Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

The John Berendt novel, "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil", based upon the true story of a sensational murder trial involving a Savannah socialite, was a New York Times best seller for over four years.  It was made into a movie in 1997 and has probably been the catalyst for the surge in tourism to Savannah over the past 10 years.  While some Savannahans dismiss the book as "trash", others have embraced the book and its content and have profited rather nicely off of it.

A lot of what was written about in the book took place in the heart of Savannah's Historic District.  Now, I had seen the movie, but didn't read the book.  That was until I picked up a copy at a small bookstore near our hotel and I read it while we were in Savannah and on Hilton Head Island.  I have to say it was a compelling read.  And being that we knew the lay of the land around Savannah, the book brought a vivid picture to my mind.  By the time we made it back to Savannah, I had finished the book and we sought out many of the landmarks that Berendt wrote about.

(By the way, I normally don't think this way, but I believe the book was much better than the movie.)

The book focused on the events leading up to and surrounding a murder committed by renown Savannah antique dealer Jim Williams.  While Berendt wove himself into the story, it turned out that he didn't really have a large part in the overall scheme of things.  But he wrote about many of the eccentric people in and around Savannah, the beauty of the town, the "Slow-vannah" way of life of drinking and more drinking, and how the people celebrated their dead they way we celebrate birthdays. 

The epicenter of the book happened here at the Mercer-Williams House.  The house begun construction in 1860, was interrupted by the American Civil War, and was finally finished in 1868.  Originally built for General Hugh Mercer, it turned out that Mercer never lived in the house.  After the war, Mercer was incarcerated at nearby Fort Pulaski and ended up moving to Baltimore, never to return to Savannah again.  Well, until he was buried at Bonaventure Cemetery, the most famous cemetery in Savannah.  But more about Bonaventure Cemetery later on. 

In 1969, Jim Williams bought the house and began the restoration of the home.  Williams bought and restored up to 50 old homes in the Savannah Historic District and was instrumental in the renaissance of the old Savannah.  

We took a tour of the Mercer-Williams House one afternoon.  It was just beautiful and completely furnished as it was when Jim Williams (left) died in the house in 1990.  However, photographs of the interior were not permitted.  Still we were able to see the office area where Williams allegedly shot Danny Hansford, the tall spiral staircase that led to the second floor where Williams had a ballroom (insurance would not let people wander through the house - we saw the main floor and garden only), and sitting room, library and dining room in the house.  Williams was known for his elaborate Christmas parties where he invited a veritable "who's who" of Savannah's elite.  Anticipation of who would and who wouldn't get an invitation to Williams party was usually a hot topic among Savannah's socialites and political heavyweights.

Just down the street from the Mercer-Williams House is the Armstrong House.  This, at one time, was also a residence of Jim Williams that he had restored.  But he sold it to move into the Mercer-Williams House in the late 60's.  Today, it houses the law firm of Bouhan, Williams and Levy, whose senior partner, Frank "Sonny" Seiler, was featured prominently in both the book and movie.  Seiler took over the defense of Jim Williams and eventually got an acquittal during Williams third appeal trial.  As grandiose as the Mercer-Williams house was, the Armstrong house was rather impressive.  I'm guessing that Jim Williams thought the house may have been too big for just one person. 

By the way, for you sports minded people, Sonny Seiler is the owner and caretaker of Uga, the official bulldog mascot for the University of Georgia.  Seiler has raised bulldogs since he was a student at the U of "Joe-Ja" in the 50's.  The current Uga is the seventh bulldog Seiler has raised and used as a mascot.  And all are direct descendants of Uga I, the first one Seiler had when he was a second year law student at Georgia.   The name Uga comes from the transformation of the U of Georgia (GA). 

One of the more notorious characters in the book was a sociable gentleman by the name of Joe Odom.  Joe Odom was a lawyer, real estate agent, piano player, entrepreneur and bon-vivant, notorious for staying a half-step ahead of his creditors and the law.  He really sounded like the kind of guy I'd like to hang out with, as long as you didn't lend him money.  Sort of a respected rogue, if you will.  This is the house he lived in on E. Jones St., not far from the Hilton DeSoto where we stayed.  It was easy to see into the house in the middle of the day, and I can almost imagine the guy watching CNBC in the living room had seen many people like me taking pictures of this house.  And he tolerated it. 

Speaking of hotels, the bar at the Hilton DeSoto was mentioned in the book, as well.  One of the more eccentric characters written about in the book, Serena Dawes - who was really named Helen Drexel and who had actually died 20 years before the book was published - was portrayed as a composite character for a number of like-minded females that Berendt crossed paths with during his stay in Savannah.  She liked to socialize, she liked to be seen in public and she liked to drink.  From what I gathered being in Savannah for a few days, that pretty much capsulized a number of people - both male and female - that live in the city.

