John Casey on ‘Spartina’

I remember loving John Casey’s (Jan 18, 1939 - Feb 22, 2025) 1990 National Book Award winning novel ‘Spartina’ because it was great writing about a boatman in a fishing village and the summer people. It was partly based on his life on a 4-acre island in Rhode Island. It reminded me of growing up in the Massachusetts Berkshires where the wealthy came to summer and attended Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony. In this June 27, 1990 interview Casey talks about the genesis of ‘Spartina’, life in Rhode Island, the metaphor of spartina grass, why he finds documentarians distasteful, and teaching literature. It is one of the few books I saved from my dozens of author interviews. He signed my copy of Spartina to ‘Ross, 1st Prize for interviews’.