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Memories of Katherine Anne Porter and Her Return to Texas: A Talk by Dr. Roger Brooks Reprinted by permission of the Southwestern Writers Collection, Southwest Texas State University

"Katherine Anne Porter: An Evening of Reminiscence," commemorating the presentation of the Roger L. Brooks Katherine Anne Porter Papers to the Southwestern Writers Collection took place on Thursday, April 15, 1999, in the Albert B. Allkek Library at Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. Acquired by the Southwestern Writers Collection in late 1998, this collection of correspondence, photographs, interviews and inscribed books was maintained by Porter's friend, Dr. Roger L. Brooks, and it traces the arc of Porter's life back to Texas.

Dr. Brooks was the president of Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas, when he learned that Porter, one of America's greatest writers, had been born a few miles away in Indian Creek. Porter's mother died when she was two, and the family then moved to Kyle to live with her grandmother. Though Porter's childhood in Kyle provided the setting and substance of many of her best short stories, she had a troubled relationship with her native state, which she felt was unappreciative of her.

As President of Howard Payne University, Dr. Brooks organized a conference of Porter scholars and arranged for her to receive an honorary degree. Dr. Brooks took Porter to visit her mother's grave in her hometown cemetery. It was at this time that Porter decided to be buried next to her mother, thus beginning the process of her reconciliation with her Texas roots.

Porter and Dr, Brooks became close friends in the last few years of her life, and his collection of correspondence, photographs, interviews, and inscribed books traces the arc of Porter=s life back to Texas.

(Editor=s note: The URL for the Southwestern Writers Collection at Southwest Texas State University is www.library.swt.edu/swwc; that for the guide to the Roger L. Brooks Katherine Anne Porter Papers is www.library.swt.edu/swwc/archives/writers/porter.html.)