Hotbeds of Hostility
Hotbeds of Hostility by Gary Wright “If he has a conscience, he will suffer for his mistake. That will be his punishment.” — Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment The North American continent had never seen carnage the likes of the … Continue reading
THE YEAR WAS 1947
THE YEAR WAS 1947 By Tom Lawrence My friend Billy and I were walking home from school on a warm October afternoon in 1947. The aroma of burning leaves filled the air, and there was just the hint of … Continue reading
FACES IN THE CROWD by Tom Lawrence
FACES IN THE CROWD By Tom Lawrence In every generation and in every society there are those who make a difference without the receipt of either recognition or fame serving as the motivation for their actions. Mostly, they are just … Continue reading
The Jefferson Davis You May Not Know By Jim Eikner
The opportunity had surpassed my expectations. My employer, the public television station and PBS affiliate in Memphis, WKNO, was holding a reception promoting and celebrating the return of Ken Burns’ acclaimed television series, The Civil War.” I had arrived … Continue reading
Birth of Southern Speak by Gary Wright
“Song, song of the South; sweet potato pie and hush my mouth,” as performed by the country group, Alabama “Southern Speak” This is a type of soft speaking which was primarily developed in the South during the northern occupation of the beloved … Continue reading
Por qué no hacen el sur carolinans habla español – (Why don’t South Carolinians speak Spanish?) by Tom Lawrence
I posed this question to several of my learned friends and got a variety of answers such as: “Well, because South Carolina was settled by the English, dummy.” “A whole bunch of them do.” “Well, because the English drove the … Continue reading
Pensacola with a Past by Tom Lawrence
As a child, I spent my summers with my paternal grandparents in Pensacola, Florida. In the late 1940’s and early 1950’s, Pensacola was a sleepy little city completely out of the American mainstream. Because my grandfather was a retired Naval … Continue reading
How The Delta Came to Be by Tom Lawrence
The great alluvial flood plain known as the Mississippi Delta begins just south of Memphis, Tennessee and extends to just north of Vicksburg, Mississippi. The Delta is nestled between the Mississippi River on the West and the chain of hills … Continue reading
