Martha Lacy Hall

Martha Lacy Hall died at The Presbyterian Homes of Summerville, South Carolina Sunday, November 1, 2009. Mrs. Hall, a writer of short fiction and an editor, remained active in both fields into the twenty-first century. She was the daughter of William Monroe and Elizabeth Goza Lacy and was born in Magnolia, MS, on August 19,1923. She was graduated from the public schools of Magnolia, and in l942 from Whitworth College for Women, Brookhaven, MS with a degree in journalism. Christmas Day l942 she was married to Robert Sherrill Hall, Jr. of Memphis, TN, an electrical engineer on active duty in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Halls moved to Baton Rouge from Jackson, MS., in 1955. Their marriage endured until Robert Hall's death in 1991. The union bore three children. In 1968 Mrs. Hall began a career with Louisiana State University Press as a Manuscript editor, a post she held until 1978 when she became managing editor of the Press. In 1980 she edited the Pulitzer Prize winning novel, "A Confederacy of Dunces," by John Kennedy Toole. She retired in 1984, but continued to handle the fiction program at LSU Press from her home for another decade. In 1970 she sold her first short story to Lewis P. Simpson, editor of the Southern Review, LSU. She continued to publish through 1991, seeing her work appear in such literary journals as Southern Review, Sewanee Review, Virginia Quarterly, Washington and Lee Journal. One short story, '"The Apple-Green Triumph," which appeared in The Virginia Quarterly, won an honorable mention in Doubleday's Prize Stories, 1991 and won The O. Henry Awards. The name of this story became the title of her third published collection of stories. Her book titles were: Call It Living, l98l; Music Lesson, 1984; and The Apple-Green Triumph, 1990, and all won excellent reviews from a host of critics in a wide variety of publications. Her stories were reprinted in a variety of periodicals. She was keynote speaker at Augusta State's Sand Hills Writer's Conference in Augusta, GA., 1983. Robert Hall, Jr., died in l99l after a long illness, shortly after his wife's success with The Apple-Green Triumph. Her last story, a reflective tale called "The Snake Shooter," was published in Sewanee Review in 2003. Mrs. Hall is survived by her children Martha Lacy Hall (Marti) Bell and her husband, Dr. Ronald Allen Bell, Charleston, SC; Jane Sherrill Hall Harmon, Augusta, GA; and Robert Sherrill Hall III, and his wife Donna Hall. Baton Rouge, LA. Her grandchildren are Matthew Allen Bell of Los Angeles, CA; Clayton Douglas Harmon and his wife Nicole of Atlanta, GA; Andrew Hall Harmon of Washington, D.C; and Timothy Caje Moyer, and Alicia Marie Moyer, MaryJane Hall and Martha Rose Hall, Baton Rouge, LA. Great-grandchildren are Benjamin Caje Moyer, Briggs Andrew Moyer and Marley Kai Bordelon. The writer's remains will rest beside those of her husband, Robert Sherrill Hall, Jr., and near those of her parents, two brothers, and two sisters in the Lacy family burial plot, Magnolia, MS. The family wishes to thank the very kind and compassionate caregivers at The Presbyterian Homes of Summerville, SC. Contributions may be made to Christ School, 500 Christ School Road, Arden, NC. 28704 in memory of Matthew Bell's grandmother; to Augusta Preparatory Day School, 285 Flowing Wells Road, Martinez, GA. 30907 in memory of Clay and Andrew Harmon's grandmother; to St. Michael's High School, 17521 Monitor Ave., Baton Rouge, LA. 70816 in memory of MaryJane and Martha Rose Hall's grandmother; or to the Jud C. Hickey Center for Alzheimer's Care, 1901 Central Ave., Augusta, GA. 30904. A graveside service conducted by her nephew, Hubert Lacy Causey, will be held on Wednesday Nov. 11 at 1:00 PM, Magnolia Cemetery, in Magnolia, MS, with a reception afterwards at the home of her niece, Mrs. Richard Cone Moore.