A Serigamy of Stories

by Kathryn Tucker Windham

The author shares her memories of her family, home town, classmates, neighbors, piano teacher, and childhood experiences

Genres: Southern, Nonfiction, Memoir

160 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Kathryn Tucker Windham was an American storyteller, author, photographer, and journalist.

Windham got her first writing job at the age of 12, reviewing movies for her cousin's small town newspaper, The Thomasville Times. She earned a B.A. degree from Huntingdon College in 1939. Soon after graduating she became a reporter for the Alabama Journal. Starting in 1944 she worked for The Birmingham News. In 1946 she married Amasa Benjamin Windham with whom she had three children. In 1956 she went to work at the Selma Times-Journal where she won several Associated Press awards for her writing and photography. A collection of her photographs is on display at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts. She died on June 12, 2011. The 2004 documentary film, Kathryn: The Story of a Teller, directed by Norton Dill, chronicles Windham's life and varied careers.

Reviews

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Alabama town in the 1920's and 30's, remembrances on different subjects, many humorously told.Even though I am not southern and never grew up in a southern town, I could relate to much here. We sat on our porches in Chicago in the sixties and seventies, porches were perfect meeting places for all the neighborhood kids. My sister and I, as well as our friends were avid paper doll collectors , we even used to make them clothes. Piano lessons, many grueling hours of those, the author's Aunt Bess reminded me so much of my own Aunt Rose. Town characters, well my little town certainly has many of those, even now. So a fun look back into not only the author's past, but my own.

[Camie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Serigamy is a made up word developed by Kathryn Tucker Windham's collective family to mean a "whole lot" or a " heap of" of something and here we have a group of stories remembered by Kathryn ( later a NPR Storyteller ) whose tales here are of her small town life in Alabama during the 1920's and 30's. These are rocking chair on a front porch stories about a simpler time in a place where time was measured by the blow of the daily mill whistle and the arrival of the train with news from the county seat. This lifestyle would have suited me well and I always enjoy good family tales. I'm guessing most of us have stories quite similar to the ones told here in our family histories, hopefully someone is jotting them down for posterity. 3 stars

[Tom Mathews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Forgive the alliteration but Kathryn Tucker Wyndham’s collection of reminiscences from her youth reads like a soothing salve for troubled times. Wyndham, a journalist and professional storyteller who passed away in 2011 at age 93, had the remarkable ability of being able to take her listeners, or readers as the case may be, back through the years to a time that exists now only in the memories of an ever-dwindling number of people. The title, A Serigamy of Stories, includes a word I doubt anybody who hasn’t read the book has ever heard. It isn’t in any dictionary but, according to the author, was made up by her mother’s family and basically translates to ‘a whole heaping helping of’. And that is just what it is, a whole heaping helping of stories and memories from her youth. The stories are not the long-winded tales with complicated plots that one reads in most short story collections. These are memories, sometimes little more than a few paragraphs in length, that fill the reader with a simple sense of home, of family, that seems way too distant in this modern era. This is a great book to just sit and rest your mind with.

FYI: I studied folklore in college and am fascinated by the storytelling tradition, especially the ghost story. While this book has no ghost stories in it, the author was an amazing teller of ghost stories and I strongly suggest you go to YouTube and enter the name ‘Kathryn Tucker Wyndham’. You will be in for a treat.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

For a made up word, "serigamy" is a very powerful word in Kathryn windham's book. It means "a whole lot". It brought a serigamy of happiness to me personally during the time it took me to read it. This was a week I wanted to shut out the serigamy of troubles and sadness our world experienced and get lost in a uplifting collection of stories or as a friend said "memories". I'm not sure I know how to use this word as correctly as the author did but I feel better for being exposed to her life and serigamy of stories. Therefore, in short, I am grateful Mrs. Windham. I loved this quote and it put some things into perspective, "I've had sorrows but not trouble-there is a great difference." One last quote, too good not to share. "The goodness of her friends she would magnify and their shortcomings she buried in the dark recesses of forgetfulness."

Highly recommend, don't pass this one up. I'm better for having read. 4.5 stars

[Daisy · Rating 4 out of 5]

While watching Marja Mills, author of the new book The Mockingbird Next Door, discussing her time living next door to Harper Lee the name Kathryn Tucker Windham came up. I honestly had never come across Windham and became intrigued. I discovered she was well known to NPR listeners for her southern storytelling prowess. The only book of Windham’s in our library system was this slim, less than 130 pages, book of reminiscences of her childhood in Thomasville Alabama. It was delightful, just right for a summer read.

These are small stories of life during the 1920s and 1930s. Stories of family, and growing, and life lessons. Stories of people, some big influences, some only passing acquaints, all leaving their own indelible mark on her memory.

She has a series of southern state ghost story books, the first of these is 13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey. Jeffrey being the phantom who haunts her own house. I have not found any of these yet, however, I have found a series on YouTube of her telling these ghost stories and she is indeed a wonderful oral storyteller with the most graceful of southern accents.

By the way don’t bother to look up the word “serigamy” it doesn't exist in any dictionary. It is a word that evolved in the Tucker family over the years, from where she doesn’t remember. It means “a whole lot, a heap of, a right smart, a goodly number.” It is things like that word, and “tramp eggs”, holiday narcissus bulbs, and the Christmas of the red scooter that are at the heart of this book and that heart is warm and loving.

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this collection of memories by Kathryn Tucker Windham was a real treat. I felt like Mrs. Windham was talking directly to me about her childhood in Thomasville, AL. Remembering her past and sharing stories handed down in her family. I'm sorry I never got to meet Mrs. Windham. She would have fit neatly into my maternal side of the family where sharing memories has always been a favorite pastime.

This book is a bit hard to find, but worth your time if you like memoirs or personal narratives.

[Janie Watts · Rating 4 out of 5]

These entertaining stories give a slice-of-life during the Great Depression era and offer insight to customs of the time. Kudzu, for example, was given out by the agricultural officer in the area, and used by the author's father to hide the coal pile. It was touted as a "miracle vine" and known for growing quickly. (I'll say!) A local doctor sits outside his office waiting for patients, and before lancing abscesses, sharpens his knife on his shoe sole. And in 1930 when money is tight, tree sitting is a big fad. This entertaining collection gives insight into the ways of a time gone by.

[Katherine P · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was funny, heartfelt and soothing. It reminded me of sitting with my grandmother listening to her stories. Windham is a wonderful storyteller.

[ttalion couey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read.

[Carol C · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. I picked up this slim volume of essays/memoir after a period of reading up on Harper Lee. She was apparently an admirer of this storyteller. After listening to one of her stories on NPR, I can almost hear her voice as I read these stories (which makes me think this would have been such a nice audiobook with narration by the author). They certainly come from a particular time and place. Minstrel shows, a vague dislike of the KKK, and black housekeepers and farm help are discussed without examination. Some stories reminded me of the kinds of tales passed down in my own family - phrases and stories that become such a part of family history that they imbed themselves in the family's everyday language. The book was not stunning, but those were the parts of it that made me smile.