The Revival of William

The Revival of William

a Carolina Paddler article

by Alton Chewning

“The first time I saw him he was standing on the roof of our house, wearing frayed and faded cutoffs and nothing else, eyeing the swimming pool about twenty-five feet below. William. Last name unknown, unnecessary.”

So begins the memoir of Daniel Wallace, the story of how he grew up in the shadow of William Nealy, a boyfriend to his sister, Holly.  So, too, begins the revival of William, a cultural curiosity, an underground cartoonist, a golden-haired daredevil, a friend of many and an enigma to all.  Wallace’s book, This Isn’t Going to End Well, is a book of endings: Daniel’s boyhood fascination with William, the murder of a friend, William and Holly’s doomed love, William’s tormented psyche and Holly’s enduring spirit and wrecked body.

The story doesn’t end here.  Wallace’s book has inspired a revival of all things Nealy, a resurgence of interest in his books, his maps, his life.  In coming articles, Carolina Paddler will look at some of the ways William has been reborn.  A previous essay, “The Nealy We Didn’t Know,” discusses the shock each of us felt when we learned William had killed himself.  Some of us had just discovered his works and fallen in love with him, years after his death.

Through failing memories and enduring art, a person remains alive. We’ll look at an exhibit of William’s art and mementos of Holly’s and his life.  For those reading this before June 6, there is still time to see the show at the Reece Museum on the East Tennessee State University campus.  Scott Honeycutt, the curator, was not aware of Nealy until friends compared some of Scott’s hand drawn maps with Nealy’s classic river maps.  Scott immediately recognized genius, and Nealy as perhaps the only Southerner remembered from the Underground Comix movement.

Carolina Paddler will look at the documentary, Riversense, by Kate Geis, 2002, which features a segment on Holly and William.  Geis spent four days in their home and now, more than twenty years later, Kate still recalls moments with them clearly and touchingly.  “They changed my life.”

This renewed interest in Nealy means new editions of his instructional and humor books will be issued.  New, little seen maps will be available as well as some surprising novelty items.

First, we shift the focus to the Kentucky paddle club, Bluegrass Wildwater Association.  Don Spangler edits their newsletter, Bowlines, and he has graciously provided a link to the March/April issue.  Don was the president of the BWA back in early 1980’s when Bob Sehlinger and the BWA began the National Paddling Film Festival, one of the first of its kind.  Bob had just formed a publishing business, Menasha Ridge, with Holly and William and they quickly adopted the film festival and supported it in many ways over the next few years.  Bowlines has articles by Spangler and Sehlinger telling of the creation of the NPFF and the fun had by all.  There’s also an article on the William Nealy Award handed out by the BWA at the film festival.

There are rumors of other attention being directed towards Holly and William and we are perhaps at the crest of a new wave, a new life for their story.