While working as a graduate intern at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History last year, I began a particular assignment centered on Eudora Welty. The goal of my project was to find a way to mesh social media with Miss Welty’s connection to MDAH, possibly through the use of Twitter or Facebook. The catch? I knew very little about Eudora Welty’s life.

As a Millsaps English major, I’d dabbled in Welty’s fiction. Dr. Suzanne Marrs impressed upon the English 3350 Welty Short Fiction class the poignancy of Welty’s fiction writing, taking us on a tour of the Welty house as a “bonus.” I’d been warned that a student should not over-connect the work of an author with the life of an author, because fiction is fiction and thus stands alone. However, years later as an intern at MDAH, I found myself finally reading my former professor’s biography Eudora Welty, and looking back I notice that I’ve highlighted the following passage, taken from one of Miss Welty’s essays:

“Southerners do write – probably they must write. It is that way they are: born readers and reciters, great document holders, diary keepers, letter exchangers and savers, history tracers – and, outstaying the rest, great talkers. Emphasis in talk is on the narrative form and the verbatim conversation, for which time is needed.”

It is a quote from an essay published in the Times Literary Supplement. I’ve scribbled the word “critical” in the margin next to the passage, decorating the paragraph with stars for added emphasis. This concept – that Southerners are perhaps inherently destined to document our conversations in written form – made perfect sense. Think of all the correspondence Miss Welty wrote, all the notes she must have jotted while eavesdropping, and all the recipes and gardening tips she recorded in writing. She was nothing if not prolific, so it must be interesting to write a book about Miss Welty, because really, it seems that she was always writing a book about everybody else.

As Miss Welty said, Southerners are talkers, driven to communicate, retell, relive, and relate. We have new ways of communicating, it’s true: our culture has come to depend on social media as a way to document our lives and stay in touch. We are E-mailers, bloggers, Tweeters, Facebook-status updaters. But while we have modified our methods of communicating, we are still communicating the same things. We still storytellers, narrators and gossipers, readers and letter-writers. More than ever, we value our conversations, and we want others to share in our chatter.

As I studied Miss Welty last year, I began to wonder what she would think about the way we experience her legacy. I can’t imagine what Miss Welty would say if she knew that her old house now has a Facebook page, or that Lemuria was running blogs about her. Would she have liked Facebook, blogs, and Twitter? She seems too regal for social media, but then again…perhaps she would have loved it. After all, what is social media if not a way to retell stories, share ideas and communicate with others?

I think Miss Welty would approve.

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If you have story about Miss Welty that you would like to share on our blog, please e-mail them to lisa[at]lemuriabooks[dot]com.

Click here to learn about Carolyn Brown’s A Daring Life: A Biography of Eudora Welty

Click here to see all blogs in our Miss Welty series

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I love being a kids’ bookseller in Oz. I love writing for kids. I have been taking care of, teaching, camp counseling and after school coordinating kids for over 17 years, so I have read a lot of books for kids. As we kick off our four-day Once Upon A Fall Children’s Book Festival (be sure to join us for the Storybook Ball!), I want to share some children’s books I particularly enjoy, in addition to the books we will be promoting by our wonderful visiting authors.

Books like Bink and Gollie. I love, love, LOVE Bink and Gollie. These books, written by Newbery medalist Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee, are the first things that come to mind when asked about great first chapter books for 5-7 year olds. But honestly, I’ve seen kids as young as three and old as twelve laughing uproariously at Bink and Gollie’s perfect, sparse slapstick dialogue and friendship dynamics.

Two best friends who are total opposites, practical, sardonic Gollie contrasts hilariously with impetuous, enthusiastic Bink. In the first book, Bink and Gollie have differences of opinion over goldfish ownership, Andes mountain climbing and, in my favorite episode, which socks to wear. As a girl who loves my rainbow collection of tights (see photo of my tights drawer below!), I sympathize with Bink’s love of rainbow socks.

“Bink, said Gollie. “The brightness of those socks pains me. I beg you not to purchase them.”

