MPB Classics
The Islander (1977)
2/1/2021 | 28m 44sVideo has Closed Captions
A dramatization of Walter Anderson’s visits to Horn Island to find artistic inspiration
Legendary artist Walter Anderson visited Horn Island on the Mississippi Gulf Coast numerous times throughout his life to find inspiration in the natural world. The film was shot on location on Horn Island and features James Best in the title role with narrations from Anderson’s daughter, Mary Anderson Stebly. Originally released in 1977.
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MPB Classics is a local public television program presented by mpb
MPB Classics
The Islander (1977)
2/1/2021 | 28m 44sVideo has Closed Captions
Legendary artist Walter Anderson visited Horn Island on the Mississippi Gulf Coast numerous times throughout his life to find inspiration in the natural world. The film was shot on location on Horn Island and features James Best in the title role with narrations from Anderson’s daughter, Mary Anderson Stebly. Originally released in 1977.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipAnnouncer: FUNDING FOR THE THIS PROGRAM WAS PROVIDED BY A GRANT FROM: ...AND ( soft tinkling piano ) ( cries of sea gulls ) Mary: WALTER ANDERSON WAS A PAINTER, A SCHOLAR, A WRITER, A SCULPTOR -- SOMETIMES A FATHER.
MORE AND MORE I REALIZE I'M AMAZED AT HOW EXTRAORDINARY HE REALLY WAS.
WE DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT ALL THE PAINTINGS.
AND WE NEVER REALIZED WHAT WAS IN THE LITTLE ROOM.
NOT UNTIL AFTER OUR FATHER DIED.
WALTER ANDERSON IS STARTING TO BECOME FAMOUS.
WE KNEW OUR FATHER AS A SPECIAL PERSON.
A PERSON NOT LIMITED BY DAILY CONTACTS OR ROUTINES.
WE HARDLY EVER SAW HIM.
OUR MOTHER MADE IT SEEM A NATURAL THING.
Girl: MAMA, DADDY'S LEAVING.
HE WAS AN ARTIST.
WE ACCEPTED THAT.
HE WOULD ROW OUT TO HORN ISLAND 16 MILES OFF THE GULF COAST OF MISSISSIPPI.
ROWING SOMETIMES FOR THREE DAYS IN A LITTLE SKIFF.
HE'D STAY OUT THERE ALONE FOR WEEKS.
Narrated from Anderson's Log: "THE FIRST POETRY IS ALWAYS WRITTEN "BY SAILORS OR FARMERS WHO SING WITH THE WIND IN THEIR TEETH."
"THE SECOND POETRY IS WRITTEN BY SCHOLARS "AND STUDENTS AND WINE DRINKERS "WHO HAVE LEARNED TO KNOW A GOOD THING."
( call of sea gulls ) Anderson's Log: "THE THIRD POETRY IS SOMETIMES NEVER WRITTEN "BUT WHEN IT IS, IT IS WRITTEN BY THOSE "WHO HAVE BROUGHT NATURE AND ART INTO ONE THING."
Mary: HORN ISLAND IS THE PLACE WHERE WALTER ANDERSON WAS ABLE TO LIVE HIS THIRD POETRY.
THERE, IT SEEMS, MORE THAN ANYWHERE ELSE HE FOUND WHAT HE NEEDED: THE IMAGES HE WOULD TURN INTO ART.
Anderson's Log: "THE WIND STRENGTHENED "AND SO DID THE SEAS.
"IT WAS NOT ILL-TEMPERED.
"IT MAY OF SIMPLY "MISUNDERSTOOD MY NEED.
"I WAS HEADING NEARLY INTO THE REFLECTION OF THE SUN "AND THE WATER WAS LIKE MOLTEN METAL.
"THE ISLAND LOOKED VERY IDYLLIC.
"FIVE MILES STRAIGHT UP WIND SEEMED A LONG WAY... "AND EVERY WHITECAP DEFYING THE ROWER.
