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This is not a textual record. This is used as an
administrative marker by the William J. Clinton
Presidential Library Staff.
Collection/Record Group:
Clinton Presidential Records
Subgroup/Office of Origin:
Speechwriting
Series/Staff Member:
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OA/ID Number:
17197
FolderlD:
Folder Title:
Willie Morris
Stack:
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1ST QUOTATION o f Level 1 p r i n t e d i n FULL format.
C o p y r i g h t 1988 James B. Simpson
Simpson's Contemporary Quotations
SECTION: Communication & The A r t s
SUBJECT: L i t e r a t u r e ; W r i t e r s & E d i t o r s
LENGTH: 86 words
SOURCE: W i l l i e M o r r i s
QUOTE:
When a w r i t e r knows home i n h i s h e a r t , h i s h e a r t must remain s u b t l y a p a r t
it.
He must always be a s t r a n g e r t o t h e p l a c e he l o v e s , and i t s p e o p l e .
"Coming on Back" L i f e Jun 81
His c l a i m t o h i s home i s deep, b u t t h e r e a r e t o o many ghosts.
w i t h o u t b e i n g absorbed,
ib
from
He must absorb
When he understands, as few o t h e r s do, something o f h i s home . . . t h a t i s
funny, o r sad, o r t r a g i c , o r c r u e l , o r b e a u t i f u l , o r t r u e , he knows he must do
so as a s t r a n g e r ,
ib
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
�Page 20
LEVEL 1 - 3 0
OF 50 STORIES
C o p y r i g h t 1993 Gannett Company, I n c .
GANNETT NEWS SERVICE
September 8, 1993,
Wednesday
LENGTH: 192 words
HEADLINE: WILLIE MORRIS BIO
BYLINE: The Jackson (Miss.)
Clarion-Ledger
BODY:
Here i s a b r i e f chronology of W i l l i e M o r r i s ' l i f e and c a r e e r :
- Born Nov. 29, 1934, i n Jackson, Miss., and spent h i s c h i l d h o o d and
adolescence i n Yazoo C i t y , Miss.
- Graduated from t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f Texas i n 1956,
h i s s e n i o r year.
e d i t i n g t h e D a i l y Texan i n
- Upon g r a d u a t i o n , became a Rhodes Scholar, a t t e n d i n g New C o l l e g e a t O x f o r d
U n i v e r s i t y , Oxford, England, f o r f o u r years, r e c e i v i n g h i s master o f a r t s
degree.
- M a r r i e d C e l i a Ann Buchan i n 1958
- Returned
t o Texas i n 1960
and d i v o r c e d her i n 1969.
and assumed the e d i t o r s h i p o f The Texas Observer.
- J o i n e d Harper's magazine i n New York i n 1963. He became i t s e i g h t h and
youngest e d i t o r a t t h e age o f 32 i n 1967; he r e s i g n e d i n 1971.
- Was
W r i t e r - i n - R e s i d e n c e a t the U n i v e r s i t y o f M i s s i s s i p p i from 1980-1991.
- M a r r i e d JoAnne P r i c h a r d i n 1991 and l i v e s i n Jackson, Miss.
- Books i n c l u d e "North Toward Home," "Yazoo," "The Last o f t h e Southern
G i r l s , " "James Jones: A F r i e n d s h i p , " "The C o u r t i n g of Marcus Dupree," " T e r r a i n s
of t h e H e a r t , " "Good Old Boy," "Good Old Boy and t h e W i t c h o f Yazoo,"
"Homecomings," "Always Stand i n A g a i n s t the Curve" and " A f t e r A l l , I t ' s Only a
Game."
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
�Page 3
LEVEL 1 - 6 OF 12 REFERENCES
C o p y r i g h t 1998 Reed E l s e v i e r I n c . A l l r i g h t s r e s e r v e d .
P u b l i s h e d by Marquis Who's Who
The Complete Marquis Who's Who (R) B i o g r a p h i e s
LAST-UPDATE: J u l y 28, 1998
Morris,
Willie
SOURCE: Who's Who i n America, 54th E d i t i o n , 53rd E d i t i o n , 52nd E d i t i o n , 5 1 s t
E d i t i o n ; Who's Who i n E n t e r t a i n m e n t , 3 r d E d i t i o n ; Who's Who i n America, 4 8 t h
E d i t i o n , 4 9 t h E d i t i o n , 50th E d i t i o n , 4 4 t h E d i t i o n , 4 5 t h E d i t i o n , 4 6 t h E d i t i o n ,
47th E d i t i o n
LENGTH: 2 87 words
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * PERSONAL INFORMATION * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Son o f Henry Rae and Marion (Weaks) M.; M a r r i e d t o C e l i a Ann Buchan, Aug. 30,
1958 ( d i v o r c e d 1969); 1 c hliilld , ^ C a v i d RaeT^ M a r r i e d t o JoAnne S h i r l e y P r i c h a r d ,
d,
Sept. 14, 1991.
GENDER: Male
BIRTH-DATE: November 29, 1934
BIRTHPLACE: Jackson, M i s s i s s i p p i
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
OCCUPATION: 6430 - a u t h o r ,
CAREER INFORMATION
* * * * * * * * * * * *
editor
CAREER: hon. f e l l o w S i l l i m a n C o l l . , Yale.
