Coming HomeMedgar Evers' work has never been forgotten. To honor his memory, the Evers family has held a Medgar Evers Homecoming event each June. In 1973 Mayor Charles Evers and B.B. King collaborated to sponsor concerts in honor of the slain …
Peter Zapletal, PuppeteerThe puppets Peter Zapletal makes are works of art, all unified by his craftsmanship. The sly smile on bunnies wearing striped suits in "Carnival of Animals" and the details in the construction of the robbers Fritz and Wolfgang that allows …
Growing Great WritersI firmly believe that anyone can be a good writer. Writing leads to clear thinking, and reading and writing feed each other. Don't give up on yourself or your child, or think that you don't have writing "talent." Just like …
A Helping HandA storage closet inside a homeless day shelter is an unlikely studio for well-known Mississippi folk artist McArthur Chism. But these days Chism is just glad to have a quiet space where he can thread the bottle caps he collects …
Art RevivalAs he flipped through a slideshow of a "Wizard of Oz"-inspired golf course, an outdoor living room made of grass and children jumping in a bed of flower petals, David Koren emphasized that FIGMENT is not an art exhibit, but …
A Good ShepherdThe Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi is the only diocese in the country to have a third-generation bishop. Bishop Duncan M. Gray presided over the diocese from 1943 to 1966; his son, Bishop Duncan Gray Jr. (to whom I will refer …
An Unlikely ArtifactWhile walking in the woods along the Pearl River in Jackson last year, Millsaps College senior art student daniel johnson discovered a 1948 Westinghouse Refrigerator. Finding an appliance mysteriously placed in a natural setting was the catalyst for The Westinghouse …
Now What?Most parents and college professors can give endless advice about college, but many high-school graduates just won't understand until they learn the lessons for themselves. Besides learning from experience, here are some books that might get the graduate in your …
Coming-of-Age FlicksGraduation is not closing a chapter. It is not turning one's back on lessons learned. Instead, graduation is a stepping stone to responsibility. Numerous movies capture this transition. These options each offer a slightly different coming-of-age epiphany.
‘Something to Think About'In Barry Gifford's "Sad Stories of the Death of Kings", a book named after a line from a Shakespeare play, first-generation Austrian American Roy walks us through his Chicago neighborhood in the '60s. The short tales are from the perspective …
Failings and Desires"You Think That's Bad: Stories" (Knopf, 2011, $24.95), a collection of short stories by Jim Shepard, speaks to harsh realities about human existence. Almost astonishingly varied settings and writing styles heighten the common ideas the stories share.
Capturing ImaginationsIf you are ever going to rent a kid, 4-year-old Jackson Andrews is the best deal you could possibly get. He is at the just the right height that I can reach down and run my fingers through his dark …
Integrating NatureNeither could conceive of existence that doesn't include being active in nature and working with their hands. Gayle, a mixed-media artist, and Lee, a ceramics artist, spin wilderness into their work. But as children, neither of the two, thought they …
Vanity of a WriterSmoke clears to reveal Barcelona, Spain, in the early 1900s, the city's heart pulsing with unrest under the fiery shadows of a black-and-red cobwebbed sky. Or at least this is the pulpy-fictitious mood Carlos Ruiz Zafón sets, by repeatedly conjuring …
Biz Book ShelfFor all you future business leaders of Jackson (and even some established ones), running a business is never easy. Hard work and determination are the keys to victory. But every now and then you will need advice, whether to start …