Tom Piazza - A Free State

He was not in the room. The bed had been made, and the banjar was gone, along with his few other effects.

“William,” I called out, again.

On the table where our glasses had set the night before were the Dickens volumes I had lent him, and on top of them a small sheet of paper with some handwriting, which read:

thank you, senator. I will be all rite, don’t worry. Please say thank you to Missus Senator and to Fanny for me. I’ll show her the trick next time I see you all. — Wm.

I sat down on the bed. I looked around our basement, which had given temporary shelter to many others, and would again. To live at the grace of others’ goodwill. To live life without ever having a place of your own. To hide in basements. That the law should sanction the hunting of men! That any man dare call another property!

That evening we ate our dinner silently, as if in mourning. What was there to say? Fanny was, of course, heartbroken. After we had put her to bed, Addie and I sat up in the parlor, quietly. She was knitting, and I tried to read but had little success. In our warm parlor, by lamplight, I felt the cold outside. I feel it still, and I fear for my country.

Thanks to my editor, and friend, Cal Morgan, his invaluable assistant, Laura Brown, and my brilliant and loyal agent Amy Williams. Thanks to the MacDowell Colony, where this book was begun, and Sheila Pleasants and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, where much of it was written. Thanks to Elvis Costello, Jeff Rosen, David Gates, and Ry Cooder for encouragement and friendship along the way, and to the banjo brain trust — Jim Bollman, Pete Ross, Cece Conway, Tony Thomas, Bob Smakula, Greg Adams, Kevin Enoch, Paul Brown, Bob Carlin, Tony Trischka, Bob Winans, Dom Flemons, Peter Szego, and Adam Hurt — for much insight and for favors large and small.

To the memory of Mike Seeger, and to Alexia Smith, who did me the honor of inviting me to choose a couple of Mike’s instruments for my own, one of which was the banjo that started me thinking about the scenes, themes, and meanings that came together in this book.

To my mother, Lillian Piazza, who has always encouraged me with her spirit and love.

And, always, to Mary Howell, my much, much better half.

TOM PIAZZAis the author of the novels City of Refuge and My Cold War , the post-Katrina manifesto Why New Orleans Matters , the essay collection Devil Sent the Rain , and many other works. He was a principal writer for the HBO drama series Treme , and the winner of a Grammy Award for his album notes to Martin Scorsese Presents: The Blues: A Musical Journey . He lives in New Orleans.

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