The University of Florida

The University of Florida appears in Paul Edgecombe's narrative as the destination of a family journey that ended in tragedy. In 1956, Paul and his wife Janice traveled by Greyhound bus to attend the graduation of their third grandchild, Tessa, from the university. The trip, which began as a celebration, became the site of Janice's death when the bus was struck by a fertilizer truck and destroyed in a rainstorm outside Birmingham, Alabama. Paul, who survived the crash with only a minor cut, found Janice dying on the pavement and held her as she passed away. The university itself is never described; it functions solely as the geographical and emotional anchor for the accident that separates Paul from his wife and deepens his sense of isolation. The event is recalled from the Georgia Pines nursing home, where Paul, now over a century old, writes his memoir and reflects on the long aftermath of John Coffey's execution and the strange longevity Coffey's touch bestowed upon him.