Harry Crews: Survival Is Triumph Enough

2007

30min

This powerful film documents the hardships, tragedy and loss suffered by the prolific Southern writer and novelist Harry Crews. Interviewed by artist and filmmaker Tyler Turkle, Crews’ state of mind is revealed in a rapid-fire and startling narrative of emotional and physical pain and suffering. From his home in Gainesville, Florida, Crews provides details of his near fatal childhood coupled with stark tales of his adult alcoholism and drug abuse and the tragic, accidental drowning of his first born son. Throughout, Crews remains as tough as nails in his delivery of personal experiences and exploits which he sums up by quoting Mark Twain: “I have reached the age of seventy by strictly following a regimen that would have killed anybody else.”