THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 26, 1994 TAG: 9408240161
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 3B EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LEONA C. LILLEY, Correspondent
LENGTH: Medium: 89 lines
The old log cabin overlooking the North Landing River at Sandy Point Resort, on the Virginia-North Carolina line between Virginia Beach and Knotts Island, now owned by Gary Cordak, was once a favorite spot of the late Thomas Dixon, famous novelist and playwright.
Eddie Deaver, manager of the resort, said the cabin's interior has been renovated making it suitable for today's modern conveniences and lifestyle. However, the exterior remains basically as it was when Dixon used it as a study and hideaway while writing many of his novels and screenplays.
Dixon was born in Shelby, N.C., in 1864 and raised in poverty during the Reconstruction of the South after the Civil War. Before his success as an author, he was a legislator, lecturer, lawyer and a minister.
After two successful novels, his third, ``The Clansman,'' published in January 1905, became his most famous. It was received so well that Dixon converted it into a drama and took it on the road.
The opening night in Norfolk on Sept. 22, 1905, was described as one of the most tense experiences in Dixon's career. The theme, the Reconstruction of the South, the adjustment of society when the slaves were freed and Dixon's interpretations and predictions brought strong responses from his readers. Because of the controversy, he realized there would be mixed reactions from the audience. Therefore, at the end of the first act, Dixon appeared on stage and apologized to anyone in the audience who had been offended by the theme of the drama and announced that he had only the warmest feeling for all mankind.
When the curtain went down, the audience was captivated - gave him a standing ovation, cheering and shouting its approval. The associate producer is said to have shaken Dixon's hand and exclaimed, ``It's tremendous! Our fortune's made!''
The next morning's The Virginian-Pilot reported the success of the drama with a seven-column headline: ``The Clansman a tremendous sensation.'' However, the reviews were not always to be as favorable.
The drama toured the major cities in the South for two years, turning crowds away at many performances.
In 1915, the movie, ``Birth of a Nation,'' adapted by Dixon from ``The Clansman,'' became the first million-dollar movie. An article in Time magazine, March 16, 1953, indicated that ``Birth of a Nation'' may have grossed more profits than ``Gone With The Wind.''
Dixon met both boos and bravos at every performance. He was called a genius of unmatched brilliance, referred to as a hero by many and a racist by countless others. At the height of his career his name was in almost every newspaper in the country. He was seen in the company of such legends as Booker T. Washington and Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain). He died in 1946. Today, he is forgotten.
His career had passed its highest point when Dixon came to the Knotts Island area in 1918. However, he continued his work. Twentieth Century Authors mentions several of his principal novels published during the period he lived and worked on Sandy Point Resort site. ``A Man of the People'' and ``The Love Complex'' are among the five he wrote while living there.
He bought Mackay Island in North Carolina but later sold it to a wealthy acquaintance from New York, Joseph P. Knapp. Knapp proceeded to build on the island, in Dixon's own words, ``the dream house he had always wanted.'' After selling to Knapp, Dixon bought the tract of land that now embraces Sandy Point Resort. On that tract, he built a clubhouse which he often referred to as his ``California Bungalow,'' and where his good friends, Marvin ``Skeeter'' Halstead of Virginia Beach, his late wife, Emma, and daughters lived for many years.
Dixon was a devoted sportsman. ``When he came down here,'' Halstead recalled, ``he fell in love with duck hunting and quail shooting. He always had valuable quail dogs and he was an expert marksman.
`We had three months of duck hunting season back then,'' Halstead said. ``Mr. Dixon stayed at the club during the hunting season. He would go back and forth to New York, though. He was doing some writing and at the same time working on a deal about a screenplay in California. He built the cabin sometime in the mid '20s. He wanted it for a study to write in. He planned to bring all his books and things from New York and put them in there - but he never did.''
Halstead, who ``puttered around,'' helping whenever he could when the cabin was being built, said, ``I think the logs for the cabin were cut from back of West Whitehurst's place. The lumber for the clubhouse was ordered by Mr. Dixon, shipped to Munden Point by train and delivered to the building site by boat.''
Halstead recalled that Dixon was forced to sell his retreat in 1930. According to the book ``Far from the Flint,'' by Raymond Allen Cook, Dixon had invested his money from books and films in the stock market on margin. He lost it all when the stock market crashed in 1929.
The cabin, with its large living area, two bedrooms and loft sleeping area, is now rented to tourists for vacations at $325 per week. by CNB