May Spotlight: Katherine Anne Porter (1890–1980)
Born on May 15, Texas native Katherine Anne Porter transformed personal hardship into lyrical, psychological fiction. Orphaned young and raised by her grandmother, Porter drew on her Southern roots, global travels, and near-death experience from the 1918 flu pandemic to craft some of the 20th century’s most nuanced short stories.
In 1966, she won both the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award for The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter—a stunning recognition of her lifelong dedication to the craft of short fiction.
I am still reading the collection of stories, but my favorite so far has been "Pale Horse, Pale Rider." It is a haunting account of love, war, and the influenza pandemic. In this story, Porter transforms her near-fatal experience with the 1918 influenza outbreak into a lyrical meditation on life suspended between love and loss, youth and death. As Adam prepares to leave for the frontlines of World War I, he is torn by the sudden illness of his beloved Miranda. I became emotionally attached to these characters, feeling their uncertainty and the dreadful circumstances they faced. I empathized with them and shed tears of regret as I turned each page.
Using a rich and descriptive writing style, Porter captures a surreal and vivid experience of illness, likely reflective of her brush with death. One poignant line reads: “The road ran on and on, dry, white, and hard under the moonlight, rising and falling and rising again into the white shimmering distance. She saw herself running along it with great leaps, like a deer, breathing lightly, feeling her strength, her body hard and light and young, filled with an unreasoning joy. ‘I shall not die, I shall not die,’ she cried, in the moment of death.”
Her journey through darkness becomes a quiet manifesto: that to live, despite pain, loss, and uncertainty, is still worthwhile. In doing so, Porter offers her readers more than a reflection of suffering; she provides a window into grace.
June Tribute: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900–1944)
We also celebrate the life of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, born June 29 in Lyon, France. An adventurous aviator and soul-searching writer, Saint-Exupéry’s works blend adventure, philosophy, and poetic clarity. But it is The Little Prince (Le Petit Prince, 1943) that remains his most enduring gift to the world.
In The Little Prince, a stranded pilot meets a mysterious boy in the desert — a whimsical premise rooted in the very real life of its author, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Much like his fictional narrator, Saint-Exupéry was an aviator who once crash-landed in the Sahara. That near-death experience, coupled with his wartime reflections, shaped the timeless story we know today.
The pilot in the tale isn't just a character—he's a mirror of Saint-Exupéry himself: a man torn between the rational world of adulthood and the boundless wonder of childhood. Through the prince’s innocent questions and the pilot’s quiet introspection, the author explores deep truths about friendship, loss, and the invisible ties that bind us.
Saint-Exupéry vanished during a flight in 1944, but his spirit lives on in the gentle wisdom of The Little Prince. It remains a poetic reminder that sometimes, it takes a pilot—and a child from another planet—to teach us what matters.
One of the most beloved and meaningful quotes from The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry is: "And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
— The Little Prince, Chapter 21
This quote captures the central theme of the book — the idea that true understanding and connection come not from surface appearances or logic, but from emotional insight, empathy, and love.
Celebrate these stories and join the conversation. On June 7, we will be screening The Little Prince (1974) at 1:00 p.m. in the library’s downstairs meeting room. Enjoy this classic musical adaptation featuring Bob Fosse and Gene Wilder. Popcorn provided. All ages welcome!
The Reading Trap Book Club will be discussing The Little Prince at noon on June 12 in the Traphill Branch Library. First-time readers and longtime fans welcome!