Carolyn Brown tells us how she came to write a new biography on Eudora Welty.
My love of Eudora Welty goes back 20 years, to graduate school at UNC-Greensboro, and a class I was taking in literary theory. In that class I was given a very open-ended assignment: take one of the modern literary theories we had studied (Jung, Nietzsche, Derrida, etc.) and apply that theory to an author’s work (any author). Why I chose Welty I do not know, but I took a few of the short stories in A Curtain of Green and The Wide Net and explained that the mystery of Welty’s fiction can be understood as a tension between the Apollonian and Dionysiac visions of the world described in Friedrich Nietzsche’s Birth of Tragedy. In very simplistic terms, characters like Mrs. Larkin from “A Curtain of Green,” Hazel Wallace in “The Wide Net,” and Howard in “Flowers for Marjorie” seek order (Apollo) amidst the chaos (Dionysos) of their worlds. This graduate school paper was the first article I ever published; it appeared in the 1990 edition of the journal Notes on Mississippi Writers.
Flash forward to 2006. I am married with two children, and my husband gets a job in Jackson. I haven’t thought much about Eudora in the intervening years, but I receive a gift from the company which is wooing my husband to Jackson. It is Suzanne Marrs’ biography of Eudora, newly published and signed by the author! I am overwhelmed. I think, “This company gets it–this is not the standard fruit basket. It’s a wonderful, meaningful gift.” We move to Jackson, and a few months later I am hired by Millsaps and meet the author, Suzanne Marrs.
Since I have lived in Jackson, I have loved seeing the Welty House and Visitors Center grow–moving from Eudora’s garage into the beautiful facility that houses the museum today. I have loved giving tours, making presentations to the docents, and working closely with Suzanne on her books. Living in what I affectionately call “Welty World” reawakened my love of the author and my desire to write about her again.
The idea for the biography grew out of my own enjoyment of reading biographies as a young girl, especially biographies of strong women, as well as being a mother to middle school and high school age boys. It became apparent to me that there was a dearth of biographies in general for middle and high school age students. It’s a wide open field–there are many writers like Welty who have a long scholarly biography devoted to their life and accomplishments, but not a shorter one that offers an introduction to their lives and works. I also believe students and all readers can learn a lot about recent history as Welty’s life closely follows the 20th century arc, and she was closely affected by the major historical events of the century–the depression, World War II, and the civil rights movement. Finally, I believe Mississippi needs more biographies of their famous citizens, which is why I am writing a second one–on Jackson writer Margaret Walker–whose papers, like Welty’s, are archived here and whose life is also a great example from which we can learn. -Carolyn Brown
A signing for Carolyn Brown will be held Wednesday, August 15th at 5:00. A reading will follow at 5:30. Click here for more details.
A Daring Life is published by University Press of Mississippi. Signed copies are available at Lemuria, $20.
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Richard Ford may well have been the first author reading I attended as a Lemuria employee. I know that I started here mid-January 2002 and his reading for 
I don’t recall what was read but I do remember a specific answer that Ford gave to a customer question. I believe the question was what should a writer be reading – I could never pretend to imitate the eloquence with which Ford answered the question, but here’s how I took it: don’t read any bad books, but read as many good books as you can. Now I’m no writer – and have no desire to be one – but I am a bookseller and a reader so I took Ford’s answer and applied it to my own situation. If I want to be a good bookseller – a bookseller with credibility – a good reader – then I need to read a whole lot of really good books.
Fast forward ten years to the opening of 
Some of the topics and practical suggestions included in The End of Illness: an explanation of how vitamins work in whole foods and how little evidence there is that vitamins in pill form work and how they may actually be harming the body; an explanation of inflammation of the body and how we can prevent it; how to exercise and the benefits of keeping a schedule; how three inexpensive medicines are key to our health. Some of these arguments you may be familiar with, but Dr. Agus explains why and he does so in a way that is easy to understand and enjoyable to read.
A Parent Orientation for summer reading will be held on Saturday, May 12 at The Children’s Museum. Meanwhile, churches and community groups like The Boys and Girls Club are being trained by MPB to help support summer reading in their neighborhood programs.
Several Summer Reading Parties are also scheduled: A scavenger hunt at The Jackson Zoo; a special appearance at The Ag Museum from The Electric Company, sponsored by MPB; and two more events later in the summer at New Horizon Church and The Jackson Medical Mall. 
The Press Conference held on May 9th was another energy booster to an already enthusiastic group of summer reading supporters. This year First Lady Kathy Johnson has taken on the role of Summer Reading Ambassador and the kids from Dawson Elementary couldn’t have been more eager or patient while the adults took pictures!
Ronnie Agnew, executive director of MPB, illustrated the importance of reading with a story from his own family. His parents worked as share croppers with a sixth-grade education and made it their goal that all eight children would learn to read and finish school. Ronnie reflected on his childhood responsibility of reading the mail for his parents. Now all eight children have surpassed their parents dreams and hold graduate degrees! Ronnie urged Jacksonians to read and show children the pleasure of reading as his parents did.
Above: Media coverage after the One Jackson Many Readers press conference. I like all the local networks interviewing local leaders about READING!!! Left: Carol Burger, CEO/President of The United Way of the Capitol Area; Middle: Mayor Harvey Johnson; Right: Executive Director of MPB Ronnie Agnew.
Carol Burger, president and CEO of The
All of the supporters of One Jackson Many Readers have one thing in common: a huge heart for Jackson and its young people. Mayor Johnson couldn’t resist saying it, and I can’t either: It takes a village to raise a child. It sure does feel like a lot of people are coming out to support our young people with this program. If you’re not already involved, The United Way of the Capitol Area has many ways to contribute. 
But much more important news – almost nightly she is reading to me! We’ve been reading the little books that her teacher sends from school for us to practice and she is making huge progress. So today we picked out a stack of level 1 books for a little variety. Can’t wait to dig into these.