POSITIONS HELD: assoc. e d i t o r , Tex. Observer, A u s t i n , 1960; e d i t o r i n c h i e f ,
Tex. Observer, 1960-62; assoc. e d i t o r , Harper's mag., 1963-65; exec, e d i t o r ,
Harper's mag., 1965-67; e d i t o r i n c h i e f , Harper's mag., 1967-71; v.p., Harper's
Mag., I n c . , 1967-71; w r i t e r - i n - r e s i d e n c e , U. Miss., 1980-91
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
EDUCATIONAL INFORMATION
* * * * * * * * * * *
BA, U. Tex., 1956; BA (Rhodes s c h o l a r 1956), New C o l l . , Oxford (Eng.) U., 1959;
M.A., New C o l l . , O x f o r d (Eng.) U., 1960; Ph.D. (hon.), G r i n n e l l C o l l . , 1967;
Ph.D. ( h o n . ) , G e t t y s b u r g C o l l . , 1968
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
OTHER INFORMATION
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
CREATIVE WORKS: Author: The South Today, 100 Years A f t e r Appomattox, 1965,
( a u t o b i o g r a p h y ) N o r t h Toward Home (Carr P. C o l l i n s n o n f i c t i o n award,
H o u g h t o n - M i f f l i n l i t . award 1967), Yazoo: I n t e g r a t i o n i n a Deep Southern
Town,1971, ( c h i l d r e n ' s f i c t i o n ) Good O l d Boy, 1971, (novel) The Last o f t h e
Southern G i r l s , 1973, (memoir) James Jones: A F r i e n d s h i p , 1978, (essays)
T e r r a i n s o f t h e Heart and Other Essays, 1981, ( n o n f i c t i o n ) TheCourting o f Marcus
Dupree, 1983 ( C h r i s t o p h e r medal), (essays) AlwaysStand i n A g a i n s t t h e Curve,
1983, Homecomings, 1989 (Miss. D i s t i n g . Book award), ( c h i d r e n ' s f i c t i o n ) Good
�Page 4
The Complete Marquis Who's Who (R) Biographies July 28, 1998
Old Boy and t h e W i t c h o f Yazoo,1989, Faulkner's M i s s i s s i p p i , 1990, ( s t o r i e s )
A f t e r A l l , I t ' s Only aGame, 1992, (autobiography) New York Days, 1993 (Gov.'s
a r t i s t i c achievement award 1994, Best Book o f 1993 Miss, award Miss. I n s t .
A r t s and L e t t e r s ) , My Dog Skip, 1995, The Ghosts o f Medgan Evers, 1998,
I n t r o d u c t o r y Essay O f f i c i a l Games and Souvenir Program f o r 1996 C e n t e n n i a l
Olympics R i c h a r d W r i g h t medal f o r l i t e r a r y e x c e l l e n c e 1996.
MEMBERSHIPS: Mem. P.E.N. Club, Soc. Rhodes S c h o l a r s , ACLU, P h i Beta Kappa, P h i
Eta Sigma, Sigma D e l t a Chi, D e l t a Tau D e l t a .
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: June 6, 1999
�Page 12
LEVEL 1 - 6 OF 82 STORIES
C o p y r i g h t 1999 The New York Times Company
The New York Times
August 3, 1999, Tuesday, Late E d i t i o n - F i n a l
NAME: W i l l i e M o r r i s
SECTION: S e c t i o n A; Page 13; Column 1; The A r t s / C u l t u r a l Desk
LENGTH: 12 3 0 words
HEADLINE: W i l l i e M o r r i s , 64, W r i t e r on t h e Southern
BYLINE:
Experience
By PETER APPLEBOME
BODY:
W i l l i e M o r r i s , t h e w r i t e r and e d i t o r whose l i f e and work r e v e l e d i n t h e
endless c o n t r a d i c t i o n s o f the South and the r e g i o n ' s g h o s t l i k e h o l d on i t s
n a t i v e sons and daughters, d i e d on Monday a t St. Dominic H o s p i t a l i n Jackson,
Miss., a t 64 .
The cause was h e a r t f a i l u r e , s a i d a h o s p i t a l
official.
Mr. M o r r i s , who t u r n e d h i s c h i l d h o o d i n Yazoo C i t y , Miss., i n t o a p l a c e
almost as complex and resonant as W i l l i a m Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha County, went
from a c o u n t r y boy t o a Rhodes Scholar t o a l i t e r a r y Wunderkind, becoming e d i t o r
i n c h i e f o f Harper's Magazine a t age 32.
But j u s t as Truman Capote famously s a i d t h a t a l l Southerners e v e n t u a l l y come
home, i f o n l y i n a box, Mr. M o r r i s r e t u r n e d t o M i s s i s s i p p i i n 1980 and never
stopped e x p l o r i n g what he once d e s c r i b e d as "the o l d w a r r i n g impulses o f one's
s e n s i b i l i t y t o be b o t h Southern and American."
He w r o t e on s u b j e c t s r a n g i n g from h i s c h i l d h o o d E n g l i s h f o x t e r r i e r i n "My
Dog S k i p " t o t h e i n t e r s e c t i o n o f f o o t b a l l and race i n "The C o u r t i n g o f Marcus
Dupree"; hunkered down i n h i s f a v o r i t e M i s s i s s i p p i haunts l i k e Doe's i n
G r e e n v i l l e , Lusko's i n Greenwood and B i l l ' s Greek Tavern i n Jackson, and d e l v e d
i n t o t h e i n t e r p l a y o f p a s t and p r e s e n t t h a t d e f i n e s Southern l i f e .
S t i l l , r a t h e r t h a n b e i n g merely a v i v i d i n t e r p r e t e r o f Southern l i f e , Mr.
M o r r i s was someone ahead o f h i s t i m e i n e x p l o r i n g t h e c o n f l u e n c e o f r e g i o n and
n a t i o n , and how t h e South's d i s t i n c t i v e experience o f race, f a m i l y and h i s t o r y
was so d e e p l y a p a r t o f t h e n a t i o n ' s experience as w e l l .
