At 2:00 p.m. the businesses of the Oxford Courthouse Square locked their doors.

The hearse carrying William Faulkner pulled out of Rowan Oak, went to South Lamar, turned left, ascended the shortrise, and came into view of the Courthouse in the distance.

Oxford’s businessmen and women stepped to the Square’s curbs and stood solemnly. The Nobel Laureate circled the town’s heart for the last time.

Carried to St. Peter’s with Phil Stone and Mac Reed standing watch, he was laid to rest at the base of a gentle slope in the shade of a mighty oak.