Born at Pickett's grave, song comes full circle
Moreover, they'll sing it at the place where it was inspired, Pickett's grave.
An 11:30 a.m. graveside ceremony, open to the public, will mark Pickett's 181st birthday. In addition to "Hollywood," there will be the annual artillery salute and presenting of a floral wreath.
Afterward, Larry S. Chowning, author of "Soldiers at the Doorstep," will speak to the Pickett Society's sold-out luncheon. This evening, Duarte and possibly Pickett will perform at Mulligan's, 1323 W. Main St.
"Hollywood" has become something of a local phenomenon.
Duarte, a Southerner and son of a history professor, believes he felt the song through the dead general and his men ("Songwriter heard sorrow in Hollywood," column here Oct. 29).
He says it is far from a Confederate anthem.
As "Pickett" tells him in the song: "Tell'em what you saw when the sun went down / Tell'em for my boys restin' in the ground / That ya heard in the silence / How sorrow sounds."
The song was a local hit last fall on Lite-98 FM.