"THERE WERE ALSO SWELLS COMING FROM THE WEST.
"IT MADE UNCOMFORTABLE ROWING.
"BUT I WAS REASONABLY HOPEFUL "OF REACHING THE ISLAND.
"EVERYTHING WAS THERE "PROVIDED I RETAIN MY CONSCIOUSNESS.
"YET, I WAS DRIVEN EVER THERE "BY THE UNBORN OR THE MOST RECENTLY BORN.
"TO LEAVE ALL THE WORLD HELD... "AND ACCEPT IDENTITY WITH THE COUNTLESS THOUSANDS "CLAMORING FOR EXISTENCE.
"THE CLOUDS IN THE DIRECTION OF THE ISLAND "FORMED A SORT OF ILLUMINATED LADDER "WHICH WAS MOST APPROPRIATE "ONLY CELESTIAL BEINGS WERE ABLE TO REACH IT.
"PROVIDENCE MADE AN EXCEPTION IN MY CASE.
"THE ANGLE OF THE WAVES CHANGED "AS I APPROACHED THE ISLAND.
"I, A ROMAN CONQUEROR WITH MY TRIUMPH.
"A FOLLOWING OF HUNDREDS OF CAPTIVE WAVES.
"I GOT ASHORE QUITE NEAR MY CAMP.
Mary: PEOPLE WONDERED WHY HE WENT OUT THERE.
HE SAW THINGS ON HORN ISLAND.
THINGS NO ONE ELSE WOULD TAKE THE TIME TO SEE.
( flute playing softly ) Anderson's Log: "IT IS THAT PERFECT TIME OF DAY "WHEN THE MUD BANKS "ON EACH SIDE OF THE BAYOU ARE PURPLE AND BLUE "AND THE GRASS IS ORANGE AND YELLOW AND GREEN "WITH THE BLUE SKY ABOUT IT.
"IT'S A VERY SPECTACULAR DAY.
"THE STAGE IS ANIMATED.
"THE WAVE LIKE WOLVES SHOW THEIR TEETH "AND BREAK ON THE BEACH.
"THERE'S AN AIR OF EXPECTANCY.
"MORE IS TO COME.
( piccolo playing playfully ) ( a tern chides an in-coming wave ) ( gulls calling ) Anderson's Log: "THE WHOLE ISLAND SEEMS "A CONCENTRATION OF LIFE.
"IT IS SWARMING HIDDEN AMONG THE PALMETTOS.
"IT IS LEFT ON THE BEACH "AMONG THE DECAYED WOOD PULP.
"IT APPARENTLY COMES INTO PERPETUAL SPIRAL "EMOTING FROM THE SUN ITSELF.
( piccolo playing ) ( birds calling ) ( bird sharply complains ) Anderson's Log: "I HEARD A LITTLE GREEN HERON COMPLAINING.
"AND LOOKED UP INTO A DEAD PINE BEYOND "AND SAW THE YOUNG HERON "CLIMB UP USING FEET, WINGS, AND THE POINT OF ITS BILL.
"IT SEEMED THAT WITH VERY LITTLE "IT WOULD CLIMB THE CLOUD "AND TAKE THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN BY FORCE.
"I DREW IT IN ECSTACY.
( bird calling ) Anderson's Log: "MAN BEGINS BY SAYING "'OF COURSE, THE LOVE OF BIRD OR SHELL "'WHICH MIGHT HAVE RESTORED ITS LIFE "FLIES AWAY CARRIED BY THE SAME WIND WHICH HAS DESTROYED IT.'"
"THE BIRD FLIES AND IN THAT FRACTION OF A SECOND "THE BIRD AND THE MAN ARE REAL.
"HE IS NOT ONLY KING - - HE IS MAN.
"HE IS NOT ONLY MAN HE IS THE ONLY MAN "AND THAT IS THE ONLY BIRD "AND EVERY FEATHER, EVERY MARK "EVERY PART OF THE PATTERN OF ITS FEATHERS IS REAL.