" W i l l i e s a i d t h a t M i s s i s s i p p i i s America w r i t l a r g e , " s a i d R i c h a r d Howorth,
owner o f Square Books, t h e l i t e r a r y haunt i n Oxford, Miss. "And t o u n d e r s t a n d
W i l l i e you have t o know t h a t he had t h i s amazing knowledge o f American h i s t o r y .
And I t h i n k h i s u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f t h e South and c u r i o s i t y about t h e South was
v e r y much a p a r t o f h i s u n d e r s t a n d i n g and c u r i o s i t y about America. He u n d e r s t o o d
the South as o n l y a Southerner c o u l d , but h i s p e r s p e c t i v e was so much broader
t h a n j u s t t h i n k i n g and w r i t i n g about the South."
�Page 13
The New York Times, August 3, 1999
W i l l i e M o r r i s was born on Nov. 29, 1934, i n Jackson. When he was 6 h i s f a m i l y
moved t o Yazoo C i t y , a town on the edge o f t h e M i s s i s s i p p i D e l t a , which a t
r o u g h l y t h e same t i m e n u r t u r e d f i g u r e s as d i v e r s e as Mike Espy, l a t e r t o
become M i s s i s s i p p i ' s f i r s t b l a c k Congressman s i n c e R e c o n s t r u c t i o n and t h e n
S e c r e t a r y o f A g r i c u l t u r e ; Haley Barbour, former n a t i o n a l chairman o f t h e
Republican P a r t y , and Z i g Z i g l a r , t h e m o t i v a t i o n a l speaker.
His f a t h e r , Henry, r a n a gas s t a t i o n , and Mr. M o r r i s grew up i n t h e t e e t h o f
the s e g r e g a t i o n era, i n an environment he came t o see as wondrous and h o r r i f i c ,
where b l a c k s and w h i t e s l i v e d t o g e t h e r i n p a r a l l e l u n i v e r s e s t h a t were u t t e r l y
a p a r t and i n t i m a t e l y entwined. He p l a y e d taps f o r the American Legion a t
m i l i t a r y f u n e r a l s , became a p a r t - t i m e s p o r t s w r i t e r f o r The Yazoo H e r a l d and
dreamed o f ascending t o t h e landed g e n t r y who d e f i n e d the s o c i a l and economic
overclass o f the Delta.
But r a t h e r t h a n send Mr. M o r r i s t o t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f M i s s i s s i p p i , h i s f a t h e r
had him go t o t h e d i s t a n t and a l i e n e n v i r o n s o f the U n i v e r s i t y o f Texas i n
A u s t i n . He had, he l a t e r observed, no sense t h a t " t h e r e were ideas, much l e s s
ideas t o arouse one from o n e s e l f . " But a f t e r two years o f pranks and f r a t e r n i t y
h i - j i n k s , he came t o see t h a t books c o u l d be, as he l a t e r p u t i t , "as s u b v e r s i v e
as S o c r a t e s . "
He became e d i t o r o f t h e s t u d e n t newspaper, The D a i l y Texan, where he was
asked t o r e s i g n a f t e r t h e newspaper accused the Governor and s t a t e L e g i s l a t o r s
of c o l l u d i n g w i t h o i l and gas i n t e r e s t s . A f t e r g r a d u a t i n g , he went t o B r i t a i n as
a a Rhodes Scholar. Then he r e t u r n e d t o Texas t o e d i t The Texas Observer, a
feisty gadfly publication.
He moved t o C a l i f o r n i a and then t o New York, where he was h i r e d a t Harper's
Magazine i n 1963. I n 1967 he became i t s youngest e d i t o r i n c h i e f ever and a
major l i t e r a r y f i g u r e i n a c i t y he came t o c a l l "the B i g Cave." He p r e s i d e d over
one o f t h e l e g e n d a r y eras i n magazine j o u r n a l i s m , h i r i n g David Halberstam t o
w r i t e about Vietnam, L a r r y L. King t o w r i t e about Washington, and p r i n t i n g a
45,000-word e x c e r p t o f W i l l i a m Styron's "Confessions o f Nat Turner" and 90,000
words o f Norman M a i l e r ' s "Steps o f t h e Pentagon," about a Vietnam War p r o t e s t
march, which t o o k up the e n t i r e March 1968 i s s u e . S i x months a f t e r becoming
e d i t o r i n c h i e f he a l s o p u b l i s h e d h i s autobiography, "North Toward Home," which
was a memoir as s o c i a l h i s t o r y t h a t t r i e d t o make sense o f t h e e p i c changes
r a t t l i n g t h r o u g h t h e South and what t h e y s a i d about t h e n a t i o n .
But a f t e r new ownership took over t h e magazine, Mr. M o r r i s found h i m s e l f a t
war w i t h t h e management and r e s i g n e d i n 1971, and most o f h i s s t a f f members
followed.
Mr. M o r r i s l i v e d and wrote f o r s e v e r a l years from Bridgehampton, N.Y.
I n "North Toward Home" he wrote about how he f e l t as i f "someone had t a k e n
some t e r r i b l e weight o f f my s h o u l d e r s " whenever he l e f t t h e South.
D e s p i t e t h a t , he decided t o r e t u r n home. He moved t o O x f o r d as w r i t e r i n
r e s i d e n c e a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f M i s s i s s i p p i . He moved 10 years l a t e r t o Jackson
and spent h i s t i m e e v o k i n g t h e c l a t t e r i n g cacophony o f w a r r i n g emotions -- l o v e ,
hate, chauvinism, d e s p a i r and, above a l l , a sense o f something unshakable -t h a t so many Southerners f e e l toward t h e r e g i o n .
