Return to Saint Andrew’s Parish

Saint Andrew’s Parish is the title of a novel from local author Eugene Platt. Officially released last week as an e-book, Platt says it will soon be available in print as well.
St. Andrew’s Parish is a coming-of-age novel that follows the lives of two boys, Bubba and Andy, from their boyhood shenanigans West of the Ashley to their journeys into maturity in the wider world. “Andy becomes an accomplished poet. Bubba becomes an Episcopal priest and rector of Saint Cecilia’s Episcopal Church downtown … Remember, this is fiction” says Platt.
Growing up during the idyllic 1950s in Charleston, the two friends have plenty of time to get into and out of mischief with the usual regularity. As they grow older and throughout many years of separate searches for their places in the world, Andy and Bubba’s friendship is the touchstone that sustains them as they diverge and reconnect at the vital intersections of their lives: love, loss, parenthood, self-discovery, doubt, and faith.
When the folly, sadness, and misfortune of their pasts threaten to derail their futures, Bubba and Andy find themselves in the eye of a hurricane — both literally and symbolically — with life-changing proportions. Inner and outer landscapes clash in the fury of Hurricane Hugo’s rampaging destruction, tossing the friends amid a swirl of fear, hope, despair, and forgiveness. What they find there together will either seal their fates or set them free. Saint Andrew’s Parish is a tale of enduring friendship, of following dreams, and ultimately, of the timeless human search for redemption.
According to Platt, who’s better known for his poetry than his fiction, Saint Andrew’s Parish is something that he has been working on since 1991. But it was important to have it released prior to the 25th anniversary of Hurricane Hugo this week. The devastating hurricane is a central plotline in the book, particularly in “Nunc Dimittis,” one of the 23 chapters in Saint Andrew’s Parish.
He ran to an outside door and straining, pitting every ounce of his strength against the wind, forced it open. But it was too dark outside to see anything. The entire neighborhood, like the entire city and surrounding communities — Mount Pleasant, McClellanvlle, Awendaw, Goose Creek, Hanahan, Monck’s Corner, Sullivan’s Island, Summerville, the Isle of Palms, Folly Beach, James and Johns Islands, Saint Andrew’s Parish — all were enshrouded in black wind and rain. Visual confirmation of Saint Cecilia’s share of the catastrophe would have to wait. Meanwhile, he and hundreds of others already knew in their hearts it was a life-changing unnatural natural disaster.
 — from “Nunc Dimittis,” Saint Andrew’s Parish
A Charleston native, Platt’s father worked at the Navy Yard and the family attended Ashley River Baptist Church. After graduating from St. Andrew’s Parish High School, Platt served three years in the U.S. Army as a paratrooper and chaplain’s assistant. He earned a B.A. at the University of South Carolina and did graduate study at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. Platt, a retired Federal Civil Service worker, has served on the James Island Public Service District Commission since 1993 and was christened the Poet Laureate for the Town of James Island by former mayor Mary Clark.
Eugene Platt’s novel Saint Andrew’s Parish is currently available as an e-book for $10 at www.smashwords.com and www.amazon.com.