"AND HE, MAN, EXISTS "AND HE IS ALMOST AS WONDERFUL "AS THE THING HE SEES.
( man humming ) Anderson's Log: "I OPENED A CAN "AND FOUND SPINACH SOUP.
"I PUT THAT TO ONE SIDE AND OPENED ANOTHER CAN "AND FOUND THAT WAS SPINACH SOUP, TOO.
"I ATE SPINACH SOUP AND PEACH JAM "AND FOUND THAT EATING WAS LARGELY A MATTER OF TASTE."
( call of flying bird ) ( music playing softly ) Anderson's Log: "TO THE INTELLECTUAL, LIFE IS "AN INCIDENTAL THING GENERATED FROM FORM.
"TO THE ISLANDER, FORM ITSELF IS A MIRACLE.
"THE REALIZATION COMES FROM THE FORM.
"IF THE ISLANDER INSISTS "AND STOMPS HIS FOOT HARD ENOUGH "THE STRANGE FORM DEVELOPS FINS "AND EVEN WINGS START.
"BUT MAN BECOMES IMPATIENT "AND HAS DEVELOPED A PROPELLER "WHICH IS SUPPOSED TO TAKE THE PLACE "OF BOTH WINGS AND FINS.
Anderson's Log" "I WENT EXPLORING IN A SMALL BULLRUSH LAGOON.
"THEN I GOT OUT AND WALKED AND FOUND A RACOON.
"WHEN I PUT MY HAT OVER IT, "IT WAS A LITTLE COON JUST GETTING ITS TEETH.
"I TOOK IT HOME AND FED IT MINNOWS.
"NO TROUBLE PERSUADING IT TO EAT.
"IT WAS RAVENOUS AND POUNCED.
( fire crackling ) "I HAVE INKY SHUT UP IN A CAGE.
"I CAN LET HIM OUT WHEN I GO FOR A WALK.
"HE DOESN'T GO FAR.
"HIS APPETITE IS NOT WHAT IT WAS.
"I'M READY FOR THE SLEEP OF THE RE-INSTALLED CAVEMAN "WHO HAS SURVIVED AND REJOICES OVER HIS SURVIVAL.
NOT WITHOUT TWINGES OF WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN."
( bongos playing rapidly ) Anderson's Log: "I DID A DANCE ON THE FRONT BEACH "MOVING TO THE SOUND OF MUSIC IN MY HEAD.
THE MORNING WAS BEAUTIFULLY CLEAR."
( man panting ) ( flute playing brightly ) Anderson's Log: "YOU MISS THINGS "WITHOUT REALIZING WHAT IT IS YOU ARE MISSING.
"THEN YOU BLAME YOURSELF FOR INSENSITIVITY.
"THE TRUTH IS, THINGS MOVE FAST "AND LIFE IS INTERESTING.
AND THERE ARE MANY THINGS TO BE ENJOYED AND DIGESTED."
"THE WORLD OF MAN IS FAR AWAY "AND SO IS MAN.
HOW PLEASANT WITHOUT HIM."
Mary: AS WE GREW UP, MY TWO BROTHERS AND SISTER AND I WE LEARNED THE FACTS OF OUR FATHER'S LIFE LIKE A MYTHOLOGY.
THIS WE PIECED TOGETHER WITH WHAT HE LEFT US TO REMEMBER OF HIM.
HE WAS BORN IN 1903 IN NEW ORLEANS.
EVEN HIS WOOD CARVINGS FROM HIS SCHOOL YEARS DEMONSTRATED THE NATIVE TALENT THE UNCOMMON GIFT THAT HIS MOTHER, AN ARTIST HERSELF HAD RECOGNIZED IN HER SON.
AS A BOY HE WAS TRAINED IN THE FUNDAMENTALS OF DRAWING.
IN 1924 HE WAS 21 AND IN ART SCHOOL AT THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY.
