As a person deeply connected to “place,” Portis honored our state at every turn of the page.
Portis’ literary front porch view extended across a wide swath of our state that included the rich story-making River Valley area from Petit Jean Mountain to the highest peak in Arkansas, Mount Magazine. The hymns chosen for the closing of Portis’ earthly life seemed fitting for the private man his friends called “Buddy.” He was buried in South Arkansas, where he grew up around El Dorado and Hamburg, yet the action in his most famous novel takes place in Western Arkansas near the Oklahoma line. Music is important to the narrative, as Portis expressed in suggesting to the Coen Brothers they use an “ old-timey” hymn in the closing scene of their remake of True Grit. They were followed by Prayers of Thanksgiving, The Lord’s Prayer, and “Amazing Grace.” Even in death Portis managed, with the love of those who knew him best, to make the service about something other than himself. His friend’s thoughtful, tender words came after “A Mighty Fortress is our God,” the reading of Psalm 23, II Timothy 1:8-14, a homily, an Affirmation of Faith in Christ and “Eternal Father, Strong to Save.” A close friend reminded us of Portis’ genuine humility the simple American-flagged draped coffin appeared small compared to the man in repose. It was an intimate and understated affair, just as Portis might prefer.
Charles McColl Portis’ funeral was February 25th at the Second Presbyterian Church in Little Rock, Arkansas just thirty some-odd miles from my home. I was just fourteen years of age when a coward going by the name Tom Chaney shot my father down in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and robbed him of his life and his horse and $150 in cash money plus two California gold pieces that he carried in his trouser band. People do not give it credence that a fourteen-year-old girl could leave home and go off in the wintertime to avenge her father’s blood but it did not seem so strange then, although I will say it did not happen every day.
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