Historian and Novelist Shelby Foote Dies at 88

Posted on June 30, 2005

Shelby Foote, a popular Civil War historian and novelist, has died at the age of 88. Foote wrote a highly praised trilogy of books about the Civil War called The Civil War: A Narrative. He also wrote six historical novels. An Associated Press article says Shelby Foote became a national celebrity during a 1990 PBS documentary about the Civil War:

On Burns' 11-hour PBS series "The Civil War," Foote became an immediate hit with his encyclopedic knowledge of the war, soft Southern accent and easy manner. With his gray beard and gentlemanly carriage, he seemed to have stepped straight out of a Mathew Brady photograph.
Later he would say that being a celebrity made him uneasy, and he worried it might detract from the seriousness of his work.
Foote worked on the Civil War history for 20 years, using his skills as a novelist to write in a flowing, narrative style.
"I can't conceive of writing it any other way," he once said. "Narrative history is the kind that comes closest to telling the truth. You can never get to the truth, but that's your goal."

The AP article also says that Foote wrote by hand with an old-fashioned dipped pen during his long career and never switched to a typewriter or computer.