BUT IT WAS A VERY CONSERVATIVE SCHOOL AND HE REBELLED.
HE SPENT ALL HIS TIME AT THE ZOO DRAWING ANIMALS.
WHEN THE TERM WAS OVER HE HAD NO WORK TO TURN IN EXCEPT HIS ANIMAL DRAWINGS.
THESE AND LATER DRAWINGS GAINED HIM A SCHOLARSHIP TO STUDY IN EUROPE.
HE WAS NOT ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT THE MUSEUMS THERE.
WHAT HE WAS ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT WHAT INFLUENCED HIM WERE CAVE PAINTINGS ETCHED BY ANCIENT ARTISTS WHO WERE NOT OBSERVING NATURE, THEY WERE PART OF IT.
THE YOUNG WALTER ANDERSON WAS DEEPLY AFFECTED.
HE WAS ALREADY THEN WHAT HE WAS TO BECOME.
THE NEXT YEAR HE RETURNED FROM EUROPE TO OCEAN SPRINGS WHERE HIS MOTHER HAD FORMED AN ART COLONY AND HIS BROTHER PETER HAD STARTED SHEARWATER POTTERY.
WALTER ANDERSON WAS 26.
THEN HE MET AGNES GRINSTEAD, MY MOTHER AND WANTED TO MARRY HER.
BUT HER FATHER DECREED THAT HE COULD NOT HAVE HER HAND UNTIL HE WAS MAKING A GOOD LIVING.
AND HERE, PERHAPS FOR THE FIRST TIME WAS THE CONFLICT THAT WOULD ALMOST TEAR HIM IN HALF BEFORE IT WAS OVER -- THE SIMULTANEOUS PULLING IN TWO DIRECTIONS BETWEEN SOCIETY AND NATURE -- BETWEEN DUTY AND ART.
TO MAKE A LIVING, MY FATHER AND HIS YOUNGER BROTHER MAC WENT INTO BUSINESS.
THEY STARTED MAKING WIDGETS.
THEY WERE DECORATIVE, INEXPENSIVE AND A SUCCESS.
SO IN 1933 WALTER ANDERSON WAS ABLE TO MARRY AGNES GRINSTEAD, HIS WIFE FOR LIFE.
THOUGH SHE COULDN'T HAVE KNOWN THEN THAT SHE WAS SEEING MORE OF HIM NOW THAN SHE EVER WOULD.
THAT AS THE YEARS WENT ON, SHE WOULD SEE HIM LESS AND LESS.
BESIDES THE WIDGETS, HE MADE BLOCK PRINTS.
THIS TOO, WAS ART EVERYONE COULD AFFORD.
IT WAS PART OF HIS PAYMENT FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL YEARS HE WAS CREATING TWO KINDS OF ART -- FOR OTHERS AND FOR HIMSELF.
HE FELT THAT THE ARTIST OWED IT TO SOCIETY TO PRODUCE A PUBLIC ART.
IN RETURN, HE REASONED SOCIETY SHOULD GRANT THE ARTIST TIME AND SUSTENANCE TO CREATE HIS PRIVATE ART.
Anderson's Log: "TODAY I HAD A DELIGHTFUL TIME "WHILE I DID PAINT.
"IT WAS AN EMBARRASSMENT OF RICHES.
"WHILE I WAS PAINTING PELICANS "FIRST A TERRAPIN, THEN A KING RAIL "AND AT LAST A CRAB CAME TIP TOEING OUT "BETWEEN THE MANGROVE TUBERS.
"WHEN THE SUN IS LOW AND CASTING "MORE AND MORE HORIZONTAL SHADOWS "THE EFFECT IS OF A CEREMONIAL DANCE.
"AND MAN, IF HE IS THE OBSERVER "AND HAS HIS BACK TO THE SUN "MUST GIVE THE EFFECT TO THEM "OF SOME HUGE PRESENCE "BENEFICENT AND TERRIBLE BETWEEN THEM AND THE GOLDEN DISC OF THE SUN."
