Shelby Foote was a treasure to our country. He gave us so much. His writings were genius . I truly miss him . When he passed we lost a great man. I true Civil war historian and a man who served his country

Mr. Shelby is what was good about the South in the 30s, 40s and 50s. He is a a real  Rennesance Man of our time.

My mother lived in Oxford in the 50's. Everyday Faulkner would walk down the street to his favorite hangout. Nobody bothered him. It was known not to approach him. My pinhead brother, who was maybe 3 years old, broke loose and ran over to him and said hello. Faulkner patted him on the head and kept walking. My mother was horrified.

The honesty of this man regarding the world he grew up in would probably be quite impossible to get anyone to express these days. That to me is not progress, rather just the opposite. The fact that no one is allowed to be honest with one another in respect to these issues is a sort of guarantee that  underlying problems will not be truly resolved. It takes a lot of understanding and wisdom, that we as a society do not possess, to see the nuanced  and complicated relationship between blacks and whites of that time. We have no idea what we are talking about because we simply weren't there.

Foote-A learned man, passionate about writing and history...RIP

“Yes, we laughed, because I have learned this at least during these four years, that it really requires an empty stomach to laugh with, that only when you are hungry or frightened do you extract some ultimate essence out of laughing just as the empty stomach extracts the ultimate essence out of alcohol.”

Shelby was really sick in this interview.  
Very generous with his time. He ignored his discomfort and spoke as naturally as if he were well. He wasn't.

Had an English teacher in college who turned me on to Faulkner. Found Foote in my 40s... such good writers and Southern gentlemen.

Foote was amazing in Ken Burns' The American Civil War

Very nice hearing this deeply thoughtful and civiliized dialogue regarding the south, history, race and the art of writing.

As a retired nurse, I am aware of the wheezes,crackles and puffiness to his face. Could have fallen for this sweet man if I were born back in the day. RIP.

Mr. Foote you could tell was somewhat frail, but it seemed like he wanted to tell this before he wasn't able. It would have been a pleasure to have spent just one evening with Shelby.

Could listen that man speak for hours, lovely cadence and admirable honesty.
'It wasn't hard to be ahead of your time in Mississipi in the 1930s.'

A fantastic man Shelby Foote....R.I.P. kind sir , and may  God bless your honest soul and Heaven be your bed....💥

Love this interview because it’s like being transported to the times he (Foote) is discussing. The 1930s were only one lifetime after the Civil War, and both Faulkner and Foote were young men in a time when the war was actual living memory.

As someone once wrote: “The Past isn’t only Prologue — it isn’t even Past.”

I think that may even be Faulkner himself who made that observation.

I’m an old guy with a faulty memory 😂 …

I truly could listen to him read the phone book.
    The interviewer is just absolutely amazing.

Invaluable content and conversation.

28:47 is scarily accurate

I had a good friend who was Black and a generation older than I.  He was born in the North, and lived his whole life in Ohio.  But he was a great admirer of Shelby Foote.  His wife was my 10th grade English teacher, who just celebrated her 98th birthday.  I sent her the link to this interview, and she really enjoyed it.  She said that Freddie would have loved it!

Shelby REAL DEAL.