ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 17, 1995 TAG: 9512150116
SECTION: BOOKS PAGE: F-4 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: BOOK REVIEW
SOURCE: Reviewed by LYNN ECKMAN
CHARLES KURALT'S AMERICA. By Charles Kuralt. G.P. Putnam's Sons. $24.95.
A perfect year, one month in each of 12 beloved places, became a dream realized by Charles Kuralt after his retirement from CBS and the rigors of many years of working as a journalist. Kuralt himself is a loner, yet he generously shares the pleasures of his travels, the unique appeal of each site, and the stories he gathers wherever he happens to be in his version of "America."
Everyone who misses Kuralt's appearances on television and his dry but harmless humor will want to read about his encounters with: a treasure hunter in Florida who may be the richest person on Earth, a world-renowned saddle maker in Wyoming, the Cajuns in Mamou near New Orleans, or scores of other fascinating people whom Charles Kuralt attracts as unfailingly as a dark suit attracts lint.
He allows them to speak in their own ways, never condescending, always marveling at the variety and value of the human experience. In doing so, the author shows us a great deal of himself, too - his love of good food and conversation, his appreciation of natural beauty, and his admiration for the vastness and diversity of our country.
Kuralt had planned to spend April in California, but instead he went to Connecticut to watch a special flower bloom. "In a perfect year, you ought to be free to change your mind." He hopes that the flower - Narcissus Charles Kuralt - provide him with a sort of immortality.
There are, of course, other ways of achieving that, one of which is to write, which he does simply but well, indeed. For a North Carolina boy who owes everything "to the wind and to Providence," that accomplishment is no mean one.
His "America" is a paean, a song of praise to life, for some of the joy that had come back to him, and it ends on a note as triumphal as any in Handel's "Messiah." Come to think of it, Christmas is coming; what better gift could there be than this beautiful book?
Lynn Eckman recently retired from Roanoke College.
LENGTH: Short : 47 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Cover of "Charles Kuralt's America."by CNB