Mary: WALTER ANDERSON SAID, "I'M A DRAMATIC PAINTER."
HORN ISLAND WAS HIS OWN PARTICULAR STAGE.
AND WHEN HE PAINTED, HE WAS TAKING PART IN THE DRAMA NOT JUST OBSERVING, BUT JOINING IN.
HIS ART WAS NEVER SEPARATED FROM HIS SEARCH AND PART OF THE DRAMA WAS LIFE AND DEATH.
SOMETIMES HE WOULD TRY TO INTERVENE IN THE DRAMA AND SAVE ORPHANED ANIMALS OR INJURED BIRDS.
HE'D SET UP A HOSPITAL FOR THEM AND NURSE THEM -- AND PAINT THEM.
BUT VERY OFTEN THE PAINTINGS ARE OF DEAD CREATURES BECAUSE HE COULDN'T SAVE THEM.
( flute softly playing ) Anderson's Log: "THE REQUIEM FOR LITTLE INKY "DIED PARTLY OF GOOD INTENTIONS "AND PARTLY OF SELFISHNESS ON MY PART.
"I THOUGHT I COULD FATTEN HIM UP "BUT HE WAS TOO YOUNG.
"I'M WRENCHED EVERY TIME I THINK OF HIM.
"HE WAS SO INDEPENDENT "WHICH MADE HIM SO ATTRACTIVE.
"THAT MUCH LESS CHARM IN THE WORLD.
"SO MUCH THE LESS MAGIC.
"THE MAGIC THAT BRINGS THE UNREAL TOGETHER WITH THE SORT OF THING MOST PEOPLE CALL REALITY."
"I SAW A BOAT.
"A SKIFF WITH SOME MEN IN IT.
"THEY CAME CLOSE AND IT TURNED OUT "TO BE FISHERMEN.
"WE TALKED.
"THEY ASKED WHAT WAS I DOING.
"DIDN'T I GET LONELY?
I SAID I WAS DRAWING BIRDS AND HADN'T BEEN LONELY YET."
( dramatic music playing ) Mary: IN 1937 AT THE AGE OF 34 WALTER ANDERSON ASKED TO BE HOSPITALIZED.
HIS CONDITION WAS DIAGNOSED AS SCHIZOPHRENIA.
WHILE A PATIENT AT WHITFIELD THE MISSISSIPPI STATE HOSPITAL FOR THE MENTALLY ILL HE DREW SEVERAL REPRESENTATIONS OF HIMSELF.
HE CAREFULLY TITLED ONE "THE ALIENOTO" -- THE ALIEN.
HE WAS RELEASED AND RETURNED TO THE GULF COAST.
SOMETIMES WHEN I SAW HIM ON THE STREET I'D HOPE HE WOULDN'T SEE ME.
TO THE PEOPLE OF OUR COMMUNITY IN THE EARLY 1940'S HE WAS AN ECCENTRIC PEDDLING EVERYWHERE ON HIS RICKETY BICYCLE UNFAILINGLY COURTEOUS ALWAYS WEARING HIS BATTERED, TATTERED HAT.
UNKEMPT AND UNCARING.
THEY SAW HIM AS OUTLANDISH, BAZAAR, CRAZY.
AND SOME OF IT MUST HAVE BEEN THE OLD CONFLICT SURFACING AND SURFACING AGAIN.
ONE PART OF HIM WAS TRYING TO STAY WITH SOCIETY ON THE MAINLAND AND FULFILL HIS DUTIES TO HIS FAMILY.
THE OTHER PART WAS ALREADY AN ISLAND.
WALTER ANDERSON ENDURED MUCH IN ORDER TO MEET NATURE IN ITS OWN TERMS -- NATS, BITING FLIES, EXTREMES OF HEAT AND COLD.
ONCE HE STRAPPED HIMSELF TO A TREE TO WITNESS A HURRICANE.