�Page 14
The New York Times, August 3, 1999
Mr. M o r r i s i s s u r v i v e d by h i s w i f e , JoAnne P r i c h a r d of Jackson, and h i s son,
David Rae o f New Orleans.
Not a l l of h i s work was c r i t i c a l l y p r a i s e d . A 1973 n o v e l , "The Last of t h e
Southern G i r l s , " r e c e i v e d t e p i d reviews. And h i s memoir o f h i s days a t Harper's,
"New York Days," s t r u c k some r e v i e w e r s as c o n v e n t i o n a l and n o s t a l g i c . But few
doubt t h a t he c a p t u r e d t h e South's t r a n s i t i o n from t h e days o f s e g r e g a t i o n and
t h e c o m p l e x i t i e s o f t h e Southern experience l i k e few, i f any, w r i t e r s o f h i s
time.
"His work i n 'North Toward Home' became a mantra f o r Southerners who f l e d the
South seeking w o r l d s where t h e y c o u l d be f r e e and open i n t h e i r t h o u g h t b u t
c o u l d never escape t h e l o v e - h a t e r e l a t i o n s h i p a l l Southerners c a r r y w i t h i n them
about t h e p l a c e o f b i r t h , " s a i d W i l l i a m R. F e r r i s , chairman of t h e N a t i o n a l
Endowment f o r t h e Humanities, and a l o n g t i m e f r i e n d from M i s s i s s i p p i .
Mr. M o r r i s drank t o o much bourbon and r e d wine, smoked t o o many V i c e r o y s ,
s t a y e d up t o o l a t e and caroused t o o much. Indeed, f r i e n d s have marveled a t h i s
a b i l i t y t o d e f y most o f t h e conventions of good h e a l t h . But, l i k e h i s w r i t i n g ,
his l i f e s t y l e betrayed a s i n g u l a r p e r s o n a l i t y , given t o long, rambling
e v o c a t i v e c o n v e r s a t i o n , and t h e i n d e l i b l e stamp o f h i s e a r l y days i n Yazoo C i t y .
And f r i e n d s and admirers say t h a t whatever barbs he c o u l d f l i n g a t t h e South's
f a i l i n g s were leavened by the degree t o which he was, i n t h e end, such a
q u i n t e s s e n t i a l Southerner.
" W i l l i e was such an honest v o i c e , c l e a r , v i v i d , never ambiguous," s a i d David
Sansing, a r e t i r e d U n i v e r s i t y o f M i s s i s s i p p i h i s t o r i a n . " I t h i n k people were
w i l l i n g t o accept a l o t o f t h i n g s from W i l l i e because he d i d n ' t f u s s a t us o r
b e l i t t l e us o r demean us, because e s s e n t i a l l y he was one o f us. The g r e a t t h i n g
about 'North Toward Home' i s how w e l l i t showed how sometimes you have t o leave
a p l a c e t o r e a l l y see i t . He had t o leave the South t o r e a l l y c o n f i r m h i s own
Southernness. But, o f course, he came back. R i c h a r d Wright once s a i d , ' I g o t out
of t h e South. But I never g o t t h e South out o f me.' W i l l i e knew t h e same t h i n g . "
GRAPHIC: Photo: The w r i t e r W i l l i e M o r r i s found fodder i n h i s M i s s i s s i p p i
c h i l d h o o d , b u t a l s o headed n o r t h i n 1963 t o work f o r Harper's Magazine. (The
York Times)
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: August 3,
1999
New
�Page 5
LEVEL 1 - 3 OF 82 STORIES
C o p y r i g h t 1999 The A t l a n t a
The A t l a n t a J o u r n a l and
August 3, 1999, Tuesday,
Constitution
Constitution
CONSTITUTION EDITION
SECTION: L o c a l News; Pg. 6B
LENGTH: 92 7 words
SERIES: Home
HEADLINE: OBITUARIES: W i l l i e M o r r i s , 64, noted a u t h o r ,
BYLINE: Don O'Briant,
editor
Staff
BODY:
W i l l i e M o r r i s , who spun t h e experiences o f h i s M i s s i s s i p p i D e l t a c h i l d h o o d i n t o
c a p t i v a t i n g s t o r i e s , d i e d Monday a f t e r s u f f e r i n g a h e a r t a t t a c k . He was 64.
The a u t h o r o f t h e c r i t i c a l l y acclaimed memoir, "North Toward Home," Mr.
M o r r i s became t h e youngest e d i t o r i n c h i e f o f Harper's Magazine a t 33.
As e d i t o r i n t h e l a t e '603, Mr. M o r r i s brought some o f t h e f i n e s t w r i t e r s i n
the c o u n t r y i n t o t h e magazine, from Norman M a i l e r and Gay Talese t o L a r r y L.
King and David Halberstam.
''He b r o u g h t t h a t magazine k i c k i n g and screaming i n t o t h e p r e s e n t . W i t h h i s
l o v e o f words and v e r y c o n s i d e r a b l e charm he'd taken an a r c h a i c magazine and
made i t an e x c i t i n g magazine t h a t was on t h e c u t t i n g edge. I t was a s t u n n i n g
success,'' Mr. Halberstam s a i d . "There was a moment he s o r t o f owned New York.
