"Theo of Golden," Allen Levi

There are many things in life that stretch the imagination – what a poet, composer, artist can create, but also what scientists can learn and understand – how both are not bounded by constraints.

 In the May 9-10 edition of The Wall Street Journal there was a short article by Aylin Woodward, “Scientists Figured Out How Fast the Universe is Expanding.” They concluded that objects recede faster as they become more distant: “For instance, a galaxy 3 million light-years away will move away from us by 46 miles per second.” A galaxy twice that distance would be expanding at twice the rate. On the other hand – and this is where their calculations boggle a mind as simple as mine when trying to conceive the size of the universe: “If you took an empty space the size of a football field, and it was expanding at the rate our universe is, it would take more than a million years to expand by a single centimeter.” 

 

Questions abound. The universe is so large, and what does it expand into? And what else is out there, if anything? Allen Levi’s book served to remind me as to what’s important in our lives – our families and friends, the beauty of nature and the world around us, the importance of religion and the mystery of what we cannot know, the magic of human kindness and its connection to art.

 

Sydney M. Williams

 

Burrowing into Books

Theo of Golden, Allen Levi

May 17, 2026

 

“It might not make a lot of sense, but for anything

to be good, truly good, there must be love in it.”

                                                                                    Theo speaking to Archer Glissen

 

This is a special book that defies reviewing. Nevertheless, reading it, I thought of the Biblical words from Luke, which represent spiritual redemption and joy: “...he was lost and is found.” As one reads the first page, one is mystified. By the time the last page is turned, one’s belief in miracles is assured.

 

What we learn is that the 86-year-old Theo (he goes by the single name) has arrived in the fictional college town of Golden, an hour or so south of Atlanta, where he flew in by private jet. A Portuguese by birth, he has lived in places like Madrid, Rome, Paris, Rio de Janeiro and, for the past twenty years, New York City.

 

Golden is situated on the Oxbow River, perhaps the Ocmulgee?, a river noted for its oxbows, a river that runs to the sea. It reminds him of the Duoro in northern Portugal, the river on which he grew up. Now, here in Golden, he knows no one – “Well...perhaps one.”

 

And no one in Golden knows him. “He was a Houdini at evading personal questions and answering only those that were within certain unstated boundaries.” Nevertheless, early on he is recognized as an exceptional and good man. James Ponder, an attorney from whom he rents an apartment, says to him: “People like you renew my faith in humanity.”

 

This is a story of art and humanity, of beauty and love, of sadness and happiness. In the Chalice, a barista run by Shep and Addie, Theo notes the 92 pencil-lined portraits that line the walls, all drawn by a local artist, Asher Glissen. Looking at them, Theo discerns something of the character of each individual that the artist has captured. He purchases them and bestows them as a gift to each subject. Thus, we are introduced to myriad characters, among them: the homeless Ellen, the bookseller Tony, Simone the cello player, Minette, niece of Asher, and Kendrick Whitaker, a night janitor at the college and his 8-year-old daughter Lanisha, injured in a car accident. 

 

The story includes surprises, some of which the reader will anticipate, but more they will not.