Ernest J. Gaines will be interred Saturday among the graves of his ancestors on the former sugar cane plantation in Pointe Coupee Parish where he was born.
Gaines, the internationally acclaimed author of 小蝌蚪APP淭he Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman小蝌蚪APP and 小蝌蚪APP淎 Lesson Before Dying,小蝌蚪APP died Nov. 5. The former writer-in-residence at the 小蝌蚪APP was 86.
La Louisiane, the 小蝌蚪APP小蝌蚪APP檚 magazine, after he won the prestigious MacArthur Foundation Award. He said in the interview he was fixated on saving the cemetery that will now be his final resting place.
小蝌蚪APP淭he greatest obsession in my life right now is that I can own and preserve the cemetery where my people are buried for the past 100 years.小蝌蚪APP Many of the graves 小蝌蚪APP he estimated there were no less than 200 people buried there 小蝌蚪APP were without 小蝌蚪APP渕arks,小蝌蚪APP or tombstones.
Kathleen Thames, the article小蝌蚪APP檚 author, wrote: 小蝌蚪APP淭here was a time when Gaines wanted his own epitaph to state, 小蝌蚪APP楬e was a good man who wrote well.小蝌蚪APP
小蝌蚪APP淚 think I小蝌蚪APP檝e changed that to, 小蝌蚪APP楾o lie with those who have no marks,小蝌蚪APP櫺◎蝌紸PP Gaines told her.
In a statement following Gaines小蝌蚪APP death, 小蝌蚪APP President Dr. Joseph Savoie cited the author小蝌蚪APP檚 initial wishes for his epitaph, but suggested he was more than a 小蝌蚪APP済ood man who wrote well.小蝌蚪APP
Gaines 小蝌蚪APP渨as also an extraordinary and inspiring figure in the American literary landscape,小蝌蚪APP Savoie said. 小蝌蚪APP淗e was a believer in the power of words to inspire unflinching, honest conversations about painful corners of our collective past.小蝌蚪APP
The 小蝌蚪APP remembered Gaines during a public memorial service Monday in Edith Garland Dupr茅 Library, the home of the . The center holds many of his first-edition works and original manuscripts.
After Gaines小蝌蚪APP died, the center eulogized its namesake as 小蝌蚪APP渁 towering man with a gentle voice小蝌蚪APP and an 小蝌蚪APP渋nspiration.小蝌蚪APP
Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday at Hall Davis and Sons, 9348 Scenic Highway in Baton Rouge. Gaines小蝌蚪APP family will receive visitors at the funeral home from 4-6 p.m. Friday and from noon to 1 p.m. on the day of the services.
Following the 1994 La Louisiane profile, Gaines purchased the cemetery where his ancestors are interred. He bought and moved Mount Zion Baptist Church to the property as well.
He小蝌蚪APP檒l be buried there Saturday among those who have no marks.
Photo credit: The Ernest J. Gaines Center / 小蝌蚪APP