Terry Southern patrolled the sharp edge of American culture. Born in Alvarado, Texas, in 1924, Southern earned two Academy Award nominations for writing the Dr. Strangelove and Easy Rider screenplays. Stanley Kubrick admired Southern’s dark humor.
Other Terry Southern script contributions include The Loved Ones, The Cincinnati Kid, Barbarella and uncredited rewrite jobs on Casino Royale and The Collector. As an author, Southern’s books include Flash & Filigree, Candy, Blue Movie, The Magic Christian, Virgin, and Texas Summer. Published in 1967, Red-Dirt Marijuana and Other Tastes ranks as his greatest book.
A collection of 23 stories, Red-Dirt Marijuana and Other Tastes contain a wide range of topics and dramatic scenes. The story “Red-Dirt Marijuana” transpires in Texas where a young boy accompanies a family friend out to an area where a crop of reefer is being grown.
“Razor Fight” tells the tale of two brothers settling a disagreement with knives. The story begins: “The crap-game started a two o’clock that afternoon, when C.K. Crow walked into the Paradise Bar with a bottle of Sweet Lucy in one hand and $6 in the other.”
“Twirling At Ole Miss” finds Southern visiting Faulkner’s old hometown with a dose of absurdity. “I Am Hammer” documents the literary style of Mickey Spillane. “The Blood of A Wig” proves as a hilarious story about those who use the blood of a schizophrenic for medicinal purposes.
Southern’s literary skills transcended all geographic boundaries in film, literature, music and comedy. Southern kept time with legendary artists such as Mason Hoffenberg, Stanley Kubrick, Peter Sellers, William Burroughs, the Rolling Stones, The Beatles (Southern appears on the cover of Sgt. Pepper‘s wearing sunglasses tucked behind Edgar Allen Poe and Lenny Bruce), and later the Black Crowes.
George Plimpton wrote in the book’s introduction that William Burroughs was once asked to write an appraisal of Southern’s work. “He scratched around, hoping to come up with some highfalutin verbiage, and finally came down to the nub of it all: Terry Southern knows how to write!”
Terry Southern died of a heart attack on October 29, 1995. Red-Dirt Marijuana and Other Tastes ranks as a high-grade literary buzz.