[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 101 (Tuesday, July 16, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1064]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 RECOGNIZING ERNEST J. GAINES FOR RECEIVING THE NATIONAL MEDAL OF ARTS 
                FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

                                 ______
                                 

                     HON. CHARLES W. BOUSTANY, JR.

                              of louisiana

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 16, 2013

  Mr. BOUSTANY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Dr. Ernest J. Gaines 
for receiving the National Medal of Arts from the President of the 
United States for his achievements as an author and teacher in the 
state of Louisiana.
  When presenting this award, President Barack Obama praised Dr. Gaines 
for rising above early childhood adversities in the segregated rural 
south to make unique contributions to American literature. The 
President also thanked Gaines for spending ``more than 20 years 
teaching college students to find their own voices and reclaiming some 
of the stories of their own families and their own lives.''
  Describing his journey as a novelist, Gaines once said, it was ``only 
when I tried to write about Louisiana, that I really put everything I 
had--my soul--and everything I had into it.'' Gaines said he traveled 
swamps, bayous, restaurants and bars throughout South Louisiana to 
prepare to write his classic novel, A Lesson Before Dying. Following 
its publication, he received a Pulitzer Prize nomination and the 
National Book Critics Circle Award. Screen play adaptations of three of 
his novels have also broadcast on CBS and HBO.
  As writer-in-residence emeritus at the University of Louisiana at 
Lafayette, Dr. Gaines holds numerous honors, including the National 
Humanities Medal and recognition by the Academy of Achievement, the 
American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Order of Art and Letters 
in France.
  Louisiana is blessed to have this world-famous author among us. As a 
national treasure, his books will continue to inspire future 
generations of Americans.

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