James Alan McPherson

I felt at ease with Mr. McPherson from the start. Mr. Conroy was scary, but I still had to call him Frank. “Don’t call me Mr. Conroy,” he said when it first came out of my mouth. “It makes me feel old.” So Frank was Frank and Marilynne Robinson was Marilynne and Mr. McPherson, who I felt the most at home with, was Jim, and I almost got comfortable calling him that.

I felt at ease with Mr. McPherson from the start. Mr. Conroy was scary, but I still had to call him Frank. “Don’t call me Mr. Conroy,” he said when it first came out of my mouth. “It makes me feel old.” So Frank was Frank and Marilynne Robinson was Marilynne and Mr. McPherson, who I felt the most at home with, was Jim, and I almost got comfortable calling him that.

Marian Pierce