Longtime f r i e n d and " F o r r e s t Gump" a u t h o r Winston Groom f o n d l y r e c a l l e d t h e
l i t e r a r y g a t h e r i n g s w i t h Mr. M o r r i s and o t h e r s . " W i l l i e was t h e g l u e t h a t h e l d
us a l l t o g e t h e r . I'm t a l k i n g about n o t j u s t a bunch o f w r i t e r s , b u t people l i k e
Jim Jones and I r w i n Shaw and Peter M a t t h i e s s e n and Joseph H e l l e r and Truman
Capote. He was t h e best l i n e e d i t o r I ever knew and one o f t h e f i n e s t men I ever
met i n my l i f e . "
Born Nov. 29, 1934, Mr. M o r r i s grew up i n Yazoo C i t y , Miss., a s m a l l town
t h a t would become t h e f o c a l p o i n t f o r many o f h i s s t o r i e s . He a l s o developed
what he c a l l e d a "good o l ' boy" l o v e f o r t h e South and i t s people.
1
I n t h e 1967 ''North Toward Home,'' Mr. M o r r i s d e s c r i b e d Yazoo C i t y as 'on
the edge o f t h e d e l t a , s t r a d d l i n g t h a t memorable d i v i d e where t h e h i l l s end and
f l a t land begins.''
Mr. M o r r i s and h i s o n l y c h i l d , son David Rae, a f r e e l a n c e p h o t o j o u r n a l i s t
l i v i n g i n New Orleans, were c o l l a b o r a t i n g on a new book about M i s s i s s i p p i ' s
p a s t , p r e s e n t and f u t u r e . He s a i d h i s f a t h e r had f i n i s h e d h i s p a r t o f t h e
project.
�Page 6
The Atlanta Journal, August 3, 1999
''He was from a g e n e r a t i o n t h a t had l i v e d t h r o u g h a M i s s i s s i p p i t h a t was a t
i t s w o r s t , b u t he had come t o peace w i t h h i s homeland, ' ' David Rae M o r r i s s a i d .
Mr. M o r r i s , who d i e d about 6:20 p.m. Monday a t St. Dominic H o s p i t a l i n
Jackson, i s a l s o s u r v i v e d by h i s second w i f e , JoAnne P r i c h a r d , whom he m a r r i e d
i n 1990.
Ms. P r i c h a r d was an e d i t o r a t the U n i v e r s i t y Press o f M i s s i s s i p p i and was
r e s p o n s i b l e f o r ''Homecomings,' Mr. M o r r i s award-winning essay c o l l e c t i o n .
1
1
1
His l a t e s t p u b l i s h e d book was 'The Ghosts of Medgar Evers,'' a 1998 work
about t h e h i s t o r y o f t h e p r o d u c t i o n of the 1996 Rob Reiner f i l m ''Ghosts of
M i s s i s s i p p i , ' ' a f i l m on t h e 1963 a s s a s s i n a t i o n of t h e c i v i l r i g h t s f i g u r e and
the c o n v i c t i o n o f Byron De La Beckwith f o r the murder i n h i s t h i r d t r i a l 3 0
years l a t e r .
I n h i s l a s t book, Mr. M o r r i s e x p l o r e s what the t h r e e t r i a l s and t h e f i l m of
the s u r r o u n d i n g events say about race i n America, e s p e c i a l l y i n h i s home s t a t e .
1
''The b a s i c c r i s i s i n America i s t h a t of racism,'' Mr. M o r r i s w r o t e .
' M i s s i s s i p p i has always been the c r u c i b l e of n a t i o n a l g u i l t . '
1
E a r l i e r t h i s year, filmmakers were i n M i s s i s s i p p i f o r a movie v e r s i o n o f one
of Mr. M o r r i s ' works, a 1995 h e a r t - t u g g i n g memoir, ''My Dog S k i p , " which w i l l be
r e l e a s e d l a t e r t h i s year. Mr. M o r r i s a t t e n d e d a s c r e e n i n g of t h e f i l m r e c e n t l y
i n New York.
F o l l o w i n g h i g h school g r a d u a t i o n i n 1952 i n Yazoo C i t y , he l e f t t h e
M i s s i s s i p p i D e l t a f o r t h e U n i v e r s i t y of Texas and served as e d i t o r of t h e
s t u d e n t newspaper. He c o n t i n u e d h i s e d u c a t i o n as a Rhodes s c h o l a r , s t u d y i n g
h i s t o r y a t Oxford U n i v e r s i t y .
He l a t e r e d i t e d a c r u s a d i n g l i b e r a l weekly newspaper i n Texas b e f o r e moving
on t o Harper's, where he became a s s o c i a t e e d i t o r i n 1963 and e d i t o r i n 1967. He
l e f t i n 1971 because of e d i t o r i a l d i s p u t e s w i t h the owner, and many o f t h e
magazine's c o n t r i b u t i n g e d i t o r s r e s i g n e d , t o o .
He moved t o Bridgehampton, N.Y.,
and wrote s e v e r a l books over t h e n e x t n i n e
years, i n c l u d i n g t h e c h i l d r e n ' s c l a s s i c ''Good Old Boy.'
1
Mr. M o r r i s r e t u r n e d t o M i s s i s s i p p i i n 1980, s e r v i n g as w r i t e r - i n - r e s i d e n c e a t
t h e U n i v e r s i t y of M i s s i s s i p p i , where he wrote ''The C o u r t i n g of Marcus Dupree''
(1983), based on a standout f o o t b a l l p l a y e r i n Neshoba County. I n 1996, he was
the winner of t h e R i c h a r d Wright Medal f o r L i t e r a r y E x c e l l e n c e .
Author
E l l e n Douglas s a i d Mr. M o r r i s surrendered
t o t h e c a l l t o r e t u r n home.
