Betty Hester
Encyclopedia
Hazel Elizabeth "Betty" Hester (1 June 1923 - 26 December 1998) was an American correspondent of influential twentieth-century writers, including Flannery O'Connor
and Iris Murdoch
. Hester wrote several short stories, poems, diaries, and philosophical treatises, none of which were published.
and attended Young Harris College
. She served in the U.S. Air Force in California
and Wiesbaden, Germany, shortly after World War II
(roughly 1948-1952). After her dishonorable discharge from the Air Force, she moved to Atlanta. Hester spent most of her life in a small Midtown Atlanta
apartment. She worked for Atlanta-based Retail Credit Company, commuting every day by bus. She struggled with alcoholism
and bouts of depression
. She was also a lesbian
, which she only admitted to her closest friends.
Hester is best known for her 9-year correspondence and friendship with Southern fiction writer Flannery O'Connor. Between 1955 and 1964, Hester and O'Connor exchanged nearly 300 letters, some of which are published in Sally Fitzgerald's 1979 compilation of O'Connor's correspondence, The Habit of Being. Hester, a very private and reclusive woman, asked that her identity be kept secret in the published letters. Thus, she appears as "A".
Hester first wrote Flannery O'Connor in July 1955, when O'Connor was working on her second novel, The Violent Bear it Away
. Eager to exchange thoughts and ideas with someone of equal intellectual caliber, O'Connor writes back, "I would like to know who this is who understands my stories." O'Connor felt that she and Hester shared a spiritual kinship and later O'Connor would become Hester's confirmation sponsor in the Catholic Church. Hester left the Church in 1961 and turned to agnosticism. This news was a grave disappointment for O'Connor, who had engaged Hester in theological dialogue and tried to sustain her friend's faith.
Hester gave her letters to Emory University
in 1987, on the condition that they be sealed for twenty years. They were released to the public on May 12, 2007.
Hester died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in December 1998, at the age of 75.
Flannery O'Connor
Mary Flannery O'Connor was an American novelist, short-story writer and essayist. An important voice in American literature, O'Connor wrote two novels and 32 short stories, as well as a number of reviews and commentaries...
and Iris Murdoch
Iris Murdoch
Dame Iris Murdoch DBE was an Irish-born British author and philosopher, best known for her novels about political and social questions of good and evil, sexual relationships, morality, and the power of the unconscious...
. Hester wrote several short stories, poems, diaries, and philosophical treatises, none of which were published.
Biography
Hester was born in Rome, GeorgiaRome, Georgia
Located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, Rome is the largest city and the county seat of Floyd County, Georgia, United States. It is the principal city of the Rome, Georgia Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Floyd County...
and attended Young Harris College
Young Harris College
Young Harris College is a private, Methodist-affiliated liberal arts college located in the mountains of northeast Georgia. The current president is Cathy Cox, former Georgia Secretary of State.-Origins:...
. She served in the U.S. Air Force in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and Wiesbaden, Germany, shortly after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
(roughly 1948-1952). After her dishonorable discharge from the Air Force, she moved to Atlanta. Hester spent most of her life in a small Midtown Atlanta
Midtown Atlanta
Midtown is the second largest financial district in the city of Atlanta, Georgia, situated between the commercial and financial districts of Downtown and SoNo to the south and the affluent residential and commercial district of Buckhead to the north...
apartment. She worked for Atlanta-based Retail Credit Company, commuting every day by bus. She struggled with alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
and bouts of depression
Clinical depression
Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...
. She was also a lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
, which she only admitted to her closest friends.
Hester is best known for her 9-year correspondence and friendship with Southern fiction writer Flannery O'Connor. Between 1955 and 1964, Hester and O'Connor exchanged nearly 300 letters, some of which are published in Sally Fitzgerald's 1979 compilation of O'Connor's correspondence, The Habit of Being. Hester, a very private and reclusive woman, asked that her identity be kept secret in the published letters. Thus, she appears as "A".
Hester first wrote Flannery O'Connor in July 1955, when O'Connor was working on her second novel, The Violent Bear it Away
The Violent Bear It Away
The Violent Bear It Away is a novel published in 1960 by American author Flannery O'Connor. It is the second and final novel that she published. The first chapter of the novel was published as the story "You Can't Be Any Poorer Than Dead," in the journal New World Writing, volume 8 in October 1955...
. Eager to exchange thoughts and ideas with someone of equal intellectual caliber, O'Connor writes back, "I would like to know who this is who understands my stories." O'Connor felt that she and Hester shared a spiritual kinship and later O'Connor would become Hester's confirmation sponsor in the Catholic Church. Hester left the Church in 1961 and turned to agnosticism. This news was a grave disappointment for O'Connor, who had engaged Hester in theological dialogue and tried to sustain her friend's faith.
Hester gave her letters to Emory University
Emory University
Emory University is a private research university in metropolitan Atlanta, located in the Druid Hills section of unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The university was founded as Emory College in 1836 in Oxford, Georgia by a small group of Methodists and was named in honor of...
in 1987, on the condition that they be sealed for twenty years. They were released to the public on May 12, 2007.
Hester died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in December 1998, at the age of 75.
External links
- Christine McCulloch, "Glimpsing Andalusia in the O'Connor-Hester Letters." Southern Spaces, 23 October 2008. http://southernspaces.org/2008/glimpsing-andalusia-oconnor-hester-letters