ONCE HE REACHED FOR A BRANCH AND WAS BITTEN BY A COPPERHEAD SNAKE.
AND THERE WERE MOSQUITOS.
Anderson's Log: "I COULD FEEL AND HEAR "THE MOSQUITOES THINKING THEIR WAY IN TO BITE.
"TO LIVE, TO GO ON LIVING.
"ALL OF THE MOSQUITOS ON THE ISLAND "WOULD IDENTIFY THEMSELVES WITH ONE -- MY BLOOD.
"AND I WOULD BECOME IDENTIFIED WITH ALL MEN "IN ORDER TO KEEP IT OUT.
"I WOULD WIN, AND I DID.
BUT NOT UNTIL SEVERAL HAD BORED THEIR WAY IN."
( fire crackling ) ( music begins playing ) Anderson's Journal: "MOUNTAINS AND CASTLES OF WHITE FOAM "PILE AGAINST THE SHORE.
"LOOKING BACKWARD "WITH THE SUN ON THEM THEY GLITTER "THE COLORS ACID, ALKALINE LIKE THE STRANGE COLORS IN A DRIFTWOOD FIRE."
( frogs croaking ) "THERE WAS A BEAUTIFUL SUNSET.
"ONE FELT IT HAD BEEN ARRANGED WITH TASTE.
"SO MANY SUNSETS SEEM "TO BE SIMPLY WILD EXPLOSIONS OF COLOR "IN ORDER TO STUN PEOPLE INTO A STATE OF MUTE WONDER.
"BUT THIS ONE HAD VARIETY.
( man humming ) Mary: AFTER HE GOT OUT OF THE HOSPITAL HE WOULD OCCASIONALLY VISIT HORN ISLAND -- BUT HE WAS STILL A VISITOR.
HE DID MOST OF HIS PAINTING ON THE MAINLAND AND WE SAW HIM MORE.
HE'D ALWAYS HAD A FEELING THAT HE SHOULD KEEP A RECORD OF THE SPECIAL THINGS THAT HAPPENED.
HE BEGAN MAKING CALENDARS COMMEMORATING AND PRESERVING EACH DAY.
IN THEM CAN BE SEEN HIS INTEREST IN THE EXOTIC AND THE PRIMITIVE IN PERSIAN, MAYAN, INCAN, EGYPTIAN AND BABYLONIAN ART.
AND FOR THE PUBLIC HE WAS DOING MORE MURALS LIKE THE COMMUNITY HOUSE IN OCEAN SPRINGS.
Anderson's Log: "I RENEWED MY YOUTH AND WENT SWIMMING."
Mary: EVERYTHING TO WALTER ANDERSON WAS AN ADVENTURE, A JOURNEY.
HE HAD NEVER LOST THAT CHILDHOOD FEELING.
HE WAS DRAWN TO VOYAGES EVEN BEFORE HIS HORN ISLAND YEARS.
HE DREW THOUSANDS OF ILLUSTRATIONS FOR THE RHYME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER PARADISE LOST DON QUIXOTE ALICE IN WONDERLAND.
HE WAS ALWAYS THE VOYAGER RIDING ALONE.
HE RODE AN OLD BICYCLE AROUND THE UNITED STATES.
IN 1949 HE WENT TO CHINA AND WANDERED ALL OVER.
UNTIL ONE NIGHT HIS MONEY AND PAPERS WERE STOLEN BEFORE HE COULD REACH HIS ULTIMATE GOAL: TIBET AND THE TEMPLE DRAWINGS THERE.
SO HE HAD TO RETURN HOME.
HE NOW HAD FOUR CHILDREN.
AND THIS WAS WHEN WALTER ANDERSON BEGAN TO MAKE MORE AND MORE FREQUENT VISITS TO HIS ISLAND -- TO HORN ISLAND.
FATHER WOULD STAY THERE FOR WEEKS AT A TIME.
WE SAW LESS AND LESS OF HIM.
