Overview

Porter Briggs' grandfather was born on the heels of the Civil War. Porter grew up in the rise of Civil Rights. His father was Arkansas' first pediatrician. His mother's death from alcoholism, when he was eighteen years old, left its imprint even, or especially, on the one-night affair that produced his son. After Cold War tank maneuvers and grad school in Germany, Porter advanced Arkansas, catfish-farming, and hospital associations-then historic preservation and restoration. In California, he drove an anti-nuke campaign with Paul Newman. Heading East, he blazed through Wall Street, massive greenhouses, and boxwood, the great American shrub-punctuated with a White House Fellowship, John Denver's massive concerts in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and hanging with Sting. Porter was with Drexel-Burnham-Lambert the day it blew up, in Virginia when his life imploded, and two blocks from the White House on 9/11. He rebuilt his life and had a thriving passport business when love for Diane Wilder called him home to Arkansas. Porter vowed early to shut off God, but God never left him. Not in bad decisions or business catastrophes . . . not when he gave up his son for adoption or labored for decades to find and know him. Porter says God plays the long game, and that it's worth the journey. South, Towards Home is his journey: a love story that starts with a boy losing himself and ends with a man finding his son.

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Reviews

""Oh my goodness, Porter-your memoir is riveting! I started it yesterday after church and could not put it down until I finished it at bedtime. You are a wonderful writer, and your story is almost beyond belief. You've had enough fascinating experiences to fill several lifetimes."" -- Elizabeth Jacoway, author of Turn Away Thy Son

Author Information

In his first book and ninth decade, Porter Briggs' story begins in the sixties, circles the globe, and ends in a love letter to the South. Porter's grandfather was born on the heels of the Civil War, and Porter grew up in the rise of Civil Rights. His father was Arkansas' first pediatrician. His mother's death from alcoholism when he was eighteen years old left its cold imprint even, or especially, on the one-night affair that produced his son. After college, and Cold War tank maneuvers, and grad school in Germany, Porter came home to Little Rock. In the next ten years he promoted Arkansas, founded catfish-farming and Medicare associations, and advanced historic preservation and restoration. Heading to California, he drove an anti-nuke campaign starring Paul Newman. Going East, he blazed a singular path through Wall Street, massive greenhouses, and a business in boxwood, the great American shrub-interspersed with a White House Fellowship, John Denver's massive concerts in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and hanging out with Sting. Porter was with Drexel-Burnham-Lambert the day it blew up, in Virginia when his personal life imploded, and two blocks from the White House on 9/11. In the aftermath of all three he'd built a thriving passport business when the love of Diane Wilder led him home to Arkansas. Porter vowed early to shut off God, but God never left him. Not in bad decisions, not in business upheavals . . . not when he gave up his son for adoption and then labored for decades to find and know him. Porter would tell you God plays the long game, and that it's worth the journey. South, Towards Home is his journey: a love story that starts with a boy losing himself and ends with a man finding his son.

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