Shelby Foote dies

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050628/ap_en_ot/obit_foote

I first became aware of him when I saw Ken Burns' Civil War on PBS.  I loved listening to him talk so much that I bought his books on tape instead of reading them myself.  Stars In Their Courses was an amazing retelling of the battle at Gettysburg.

My mom and I always half-joked we'd like to sit on the verandah with him, sipping mint juleps.