“I can’t wait to put them on,” said Bink. […]

“I love socks,” said Bink.

“Some socks are more lovable than others,” said Gollie.

And so it continues throughout their adventures. In the newest installment, Two for One, Bink and Gollie spend a day at the state fair with their share of mishaps and bad luck. But a trip to see the fortune teller at day’s end reminds them of what they’ve always known–bad luck comes and goes, but true friends are forever.

Though they aren’t the first odd couple of chapter books to be written, in my opinion, they are the most perfect. The stories have just the right touch of silliness and whimsy, originality and excellent writing, that will make kids pick them up again and again. Complete with artwork whimsically created by the talented Tony Fucile, Bink and Gollie are the perfect books for the new reader in your life.

by Mandy

Eudora was once a society writer–briefly–for the Jackson Daily News, but of course, she mostly wrote wonderful satirical pieces. She knew from local reading that the genre of society writing had its own potential for comedy. One of her favorite writers of society columns was Mrs. Beatrice Boyette, who wrote seriously for the Jackson Daily News for several decades. Eudora often quoted her to my great delight. At some point, Eudora gave me a typed copy of one of Boyette’s columns that she had saved. I’ve chosen one paragraph out of many amazing specimens of Mrs. Boyette’s prose (and Eudora’s delight).

“Splendor emitted atmospheric radiance, as the bride was predominant in white lace sparsed with linen, matching accessories and carnation corsage… The living and dining rooms, redundant with lustrous spring flowers, diffused essence of felicitousness as the bride made incision in the wedding cake, reposing on an incomparable hand-crocheted table cloth.”

-Patti Carr Black

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If you have story about Miss Welty that you would like to share on our blog, please e-mail them to lisa[at]lemuriabooks[dot]com.

Click here to learn about Carolyn Brown’s A Daring Life: A Biography of Eudora Welty

Click here to see all blogs in our Miss Welty series

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We have been working with the Mississippi Children’s Museum to set up  a series of events in celebration of children’s literature. Next week is Once Upon a Fall Festival and it’s open to the public!

The poster below profiles the event for School Field Trips but everyone is welcome to the Public Signings. No reservations are required and the cost for each children’s literature event is listed below.

Parents, teachers and nannies of preschoolers everywhere know just how much the little ones LOVE Llama Llama, the adorable creation of talented author/illustrator Anna Dewdney. He’s oh-so-funny in that Winnie-the-Pooh/Amelia Bedelia/Junie B kind of way–kids can identify with the age appropriate lessons and experiences of the character, and feel slightly superior while enjoying Llama’s antics along the way to a lesson well learned.

What makes Llama special, in my opinion, is the beautiful textured oil paintings that illustrate the series, as well as the sparse, clever (not cloying!) rhyming text that keeps the pages turning and children as young as 2 engaged. Before the release of Dewdney’s sixth book in the series, Llama Llama Time To Share, we were joking at my house about how many more rhymes for llama could possibly be left. But never fear! Nelly Gnu, the new girl (get it?! OK, so I’m easily amused…) in Llama’s neighborhood, is here to save the day and supply a whole new plethora of rhyming possibilities.

Providing his readers with a timely, gentle reminder on the importance of sharing and hospitality, a wary Llama decides that maybe sharing isn’t so bad after all–until he catches Nelly Gnu playing with his favorite dolly! And she didn’t even ask!! Oh, the llama drama! It’s a LLAMAMERGENCY! But as always, with a little help from Mama, Llama finds his way.

by Mandy

In this and any election season, things can get…tense. If you get too vocal, you can lose friends. Or what was once a mere political disagreement can become a family feud that lasts for generations. Recently we were sent a few promotional buttons that read GANDALF FOR PRESIDENT, one of which I immediately pinned to my purse. My preference is clear, and it’s one I don’t mind sharing. Rather than lose sleep and shell out the big bucks for massages to relieve our political tensions, why not have a good laugh over the whole circus–and teach our kids a thing or two about how our democracy works along the way??

