Author's return to Cape touts state reading plan

Cape Girardeau took part in Missouri's ReadMOre program for the first time with the appearance of author Eddy Harris at Central High School and the Cape Girardeau Public Library on Friday.

ReadMOre, in its third year, is a collaborative effort between Missouri public libraries, bookstores and starting next year, the Missouri Humanities Council. The goal, said project coordinator Kathleen Nigro, is "to encourage all Missourians to read and discuss the same book."

This year the ReadMOre council chose Harris' "Mississippi Solo," a first-hand account of the author's solo journey by canoe down the Mississippi River.

The book, Harris' first, was published in 1988 and was out of print at the time of the selection.

Harris, who was born in St. Louis and lives in Paris, France, has written and published three other nonfiction books since his debut.

After the ReadMOre council decided upon "Mississippi Solo" for their annual section, it was put into print again and given "a new life," Harris said.

Nigro said the council picked the book "because of the observance of the Lewis and Clark bicentennial, and this was one man's story of a journey. We felt that one man's journey typified the American experience."

Cape Girardeau actually makes an appearance in the book, as it was one of the stops Harris made on his two-month trip from Lake Itasca in Minnesota to New Orleans.

In the book, Harris describes Cape Girardeau as "the fringe of the South" and "a real river town, not simply a town on the river."

During his current visit to Cape Girardeau, Harris spoke to about 100 students at Central High School.

"We're beyond excited," said Central's librarian Julia Jorgensen. "We have tried for years to get an author to speak to the students. This appearance is just priceless."

Harris told the students that he had no plans to write a book about the experience at first, although he did keep a journal throughout. Rather, the trip was a way for him to find out more about himself, he said.

"It was designed as a public suicide. I had been a writer for a long time and published very little. I felt like a failure. I felt like life had not done what I wanted life to do."

The trip down the Mississippi, Harris figured, would either kill him or make him into a different person.

When asked what the scariest part of the trip was, Harris said it was being alone and encountering himself.

Harris said that not only did he recognize the good in himself after the trip was over, he also recognized the good in more people.

Although there were some scary moments with a few drunken men in Arkansas, Harris said most of the people he came across during his journey treated him with kindness.

Once he had finished talking with students, Harris traveled to the library, where he read an excerpt from "Mississippi Solo" and then spoke with the roughly 30 people who attended the event.

Then it was time for him to move on to St. Louis for the ReadMOre closing event.

"Everyone has been fantastic," Harris said of his weeklong tour of Missouri. "I've been having a great time."

kalfisi@semissourian.com

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