Walker Percy
(1916-1990)

Died aged c. 74

Walker Percy, Obl.S.B. (May 28, 1916 – May 10, 1990) was an American writer whose interests included philosophy and semiotics. Percy is noted for his philosophical novels set in and around New Orleans; his first, The Moviegoer, won the National Book Award for Fiction. Trained as a physician at Columbia University, Percy decided to become a writer after a bout of tuberculosis. He devoted his literary life to the exploration of "the dislocation of man in the modern age." His work displays a combination of existential questioning, Southern sensibility, and deep Catholic faith. He had a lifelong friendship with author and historian Shelby Foote and spent much of his life in Covington, Louisiana, where he died of prostate cancer in 1990.

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Commemorated on 2 plaques

Walker Percy (1916 - 1990). Covington resident, where he wrote, among others, Lancelot, The Second Coming, Love in the Ruins, The Thanatos Syndrome, The Last Gentleman, and The Moviegoer, which won the National Book Award for fiction. Co-founder Fellowship of Southern Writers, graduate of the University of North Carolina, buried at St. Joseph Abbey, 3 miles north.

832 E. Boston Street, Covington, LA, United States where they was

Original Homestead of Walker Percy. Homestead owned by Walker Percy, who was an American author and philosopher. He is best known for his philosophical novels set in and around New Orleans, the first of which, The Moviegoer, won the U.S. National Book award for fiction. Walker Percy along with 21 other noted authors created the Fellowship of Southern Writers.

Old Military Road, Covington, LA, United States where they lived