Enter Bad Kitty, a hilarious character written and illustrated by Nick Bruel–who is coming to visit us and crack your kids up on Thursday, September 20th at 4 PM! Bad Kitty is fed up with stray cats digging in her neighborhood garbage cans, and she’s determined to do something about it. Good thing Old Kitty’s second term as president of the Neighborhood Cat Club is just about up!

If you and your kids haven’t met Bad Kitty yet, there’s never been a better time. This hilariously written and illustrated series will not only have kids rolling with laughter, but the  also sneakily teach them real facts about cats and, in this newest installment, the election process. (If your child has been begging for a kitten, talk about two birds…this series will gently educate them on the realities of cat ownership as well!)

You know how those times you’ve laughed the hardest stick out in your memory, no matter how many years have passed? Laughter serves the same purpose here, helping kids remember important lessons in democracy and citizenship.

If you haven’t brought your kids to Lemuria recently (or ever) to meet an author and have a keepsake book signed and inscribed with their names, now is the time. Making the connection between books and the real people who create them is so exciting for children, and is a vital part of raising lifelong readers and learners. Bad Kitty is a series targeted at preschool through third grade children–bring yours in to Lemuria for an event they’ll never forget!

by Mandy

Maude Schuyler Clay, a photographer and native of the Mississippi Delta, shares her feelings about Miss Welty.

Eudora Welty with  Annie Leibovitz

Eudora Welty represents a little bit of everything I have ever aspired to. She was a wonderful photographer, capturing the Mississippi of 1930 WPA days, giving us as complete an image of our culture and our state as anyone ever has; in her writing she was probably the one person who best encapsulated, through her impeccable ear for the vernacular and her vast understanding of the human condition,  in equal measure the tragedies and comedies of our Southern and universal existence. Throughout her long life she had an association with, as well as the hard-earned respect of,  just about every writer in the last half century or more:

As for clear, honest intent of purpose, that of setting a scene and unfolding a great story, there is no better person than Miss Welty to describe what she was up to:

“I had to grow up and learn to listen for the unspoken as well as the spoken – and to know a truth, and I also had to recognize a lie.”

Though as a child I had had a Kodak Brownie camera and then later graduated to a Kodak Instamatic camera, I have to say that I did not began seriously taking photographs until I was about 19 years old.  My parents invested in a Pentax SLR 35mm when I left Ole Miss after one year and enrolled  at the alluring and exotic Instituto Allende in San Miguel De Allende, Mexico. I really don’t know why my mother and father agreed not  only to let me go that far away from home, but to actually leave college. Perhaps they were so tired of arguing with me about what I perceived as the parochial nature of life in Oxford, Miss., that they officially sanctioned – by paying the travel and tuition expenses — my “running away”, as I regularly threatened to do, to an art school in Mexico. There, along with my classes in welding, pottery and the art of lost wax jewelry making, I took a photography class that pretty much changed my life. There was something magical about going out onto the streets of San Miguel in the blinding light of day and then returning to the  (literally) “dark room” to process and print the pictures. I simply fell in love with photography. As our Miss Welty said of her character, the one she has said she most identified with, Miss Eckhart in “June Recital” from The Golden Apples:

“She derived from what I already knew for myself . . . passion for my own life work, my own art. Exposing yourself to a risk . . . the love of your art and the love of giving it, the desire to give it until there is no more left.”

Lofty ideals, but I would have to say that I decided in Mexico that I had a mission and that was to somehow keep a record of my world and hope that perhaps this work would someday ring true to others.

After a couple of years at the Memphis Academy of Arts where I was also lucky enough to be able to moonlight as “apprentice” to my cousin William Eggleston  (“apprentice” loosely translated as occasional darkroom lackey,  but the position mostly consisted of driving round in a 1962 Bonneville in the late afternoon light of Memphis and environs, taking pictures with Bill while listening to Bach on a reel to reel tape recorder he somehow hooked up through the car radio), I moved to New York City.

