James MeredithTalking to Mr. James Meredith is a right-brain experience. The conversation isn't linear, organized, disciplined. It jumps around to topics that the thin, intense grandfather is interested in at the very instant. As the 70-year-old Kosciusko native talks first about …
Keith TonkelFor going on 35 years, Keith Tonkel has been in the pulpit, serving the congregation and neighborhood of Wells United Methodist Church on Bailey Avenue. His office, on the second-story back corner over the parking lot, is filled with memorabilia …
Cheers to Gailya Porter!<i>Last week, we learned that Smith Elementary has ranked as a Level 5 school. We featured principal Gailya Porter as "Jacksonian" a month ago in our education issue. Here's an encore of that story in honor of a remarkable school …
Camp BestSeated in his corner office at 3318 North State Street, Camp Best beams his excitement about that eclectic part of the city known as Fondren. He calls the area's artistic renaissance the "Fondren glow," explaining, "It causes this light to …
Monica MinterSeated comfortably with perfect posture, Monica Jeany Minter calmly focuses on the photographer, her eyes never leaving his face until she thoroughly understands his instructions. Nothing about the busy Friday afternoon outside Banner Hall distracts her. The Murrah High graduate …
Vickie and Bill GilesThe old saying goes: Marriages are made in heaven. Actually, some are made at football games and barbecues as well. In November 1979, Meridian native Bill Giles was a graduate football assistant at Mississippi College. He smiles as he tells …
Jay SonesJay Sones, 28, sits across the small table at Fenian's talking on his cell phone (the kind you can send pictures through) with his baby sister, Meg. He tells her that I'm interviewing him and responds when she asks why, …
Cordie AzizSeated behind a bare executive desk at Cindy Ayers-Elliott's campaign headquarters, Cordie Aziz seems right at home. She radiates hope for her future and confidence in her ability to do anything she decides to do.
Pat FordiceWhereas, Pat Fordice is a good Southern lady. In the documentary "Belles and Whistles" screened at the 2002 Crossroads Film Festival, former first lady Fordice says
M.U.G.A.B.E.E.Carlton Turner leads me upstairs to the V.I.P. room of The Forum where he is the public relations director. His older (by 13 months) brother Maurice waits for the interview with his weathered and dented Bach Stradivarius in his lap. …
Janice JordanMy mom and I are sitting on her balcony outside her apartment in Belhaven Heights. She's lounging in a plastic deck chair, wearing a white Mexican wedding dress and sipping a can of Miller Light out of a huggie. She's …
Knol AustAlthough Knol Aust, 27, has never met Lenny Kravitz, Queen Latifah, or Sting, he works side-by-side with them each day as each helps motivate young American voters. Aust, a Web designer who grew up in Raymond, is leading the way …
Ouida CouchA menacing polar bear stalks two 5-year-old girls, doggedly chasing them through the backyard. The polar bear's name is King, Ouida Couch's 85-pound white German Shepherd, and this is their favorite game. Ouida is indomitable, delighting in the frolicsome chase. …
Navonda MooreSitting in McAllister's Deli, with her hair pulled back and up, ponytail style, her elbows on the table and chin resting comfortably on her hands, Navonda Moore looks like an average teenager. She is not. After moving to Mississippi from …
Elizabeth RobinsonElizabeth Robinson did not take art classes while enrolled at the Mississippi University for Women. Until the school featured a 20-year retrospective of her work, she did not even know where the art department was located. In fact, glass sculpture …