My Anecdotal Life

On his way from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Washington, DC, to pursue an MFA in Directing at The Catholic University of America, Granville’s journey takes a series of disastrous turns. First, a poorly secured U-Haul trailer sends his prized record collection flying across I-95, forcing him to risk life and limb to retrieve it. But the real trouble begins when he discovers he doesn’t have enough money to pay the toll to exit the New Jersey Turnpike. Stranded and desperate, Granville turns an all-night café into an impromptu marketplace, hawking his possessions to unsuspecting customers in hopes of raising enough cash to finally make his escape.

Granville’s adventures continue at Princeton University, where triumph and disaster seem to arrive in equal measure. As President of the musical theatre Triangle Club, he proudly leads the charge on co-education by putting the first woman ever on the Triangle stage—but his own musical almost implodes for lack of direction. The rest of his college years unfold like a cosmic prank, as success, spectacle, and catastrophe seem determined to keep pace with one another. Still, Granville gamely plays the hand he’s dealt and somehow survives to tell the tale.

When Granville leaves the segregated South for Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, he encounters, for the first time, a racially integrated world, along with new friendships, old-money classmates, legendary pranks, and academic challenges beyond anything he thought possible. All of it shapes Granville’s growing maturity...or lack thereof. But nothing can prepare him for one of the most unforgettable moments of his young life: how he loses his virginity.

A late-night party, a speed bump, and a highway car chase once again land Granville on the wrong side of the law...this time in jail. His cellmate is a drunken, raving lunatic, whom Granville manages to appease with a white lie. But the bigger reckoning comes after bail, when he must confess everything to his no-nonsense attorney father. What follows is an unexpected turn that reveals the confounding complexity of father-son relationships. Sometimes, maybe, crime does pay.

Music is woven into the fabric of Granville’s upbringing, from waking up to Chopin on the piano to hymns filling the house. Surrounded from an early age by song, he became a musician, songwriter, and storyteller. In this episode, Granville shares some of his favorite original compositions, from teenage love ballads to country rock to Broadway show tunes, and the (rollicking) stories behind them.

Growing up southern often means growing up with guns, and Granville is no exception. From target practice with a revolver in his backyard to riflery at The Citadel Military Academy, he faces the challenge of hitting his target until one day he fires a single shot that changes him forever.

Social clubs abound in late 1950s Greenville, SC. If you’re lucky enough to be the son of a prominent attorney like Granville, you can join one as early as 7th grade. In a twisted notion of what creates male bonding, these rituals of belonging can be as bizarre as they are brutal. But when Granville and his best friend Gower face unexpected danger after a dance, one night becomes a test of courage, loyalty, and friendship.

Welcome to My Anecdotal Life, a collection of true stories from the life of Granville Wyche Burgess—writer, actor, director, teacher, producer, and storyteller. Told in Granville’s own words, these are some of the people, places, mishaps, adventures, and unexpected turns that have shaped his life.

And where better to begin than at the beginning, with a name?

What’s in a name? Well, if it happens to be Granville Wyche Burgess, plenty, including some interesting ancestry and a few colorful nicknames as you'll hear in his introduction.

Later in the episode, you'll hear how an innocent game of bowling spirals into a teenage moral dilemma involving friendship, familial duty, and a brush with the law. Travel the South Carolina highways as a trembling young Granville must choose between loyalty to a friend, obedience to the law, and the expectations of his Baptist lawyer father.

Meet Granville Wyche Burgess and get a first taste of My Anecdotal Life, a new narrative podcast filled with family stories, personal history, misadventures, close calls, and a few lessons picked up along the way.

In this sneak peek, Granville introduces himself, explains how he came by his rather unusual name, and offers a taste of his first story, “My Life in Crime,” featuring an ill-advised teenage detour into criminality.

The stories begin September 15.