say,” by Vendla. It’s available on Epidemic Sound
Season Two, Episode 13 Show Notes
Unravelling Mysteries With Author Michael Malone
When writer Michael Malone moved back to his native North Carolina, he discovered that fiction came pouring out of him, as did other creative pursuits—plays, songs, imaginative parties and fundraisers. He was the impresario the small, formerly quiet town of Hillsborough had been waiting for. Among the work inspired by his new hometown was a Young Adult story, entitled “Uncle Tatlock and the Town Clock.” Set in fictionalized version of Hillsborough, the story explores a small town’s past, from its revolutionary roots to its Civil War surrender, to its contemporary complications and small victories. The town clock has been through it all.
Bio—
Michael Malone was the author of 12 internationally acclaimed novels, including the classic Handling Sin, Dingley Falls, Fool’s Cap, and The Four Corners of the Sky. He also wrote the popular “Hillston” mysteries, set in a small North Carolina town. The three novels are narrated by two incompatible Piedmont homicide detectives, Justin Savile V and Cuddy Mangum, who over their years of working together forge a close friendship. Michael also published a collection of short stories, entitled Red Clay, Blue Cadillac, as well as two books of nonfiction, one on American movies, one on Jungian psychology. His television credits include writing for daytime dramas on ABC, NBC, and Fox. His stories, essays, and critical writings have appeared in a wide range of publications, including The Wilson Quarterly, Mademoiselle, Harper’s, The New York Times, The Nation, The Partisan Review, Playboy. His short works have often been included in anthologies, and his novels have been translated into many languages. Michael also wrote plays, songs, and poems. Among the many prizes he was awarded over his career are the O Henry, the Edgar, the Writers Guild Award, and the Emmy for ABC’s “One Life to Live,” where he was head-writer for nearly a decade. He taught at Yale, the University of Pennsylvania, and Swarthmore. Most recently he was a professor in Theater Studies and English departments at Duke University.
His story, “Uncle Tatlock and the Town Clock,” is a young adult story and a prequel to his novel, The Last Noel. The Tatlock story appears in Eno Publishers’s anthology, 27 Views of Hillsborough: A Southern Town in Prose & Poetry.
Michael died in August 2022 at the age of 79.
From “The South Writ Large”
Michael Malone: Ten Things I Can’t Do Without
1. Maureen, my wife, and Maggie, our daughter
2. The act of creating: Not the product but the praxis. It can be novels, meals, stone walls, puppets, concerts, talks, parties, and, with the most pleasure, plays (comedy, tragedy, musical) performed with a community of fellowplayers–amateur just as much as professional
3. Laughing with friends
4. The quiet to write
5. A vista, especially seascapes
6. Beauty around me
7. Humor, brightness, kindness, and courtesy in my company
8. Being a part of music--listening to it, making it
9. Learning new things
10. Hope for this foolish species of ours