 

And very prominently mentioned in "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" is Bonaventure Cemetery.  As I said before, Bonaventure Cemetery is the most famous of all of Savannah's cemeteries.  The haunting nature of the live oaks draped with Spanish moss, coupled with an idyllic setting along the Wilmington River makes it one of the "must-sees" during a trip to Savannah.  Many people use Bonaventure Cemetery as a park, and many grave sites feature benches where people can sit and toast the dead they're memorializing.  Or they can just sit and drink.

Now, another surprise during our trip to Savannah was the realization that one of the greatest song-smiths of the 20th Century, Johnny Mercer, grew up in Savannah.  I was completely oblivious to Mercer's name, but I certainly knew a number of his songs.  Mercer wrote the lyrics for over 1600 songs including Fools Rush In, I Remember You, One More for My Baby (and One More For the Road), and Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive.  Mercer also wrote the lyrics to In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening, Days of Wine and Roses, On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe, and his biggest hit, Moon River.  All four of those songs won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.  In fact, Moon River was based upon Mercer's childhood memories of the Wilmington River that flowed past Bonaventure Cemetery.  In all, Mercer had 16 songs nominated for the Academy Award.

Here's the bench at Mercer's grave site, like many benches throughout the cemetery where people can come out, have a drink and remember the people buried just feet away.  Given that Savannah has celebrated poets since the 1700's, I especially liked the inscription on the bench - a direct quote from Mercer.  "Buddy, I'm a kind of poet and I've gotta lotta things to say."  Believe me, after figuring out who the hell Johnny Mercer was and why everyone in Savannah was making such a big deal over him, I made it a point to learn more about the guy. 

The statue on the cover of "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" featured a unique statue that has been dubbed "The Bird Girl", as it looks like she's holding two bird feeder bowls.  This statue was a monument that was atop the grave site for the Trosdal family of Savannah.  Once the book came out, the family feared the 4 foot high statue would get damaged by the people who flocked to the cemetery to see it.  The statue was removed and placed in the Telfair Museum of Art in Savannah.  While there were four original statues made, we found a number of copies in different sizes available at a store in Savannah.  The smallest statue was about 18 inches high and had a price of around $115 dollars.   While Cindy loves putting little statues in our flower beds, I quickly passed on buying one for us.

Bonaventure Cemetery is the "garden of good and evil" mentioned in Berendt's book.  It is where the voodoo priestess, Minerva, went to cast her spells and perform her rituals to ward off the evil spirits that are interferring with the living.  Well, the living who believe in that stuff and who will pay her handsomely to do so.  I could never really find out if there really was a Minerva, or if it was a composite or take-off on a real person that Berendt came across during his time in Savannah.  And quite honestly, I don't even come close to believing all that stuff about the supernatural and voodoo, so that part of both the book and movie never tripped my trigger.

Another person who was a notable character in both the book and in the movie was The Lady Chablis.  This notorious cross-dressing performer burst out both in the pages of the book and on the screen in the movie.  He/she performs at a club called Club One in downtown Savannah once or twice a month.  While The Lady Chablis performed the last Saturday night we were in Savannah, we made no effort to go catch the show.  Actually, he/she is the master of ceremonies for a show that features a number of cross-dressing, transvestite or trans-gender singers.  While I feel I have a very open mind, it's still not quite the type of entertainment I'd go pay to see.  We did walk by Club One a couple times, but I neglected to get a picture of the place. 

I highly recommend reading (or re-reading) "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" before you go to Savannah.  And it would also be good to see the movie, as well, so you will recognize some of the famous sights from around the Savannah area during your visit.  While we didn't run into anyone who came close to matching the description of some the seemingly never-ending cast of eccentric characters Berendt found during his time in Savannah, reading the book or seeing the movie will go a long way in helping you understand the "Slow-vannah" way of life before your visit.

  

Comments

[Norman]

Tight ass, buy Cindy the statue!

[Fiona]

Why refer to a transgendered woman who firmly identifies as female as "he/she?" - and you consider yourself open minded. Pffft, sure.

[Susan]

I believe Chablis Considered himself a drag queen, therefor the he/ she. No disrespect by author, just a bit of intolerance. I've been reading book and googling references like crazy. Cool City...

[Gwendolen]

From what I've read, Minerva was really Valerie Fennell Boles. She was the common law wife of a famous root doctor, Dr. Eagle. The book states her husband was Dr. Buzzards, who was another famous Georgian root doctor.

[Tammy Slaughter]

Read the book, wasn't really impressed with it. Some parts seemed to be dragged along. Love! Love the movie!!!!

[Jim Richardson]

Please ignore comments like the last one by this Tammy person of questionable taste. The book is incredible (the author of this article is too blase’ about it) but the movie is nigh on downright bad. Tammy needs to refine her tastes.