For a lot of years I was mostly working on the color portraits that Patti Carr Black, then director of the Old Capitol Museum,  put in my first one-person show, “The Mississippians”.  However, I don’t think I found a subject that really rang true to others until about twenty years later, after I had moved back to Mississippi, and taken a look at the world right in front of my eyes — the one I had grown up in, spent countless hours driving around in, the place I had read about and had heard so many stories which devolved around – the Mississippi Delta landscape. This black and white landscape work  became the book, Delta Land, published by the University Press of Mississippi in 1999.

It is a place that continues to inspire me. Being a resident of the Delta, this last time since 1987, has given me the great advantage of being an insider, and I try hard not to let the stark beauty become so familiar that it no longer fascinates and captivates me enough to be compelled to photograph it. I believe this quote from Miss Welty could have been written for me:

“A better and less ignorant photographer would certainly have come up with better pictures, but not these pictures; for he could hardly have been as well positioned as I was, moving through the scene openly and yet invisibly because I was a part of it , born into it, taken for granted.”

She photographed like she wrote: straight from the heart and her truest mind, and she combined these with a very strong sense of place. She has been and continues to be an inspiration for me. -Maude Schuyler Clay

Eudora Welty with photographer Bruce Weber

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All photos of Miss Welty are by Maude Schuyler Clay. You can view more of her work here: www.maudeclay.com & The Fifty States Project.

If you have story about Miss Welty that you would like to share on our blog, please e-mail them to lisa at lemuriabooks dot com.

Click here to learn about Carolyn Brown’s A Daring Life: A Biography of Eudora Welty

Click here to see all blogs in our Miss Welty series

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My grandaddy, Robert Stockett, Sr., told me a Eudora Welty story once that I’ve never forgotten. It’s just about the most literary thing that’s ever happened to my family so please, if I’ve misremembered or misunderstood, don’t spoil it for me.

Grandaddy used to have what we called The Barn, which some old Jacksonians will know as Stockett Stables. It was where folks would come ride horses and drink coffee and read the paper.

Eudora liked to go down there too, which I found funny because it was mostly men who gathered on those early mornings, gossiping and running the legislature from the old rocking chairs. Eudora liked to sit and listen to the stories being told. Eudora knew how to listen.

If somebody started to tell a particularly salty story, Eudora would point to a sign she’d tacked up on the wall that read: NO CURSING. Over time, she added a few other no-no’s, but that was the one she pointed to most.

One morning, Eudora came down to the barn carrying her little beat-up blue travel typewriter- the kind that comes in a cardboard case with the floppy handle. Somebody started telling a story that was ‘right colorful,’ but Eudora didn’t point to the sign. She let those euphemisms run right on by her.

Grandaddy finally said, ‘Eudora. What’s gotten into you? What are you looking at?’

Eudora pointed to a new Royal typewriter sitting on Grandaddy’s desk. Somebody hadn’t been able to pay their horse rent and instead gave Grandaddy this brand new behemoth of a machine to settle up.

‘I’ll trade you, Robert,’ Eudora said. ‘This one for that.’

So Grandaddy, God knows why, traded his this for her that- or I hope to think, just gave it to her since he was a gentleman.

I have savored that story like a delicious secret: that the typewriter Eudora Welty wrote some of those poignantly beautiful stories on had belonged to Grandaddy– my granddaddy, the one who inspired my own stories.

‘Then she ran off to Europe to chase that boyfriend.’ And that was all I got out of him.

I beg of you, if you were a typewriter salesman in nineteen-hundred-something, and you know otherwise, don’t tell me. Please, just let me keep thinking this thing is true.

-Kathryn Stockett

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If you have story about Miss Welty that you would like to share on our blog, please e-mail them to lisa at lemuriabooks dot com.

Click here to learn about Carolyn Brown’s A Daring Life: A Biography of Eudora Welty

Click here to see all blogs in our Miss Welty series

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