''He l i v e d h i s l i f e on h i s own terms and came back t o t h e South because
t h a t ' s where he wanted t o be, and he l i v e d a r i c h , f u l l l i f e , ' she s a i d . ''What
a w o n d e r f u l exuberant, happy, g r a c e f u l man he was. They don't make them l i k e
t h a t anymore.''
1
Word o f t h e death spread q u i c k l y among the l i t e r a r y community.
�Page 7
The Atlanta Journal, August 3, 1999
A weeping Dean Faulkner Wells, n i e c e of W i l l i a m Faulkner, c o u l d manage o n l y a
few words. "He was my H u c k l e b e r r y f r i e n d , and I'm v e r y , v e r y l o n e l y . I ' l l never
get over i t . ' '
Her husband, w r i t e r L a r r y W e l l s , s a i d Mr. M o r r i s ''was one of t h e t r u e
l i t e r a r y v o i c e s o f the South and o f America.''
' ' W i l l i e was a l l h e a r t . That was h i s power
he wrote from t h e h e a r t .
W i l l i e w i l l be known i n l i t e r a r y h i s t o r y as one of t h e g r e a t e s s a y i s t s , ' ' he
said.
The s t o u t , r e d - f a c e d Mr. M o r r i s d i d not shy away from c o n t r o v e r s y , a c c o r d i n g
t o Mr. W e l l s .
''He was a champion of c i v i l
so,' he s a i d .
r i g h t s way back when i t was n o t p o p u l a r t o be
1
Through i t a l l , "Gump" a u t h o r Mr. Groom s a i d , Mr. M o r r i s l o v e d t h e w r i t t e n
word.
" W i l l i e made some money and d i d w e l l but he c o u l d have been l i v i n g i n a
r e f r i g e r a t o r c a r t o n on t h e lower East Side of New York and he would s t i l l have
been w r i t i n g . He was t h a t devoted t o w r i t i n g . The c r a f t o f i t and t h e beauty o f
it."
.
•
The A s s o c i a t e d Press c o n t r i b u t e d t o t h i s
article.
GRAPHIC: Photo
W i l l i e Morris
Graphic
Coming i n Wednesday's paper: A l o o k a t the l i f e and c a r e e r of W i l l i e M o r r i s , one
of t h e more c o l o r f u l and p r o l i f i c v o i c e s of contemporary Southern l i t e r a t u r e .
LOAD-DATE: August 3,
1999
�MWP: Willie Morris (1934-
)
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See also:
•Photo: Witch of
Yazoo
• B o o k Info:
Eudora Welty: A
Tribute (ApriTT999)
The Ghosts of
Medgar E vers: A Tale
of Race, Murder
Mississippi and
Hollywood (February
TWSf
Willie Morris
Duringthethree-deeades
sinee-tkaXxmdon
Sm«tey ?tfwe5praised
his memoir North
oward Home as "the finest evocation o f an
American boyhoocTsincelVfarK ! waif^' Willie
Morris has writterrmore than a dozen other
books (including a second well-received
autobiography) and has attained
wnenceJiU^sxai^erai'ajoumal i st,
nonfiction writer, novelist, editor, and essayist. He is particularly
well known for the books and articles in which he compares his
experiences and his long and complex southern heritage to
America's own history. " I am an American writer who happens to
have come from the South," he emphasized in the spring o f 1997.
"I've tried to put the South into the larger American perspective."
=
-
William Weaks Morris was born in 1934
in Jackson Mississippi, but when he was six
months old his parents moved to Yazoo City,
a small town located, as he writes in North
Toward Home, "on the edge of the delta,
straddling that memorable divide where the
hills end and the flat land begins." His family
members were all storytellers, and he grew
up in the almost conscious tradition of
recounting tales and handing them down
from one generation to the next.
After he graduated from high school in
1952 as valedictorian of his class, he left the
familiar Mississippi Delta for the University
of Texas in Austin, where he became editor
of the student newspaper, the Daily Texan, in
his senior year. A member of Phi Beta Kappa
when he graduated in 1956, Morris continued
his education as a Rhodes Scholar, studying
history at Oxford University. When he
returned to the United States, he edited the
crusading Texas Observer, a liberal weekly
newspaper, from 1960 to 1962.
Related Links & Info
You can find out more about Willie
Morris's boyhood home at the Yazoo
County Convention and Visitors
Bureau web site.
H RE S
APR
In 1967 Morris became the youngest
ever editor-in-chief at Harper's, the
nation's oldest magazine.
In 1963 Morris became associate editor
of Harper's magazine and in 1967 he was
named editor-in-chief, shortly before the
publication of North Toward Home.
Throughout this "autobiography in
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�MWP: Willie Morris (1934-
)
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Throughout this "autobiography in
mid-passage" he relates his personal
development to that of America itself,
paralleling his own experiences to various
social and cultural forces that characterized
the nation during the 1940s, '50s, and '605.
With an acute sense of history, place, and
family—significant themes in much of his
writing—Southern expatriate Morris
struggles to understand and come to terms
with his own origins and regional identity as
he confronts the turbulent complexities of his
generation.
Willie Morris at the grave of the Witch
of Yazoo, a legendary character
immortalized in his 1971 book Good
O/d Soy. Larger view
North Toward Home not only was a
best-seller but also received the prestigious
Houghton Mifflin Literary Fellowship Award
for nonfiction as well as several other honors.
A selection of the Literary Guild, it was
widely praised by critics, including a
reviewer fox America who was prompted to
exclaim that "Harper's is indeed in good
hands."
