‘Throttled Peacock’ offers wry observations on
European vacation and marriage
New travelogue by SMU Professor emeritus C.W. Smith
DALLAS (SMU) — Two Americans traveling Europe on the cheap with a packet of chili powder in their suitcase – what’s the worst that could go wrong? Turns out, quite a lot. A Throttled Peacock: Observations on the Old World (DeGolyer Library 2015) is a collection of essays inspired by a 1990 trip across Europe and the latest book from SMU professor emeritus C.W. Smith, who taught creative writing in Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences from 1985-2012.
“We basically went to 63 different cities and stayed in 63 different beds,” said Smith, who was joined on the trip by his wife, Marcia Smith. “I just kept taking notes about the things that happened to us and when we came back I just started trying to describe some of the experiences we had.
“I didn’t have it in mind to put out a whole collection,” Smith said. “But once I’d written them all, I realized they were very unified because they were based on the same trip with the same personalities having a variety of experiences.” READ MORE