Intensive English Comp I (110)

Student Student

ENGL 101-101

Mr. Buckley

1//11/2000

An Intensive Reader

The first time I met Woody was when a friend gave my family a tour of a historic house located in the Lower Garden District of New Orleans. We were seeking a house to buy in the summer of 2016. It was a typical summer in New Orleans. When we arrived, not only did the unique architecture catch our attention, but also a man wearing a straw hat, a well-ironed, long-sleeve white shirt and khaki pants, sitting on the porch and reading a newspaper with a majesty palm in the background. A lighted cigar sat on the ashtray next to him on a round marble top coffee table with a line of straight smoke rising up to the porch ceiling. My first impression of him was either a Cuban plantation owner or a southern gentleman. He didn’t notice us passing by because he was reading so intensively. Later on, we found out his name, Sherwood Briggs, but he is called “Woody”. He lived with his step-daughter in this old house. When we eventually brought the house, Woody stayed on as a tenant upstairs. He continues as our tenant ever since, and became our friend.

Everyone in the neighborhood, old neighbors, new neighbors know Woody. “Oh yeah, the man who sits on the porch smokes his cigar and reads all day!” When people mentioned Woody, they said, “literally all day!” There is a full room of books, magazines and stacks of newspaper neatly stacked in their own spot in his apartment. Most of them are issues on current affairs. Woody portrays himself as politically conservative, and claims to be “softly materialistic.” It is not hard to

Student 2

guess his hobby since he devotes all his spare time reading. His fascination and passion for reading originated when he was a young boy. He recalled he used to go to summer camp and play baseball. He said, “When everybody stopped playing baseball, they went down the river throw stones stuff like that, and one guy, two of us snuck into the library and read books instead.” Woody describes himself a precocious reader, he was already reading magazines like Literacy Reviews at the age of twelve.

Besides reading, Woody also likes to talk to people. He talks fast and ceaselessly with his humorous tone, “I can draw a sentence faster than John Wing can draw.” His extensive vocabulary reflects his time reading as well as his education. In 1954, he went to Cornell University graduating from the Department of Economics at the age of 22. He was drafted into the army for two years, he said it was a good time to go because it was after the Korean War and before the Vietnam War. Afterwards, he went back to school and completed his MBA at the State University at Buffalo, then went to work at M&T Bank in Buffalo.

As mentioned, Sherwood is his real first name, and he was born in Buffalo of British ancestry. In July, 2019, Woody will be turning 84. He still drives to work every day to his downtown New Orleans’s office and works regular office hours. “I’m retired, but because of my old clients and old friends, I now work as an advisor handling public relations, mergers and acquisitions with smaller banks.” When I asked him what was his biggest accomplishment or things or people that he most proud of, he named his wife Kate and two sons. Business wise, he did a salvation of ten or eleven banks during a bad period and those banks are still around. He indicated, “A good reputation for that in the State, very nice...very nice, and helps me in my old age. Oh...Woody Briggs!”

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There is no end to the journey of reading and working for Woody. Seeing Woody sitting in the same spot every day is not tiring but inspiring. He is always there, and willing to talk to you whenever you have some concern. He reminds me that, even in a busy world filled with heat noise and tasks, you can enjoy life in a calm and peaceful way.

Works Cited

Briggs, Sherwood. Personal Interview. 11 Jan. 2020