Landon Talley bio
Landon Talley, 50, was born in Decatur, Georgia, the third and youngest son of Sally Ann and John Talley. John was an advertising representative for the Atlanta Constitution newspaper, and Sally Ann stayed at home to raise the boys.
Things began to change for the Talleys when Landon was a teenager. At age 51, John found himself looking for a new job after the newspaper's advertising department was reorganized. Sensing the shift in family fortunes, Landon got a job at the local diner on weekends, which left him little time for socializing and goofing off.
After high school, Landon moved into a shared apartment in downtown Atlanta and entered the workforce as a busser at The Sun Dial Restaurant, Bar and View. In a few years, he'd saved enough to pay for a year's training at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y.
With his gregarious personality and flair for combining flavors, Landon made advantageous connections with the school's visiting instructors. After graduating, he secured a position on the line at The Four Seasons in New York City, eventually working his way up to sous chef.
But Landon chafed at having to execute someone else's recipes, so he returned to Atlanta. He opened his own restaurant, Coup de Foudre, which gained favor with foodies. Even Landon's parents, who regarded haute cuisine as a superficial career, grudgingly admitted the food was tasty if a little pricey.
After a few years, the restaurant became less popular as tastes changed, and Landon was forced to close. One of his creditors, Genevieve Jones, took him out for coffee to discuss his future plans. Landon was attracted to her efficient intelligence and sympathetic humor. When he decided to tour Europe to gather new culinary ideas, she accompanied him, and they returned to Atlanta engaged to be married.
After the wedding, Genevieve and Landon moved to Oxford, Mississippi, where he worked at City Grocery before venturing into restaurant ownership again. His homey French bistro was a perfect match for the academics from the university.
While Genevieve worked long hours at the bank and regularly traveled to Tupelo for regional meetings, Landon slept in and spent his daytime hours volunteering for the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council before heading to the restaurant to supervise the kitchen. He began to find Genevieve's brisk efficiency irritating, and their increasingly separate schedules didn't help matters.
Landon gained a reputation as a flirt and reportedly began having affairs with women who volunteered with him at art exhibits or who lunched at his bistro.
When Diane Coates visited the restaurant with her Ole Miss colleagues, he exchanged a saucy repartee with her. She showed up the following week for a drink and a snack at the bar, after which they met frequently, both at the restaurant and in other, more private locations.
Landon considered the affair just another brief flirtation, but Diane insisted on continuing the relationship. Eventually, she began to remind Landon of Genevieve, both of them shrill and confining, and he longed to escape at least one of them on a permanent basis.
