I am so excited! Northwest is offering the first
ever author study and hometown tour featuring Willie Morris this Fall as a
continuing education class for local educators. Participants will receive 1.5 continuing
education units (CEUs) for two short classes and a day long trip to Yazoo City
celebrating his writings.
The two classes will focus on five books: Good Old
Boy, My Dog Skip, Good Old Boy and the Witch of Yazoo City, North Toward
Home, and Conversations with Willie Morris.
The tour of Yazoo City will start with a visit to the
Sam Olden Yazoo Historical Society Museum, a walk in Glenwood Cemetery where
the witch of Yazoo and Morris are buried, lunch at Ubon’s Barbeque (a Memphis
in May award-winning treat), and walking amongst the historic homes and
churches that Morris mentions in his books.
In the last two weeks, I have met some truly nice
people who thought the world of Morris. Jesse Kelley, an instructional
librarian at Delta State, volunteered to help with the first class because he
has read everything Morris wrote and wants to learn more. Our scholar for the
second class is Dr. Katherine (Kate) Cochran. She knew him and his wife, and
teaches his works in her Southern Literature class at the University of
Southern Mississippi.
I had lunch with Larry Wells, owner of Yoknapatawpha
Press, who was excited that Morris was being taught at NWCC. Over chicken
salad, he shared many stories about Mississippi authors such as William
Faulkner, Barry Hannah, his wife Dean, and himself. Wells has written three novels:
Rommel and the Rebel, Rommel’s Peace, and Let the Band Play Dixie. He edited
and published the photo-biography, William Faulkner: The Cofield Collection, and scripted a TV film documentary Return to the River (Mississippi ETV) which
won a 1994 Emmy for Best Regional Broadcast.
Larry and his late wife, Dean Faulkner Wells, taught
English at Northwest from 1975-79. In 1978 Morris asked them to contact
Chancellor Porter Fortune and see if Ole Miss would be interested in hiring him.
Willie Morris was the first writer-in-residence at
Ole Miss, but before he accepted the position he needed reassurance about the
move. He struggled with the idea of moving from the constant on of New York
City to the possible off of Oxford. It took an Ole Miss tailgate party and
football weekend to convince him that Oxford could be just as exciting.
Throughout our meal, Larry portrayed Morris as a
brilliant but sometimes eccentric writer, and a highly creative practical
joker, but also a gentle soul who thought the world of Mississippi and its
people. He and Morris were driving to Oxford from Yazoo City when a Miss. highway
patrolman stopped them. After the officer read Morris’ license, he asked if he
was speaking with the author Willie Morris. Larry said this was the happiest he
had ever seen Willie, not because the officer did not ticket him but because he
recognized him.
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