“The past is never dead. It isn’t even past.” ~ William Faulkner (September 25, 1897 to July 6, 1962)
Faulkner was an award-winning American novelist and short story writer. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1949 and two Pulitzer Prizes for later novels. Faulkner is perhaps most well known for his novels The Sound and the Fury (1929), As I Lay Dying (1930), and Absalom, Absalom! (1936).
His Yoknapatawpha County – a fictional county and setting for many of his novels and short stories – is a famous literary creation.
According to Wikipedia, he donated a portion of his Nobel Prize winnings “to establish a fund to support and encourage new fiction writers.” This donation eventually resulted in the PEN / Faulkner Award for Fiction.
[Source for quotation: Personal knowledge and verified through use of BrainyQuotes.com, accessed August 31, 2010. Source for biographical information: Wikipedia, accessed August 31, 2010].
Finally, Faulkner’s quote reminds me of “Nothing that has ever happened should be regarded as lost for history.” ~ Walter Benjamin, as quoted by Rebecca Solnit in her fine book Hope in the Dark (2004). Most highly recommended.
https://andrewsmcbride.wordpress.com/2010/07/28/the-quotidian-july-28-2010-reclaiming-history/
Andrew Shattuck McBride, Writer's Blog 