As the youngest editor-in-chief in the
history of the nation's oldest magazine,
Morris aggressively transformed the
venerable yet stodgy Harper's into one of the
country's most exciting and influential
periodicals, attracting contributions from
such well-known writers as William Styron,
Larry L. King, David Halberstam, Robert
Penn Warren, Arthur Miller, James Dickey,
and Norman Mailer. Such success
notwithstanding, he eventually became
embroiled in editorial disputes with the
publication's owner. Unwilling to change the
focus and content of Harper's, Morris quit in
1971—a step that immediately prompted the
mass resignations of most of the magazine's
contributing editors.
Morris's departure followed on the heels
of a painful divorce, and he withdrew to
Bridgehampton, New York, a small town on
the east end of Long Island. A few months
after leaving New York City, he published
Yazoo: Integration in a Deep-Southern Town
(1971), a moving exploration of how the
forced integration of the public schools
affected this Deep-Southern town on the edge
of the Mississippi Delta. Subsequent books
include the children's classic Good Old Boy
(1971), a celebration of Morris's youth
complete with boyish misadventures, a daring
rescue in a haunted house, and the infamous
Witch of Yazoo; Book-of-the-Month Club
selection The Last of the Southern Girls
2 of 9
A 1988 tilm adaptation of Morris's
Good Old boy: A Delta Boyhood was
re-released on video in 1994 as The
River Pirates.
wiliiim) I 'unUr
Homecomings, a collection of essays
which features the art of William
Dunlap, was published by the
University Press of Mississippi in
1989.
8/3/99 10:12 AM
�MWP: Willie Morris (1934- )
http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/english/ms-writers/dir/morris_willie/
selection The Last of the Southern Girls
(1973), a novel of a Southern debutante who
comes to Washington, D.C; and James
Jones: A Friendship (1978), a heartfelt
reminiscence about his longtime comrade and
fellow author.
In 1980 Morris returned to his native
state as writer-in-residence at the University
of Mississippi in Oxford and wrote The
Courting of Marcus Dupree (1983). In this
alternate selection of the Literary Guild, the
author skillfully combines sports reporting,
historical analysis, and biography as he
recounts the madness surrounding the college
recruitment of a talented Southern black,
athlete.
As writer-in-residence, Morris eagerly
encouraged aspiring young authors,
especially when they exhibited exceptional
talent. One example was an Ole Miss
freshman named Donna Tartt, whose work
particularly caught Morris's eye. Her first
novel, A Secret History (1992), was begun
while she was still in college and ended up on
Publishers Weekly's bestseller list for thirteen
weeks. In another instance, a University of
Mississippi law student who had sat in on
some of Morris's classes began writing his
first novel and asked Morris for advice,
which was generously given. Subsequently,
Morris wrote a blurb for the book's dust
jacket, praising John Grisham's A Time to
Kill (1989) as "a powerful courtroom drama"
and "a compelling tale of a small southern
town searching for itself."
Several of Morris's books, including
Good O/d Boy (1971), have been
re-issued by the Mississippi-based
Yoknapatawpha Press.
Morris's 1995 book A Prayer for the
Opening of the Little League Season,
a tribute to children's baseball,
features illustratibns by artist Barry
Moser.
Morris told an interviewer in 1979 that
"if there is anything that makes southerners
distinctive from the main body of Americans,
it is a certain burden of memory and a burden
of history.... I think sensitive southerners
have this in their bones, this profound
awareness of the past." Morris's rich heritage
is particularly evident in his books of essays.
He is a master stylist in this genre;
Homecomings (1989), with its original
artwork, in particular illustrates his precision
and eloquence in crafting short works of
fiction and nonfiction. His lengthy narrative
"My Own Private Album: The Burden and
Resonance of My Memory," introduces A
Southern Album (1975). His cover story in
the March 1989 issue of National
Geographic, "Faulkner's Mississippi," with
photographs by William Eggleston, forms the
core of the coffee-table book that appeared a
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year later under the same title. A Prayer for
the Opening of the Little League Season
(1995) is Morris's poetic and heartfelt tribute
to children's baseball, with watercolor
illustrations by prize-winning artist Barry
Moser.
In 1990 Morris married long-time friend
JoAnne Prichard, an astute, imaginative
ity
editor at the Universit Press of Mississippi
who was responsible: for Homecomings, his
award-winning essay collection. After their
marriage, they moved to Jackson,
Mississippi, where he began poring over
Harper's papers and writing old comrades for
reminiscences in preparation for a second
autobiographical volume. New York Days
(1993). In this triumphant sequel to North
Toward Home, he reflects not only on his
exhilarating years at Harper's but on how
that period mirrored the tumultuous 1960s.
He followed this Book-of-the-Month Club
selection with another, the widely reviewed
bestseller My Dog Skip (1995), which is not
only a poignant, bittersweet tribute to the
canine companion of his boyhood but a
memoir of a bygone era as well.
While Morris contemplates the
inevitable South Toward Home, he continues
to work on other projects, having, as he puts
it, "no alternative to words." In the last few
years his eclectic endeavors have included
writing the introductory essay to the official
souvenir program of Atlanta's Centennial
Olympic Games, "A Prayer Before the
Feast," and the introduction to Mark Twain's
Life on the Mississippi (1996), part of Oxford
University Press's acclaimed
twenty-nine-volume set The Oxford Mark
Twain. He also served as a consultant on the
Rob Reiner motion picture Ghosts of
Mississippi (1996), a true story of the murder
of civil rights leader Medgar Evers and the
thirty-year-long pursuit of the assassin, Byron
de la Beckwith. His article on the movie
production appeared in the January 1997
issue of George magazine, and he has
recently completed a book on the subject for
Random House. At the Natchez Literary
Festival in 1996 he received the third annual
Richard Wright Medal for Literary
Excellence, joining the select company of the
previous two winners, Eudora Welty and
Margaret Walker.
