Hunter never lets go until he's told you a story (Page 2 of 2)

So I called David back and told him maybe his friend McCrumb was saying the two of them are versions of the same song, opposite sides of the same coin, so to speak.

They both have the music of Appalachia running through their works. And, as you might know, The Great Speckled Bird is a religious number.

Maybe you also know David is a deacon in the Saint Demetrios Antiochian Catholic Church in America and has a ministry providing food and counsel at their mission on Middlebrook Pike. I once asked David if he had the authority to grant absolution, and I don’t remember his exact answer — because it contained a story or two at least — but the short answer is yes. So, if you find yourself needing someone to lay a hand atop your head, here’s your man.

He’s written 15 books, including one Iris Press just accepted. And he’s consistently stretched himself. He has a book of stories called Things to do in Knoxville When You’re Dead. His novels include what my friend, poet Laura Still, calls cult classics. These are The Jigsaw Man, based on a grisly murder case, and a spin-off, The Homicide Game. Then, there’s A Whiff of Garlic, A Sonnet for Shasta and The Dancing Savior, which author Steven Womack describes so:

“Imagine One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest as a cop novel… Lyrical and poetic, yet tough and gritty, Hunter’s story of one cop’s journey to redemption is both moving and haunting.”

Maybe my favorites are Trailer Trash from Tennessee and When Puppy Love Became a Howling Dog, stories about David’s childhood and young adulthood hereabouts. I’m pretty sure I first heard some of those stories by phone, or maybe at times when I’ve found myself standing with one foot in my car as David says, “Did I ever tell you about my uncle who stole a horse in St. Louis?” OK, I think I made that example up, but I’m not quite sure.

Ladies and Gentlemen, fellow Scribes and Raconteurs, let’s give it up for our 2008 Career Achievement Award Winner of the Knoxville Writers Guild, my friend and yours, Mr. David Hunter.

David, tell us a story.

* The views expressed in Commentary do not necessarily reflect those of Knoxville Voice.