I was born and brought up in the small town of Pineville, which I left at the age of sixteen. Twenty years    1    I found myself back on a visit. I went to see my    2    friend Tom Clark, who, active as ever, was chairman of the local    3    . He was busy preparing to welcome    4    writer, invited to give a talk on modern literature in the public library    5    evening. Since I happened to have read his works, when Tom invited me to go with him I    6    accepted.