The Learning Curve Hedgehog Review's Jay Tolson on Walker Percy, Southern Catholic Novelist
Jan 28, 2026
Jay Tolson, journalist and editor known for his Walker Percy biography and work at The Hedgehog Review, guides a tour of Percy’s life. He highlights family tragedies that shaped Percy’s voice. He recounts mentorship from William Alexander Percy, Percy’s friendship with Shelby Foote, tuberculosis and conversion to Catholicism, and the themes behind The Moviegoer.
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Modernity's Crisis As Percy's Central Theme
- Walker Percy wrote to address the modern human's crisis of meaning amplified by media and soulless modern life.
- His works probe alienation, despair, and the search for authenticity in mid-20th-century America.
Family Tragedy Shaped Percy's Mission
- Percy grew up in a distinguished Southern family haunted by repeated suicides that shaped his lifelong preoccupation with despair.
- After his father's suicide he pursued medicine partly to understand and resist the 'family curse.'
Despair Is Existential, Not Purely Medical
- Percy treated depression as both existential and partially characterological, linking it to modern life's meaninglessness.
- He believed solving despair required engaging the human person's specific, not just scientific, understanding.