EVEN WHEN HE CAME BACK HE WOULD LIVE ALONE IN HIS LITTLE HOUSE.
WE RARELY SAW HIM, NOT EVEN MOTHER UNLESS HE CAME TO US.
THEN HE WOULD BE GONE AGAIN.
HIS DOCTOR HAD SAID THAT FATHER COULD FUNCTION AS LONG AS HE FELT FREE.
ON HORN ISLAND HE WAS FREE.
THE ALIEANOTO HAD FOUND A HOME.
( soft lapping of waves ) Mary: HE WAS PAINTING NOTHING BUT WATER COLORS NOW.
EVERY ONE OF THEM ON PLAIN EIGHT AND A HALF BY ELEVEN TYPEWRITER PAPER.
PAINTING THREE AND FOUR AND FIVE A DAY.
LIKE A DISTILLATION OF ALL THE THINGS HE HAD LEARNED, THAT HE HAD SEEN THAT HE HAD LIVED WITH FOR YEARS.
TOWARD THE END, HE MUST'VE BEEN GETTING VERY CLOSE TO WHAT HE WAS LOOKING FOR.
IT'S IN HIS PAINTINGS, HIS WRITINGS.
HE MAY HAVE LOST A LOT OF WHAT WE CALL SANITY ALONG THE WAY BUT HE WAS MOVING TOWARD SOME SORT OF ONENESS WITH HIMSELF AND WITH NATURE.
EACH FACE WAS HIS FACE.
IF HE SAW A TREE, HE WAS THE TREE.
WHEN HE SAW A BIRD, HE WAS THE BIRD.
( soft tinkling of piano ) Anderson's Log: "THE THIRD POETRY "IS SOMETIMES NEVER WRITTEN.
"BUT WHEN IT IS, IT IS WRITTEN BY THOSE WHO HAVE BROUGHT NATURE AND ART INTO ONE THING."
Mary: THE LAST TIME WALTER ANDERSON EVER VISITED HORN ISLAND WAS IN 1965.
HE'D BEEN COUGHING BLOOD AND WHEN HE RETURNED TO THE MAINLAND HE WENT TO MY MOTHER AND ASKED TO BE TAKEN TO THE DOCTOR.
IT WAS LUNG CANCER.
IN TWO MONTHS HE WAS GONE.
IN HIS HOUSE, MY MOTHER FOUND EGGS AND RICE.
WALTER ANDERSON HAD BEEN PREPARING FOR ANOTHER TRIP.
SHE ALSO FOUND THOUSANDS OF HIS WATER COLORS IN TRUNKS, IN BOXES, ALL OVER THE FLOOR.
WE HAD NEVER GUESSED THAT THERE WERE SO MANY.
ONE ROOM WAS PAD LOCKED.
( flute playing softly ) PERHAPS THE LITTLE ROOM WAS HIS OWN PRIVATE WORLD.
HIS CELEBRATION OF LIFE.
THE WALLS WERE A JOURNEY THROUGH NIGHT AND DAY.
POPULATED BY THE PLANTS AND CREATURES OF THE COAST.
TO THOSE HE LEFT BEHIND THE ROOM IS A JOYOUS REMINDER OF THE BEAUTY AND INFINITE VARIETY OF LIFE AROUND US SEEN CLEARLY THROUGH THE EYES OF THE ISLANDER.
( flute playing softly ) Anderson's Log: "THE WATER WAS ALIVE WITH PHOSPHORUS "AND I WAS ACCOMPANIED BY PORPOISES.
"I SAW VENUS RISE, AND WHEN I WAS ALMOST HOME "DAYLIGHT OF THE SUN.
"I FEEL LIKE SAYING FATE STILL HAS MUCH MORE IN STORE FOR ME."
( piano playing softly ) [Captioned by MPB] Announcer: FUNDING FOR THIS PROGRAM WAS PROVIDED BY A GRANT FROM: ...AND:


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