After reviewing Homecomings almost a
4 of 9
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)
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decade ago, a Boston Globe writer concluded,
"There's damn fine life left in this man's
prose." As is evident by Willie Morris's most
recent work and his current projects, there is
little doubt that this man's prose will continue
to be fresh, lively, and thought-provoking.
—JB
% Publications
Nonfiction
• North Toward Home. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1967.
• Yazoo: Integration in a Deep-Southern Town. New York: Harper
&Row, 1971.
• A Southern Album: Recollections of Some People and Places
and Times Gone By (edited by Irwin Glusker, narrative by
Morris). Birmingham: Oxmoor House, 1975.
• James Jones: A Friendship. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1978.
• The Courting of Marcus Dupree. Garden City, NY: Doubleday,
1983.
• Faulkner's Mississippi (photographs by William Eggleston).
Birmingham: Oxmoor House, 1990.
• New York Days. Boston: Little, Brown, 1993.
• My Dog Skip. New York: Random House, 1995.
• The Ghosts of Medgar Evers: A Tale of Race, Murder,
Mississippi, and Hollywood. New York: Random House, 1998.
Essay Collections
• The South Today: 100 Years After Appomattox (edited by
Morris). New York: Harper & Row, 1965.
• Terrains of the Heart and Other Essays on Home. Oxford, MS:
Yoknapatawpha Press, 1981.
• Always Stand in Against the Curve and Other Sports Stories.
Oxford, MS: Yoknapatawpha Press, 1983.
• Homecomings (with the art of William Dunlap). Jackson:
University Press of Mississippi, 1989.
• My Two Oxfords (wood engravings by John DePol). Council
Bluffs, IA: Yellow Barn: 1992.
• After All, It's Only a Game (with art by Lynn Green Root).
Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1992.
Books for Children
• Good Old Boy: A Delta Boyhood. New York: Harper & Row,
1971.
• Good Old Boy and the Witch of Yazoo. Oxford, MS:
Yoknapatawpha Press, 1989.
Fiction: Novel
• The Last of the Southern Girls. New York: Alfred A. Knopf,
1973.
Other Works:
• A Prayer for the Opening of the Little League Season (illustrated
by Barry Moser). San Diego: Harcourt Brace, 1995.
5 of 9
8/3/99 10:12 AM
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/daily/aug99/morrisap3.htm
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Mississippi Author Willie Morris
Dies
The Associated Press
Monday, August 2, 1999; 9:51 p.m. EDT
r
Pnrtner Sites:
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• UlllanilkB Internet liuulu
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JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- Willie Morris, one of Mississippi's most
treasured writers who wrote stories based on his childhood in the
Delta and other experiences, died Monday night. He was 64.
Morris died at St. Dominic Hospital, where he had been taken earlier
Monday after an apparent heart attack.
Morris, who developed what he called a "good ole boy' love for the
South, grew up in Yazoo City, the small town that would become the
focal point for many of his stories.
In his work, "North Toward Home," he described Yazoo City as "on
the edge of the delta, straddling that memorable divide where the
hills end and flat land begins."
Morris had more thajjadozen books to his credit. Among his better
known works are "North rDwerntTiome'^ J967), and "Terrains of
the Heart and Other Essays on Home," (1981).
His latest published book was "The Ghosts of Medgar Evers," a
1998 work about the history of the production of the 1996 film
"Ghosts of Mississippi." That film was about the 1963 assassination
of the civil rights figure and the conviction of Byron De La Beckwith
for his murder.
In his last book, Morris explores what the three trials and the film of
the surrounding events say about race in America, especially in his
home state.
"The basic crisis in America is that of racism," Morris wrote.
"Mississippi has always been the crucible of national guilt."
Morris became associate editor of Harper's Magazine in 1963, and in
1967, became the youngest editor-in-chief of Harper's, the nation's
oldest magazine. He left Harper's in 1971, and stayed in the New
York area until 1980.
He returned to Mississippi, serving as writer-in-residence at the
University of Mississippi in Oxford, where he wrote "The Courting
of Marcus Dupree" (1983), based on a standout football player.
In 1996, he was the winner of the Richard Wright Medal for Literary
Excellence.
1 of 2
8/3/99 9:09 AM
�http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/daily/aug99/morrisap3.htm
ivashin«tonpost.com: Mississippi Author Willie Morris Dies
,Jv4orfIlfand his only child, son David, a freelance photojournalist
living in New Orleans, were (Lollaboraj'ing on a new"book. 1 Tie author
is also survived by his secondN^ofe^JoAnne Prichard, who he married
1999 The Associated Press
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�Page 8
LEVEL 1 - 4 OF 82 STORIES
C o p y r i g h t 1999 Southam I n c .
The Gazette (Montreal)
August 03, 1999,
FINAL
SECTION: News; E8
LENGTH: 310
words
HEADLINE: W i l l i e M o r r i s , M i s s i s s i p p i D e l t a w r i t e r
DATELINE: JACKSON, Miss.
BODY:
W i l l i e M o r r i s , one of M i s s i s s i p p i ' s most t r e a s u r e d w r i t e r s who wrote s t o r i e s
based on h i s c h i l d h o o d i n the D e l t a and o t h e r experiences, d i e d l a s t n i g h t . He
was 64 .
M o r r i s d i e d a t St. Dominic H o s p i t a l , where he had been taken e a r l i e r Monday
a f t e r an apparent h e a r t a t t a c k .
M o r r i s , who developed what he c a l l e d a ''good o l e boy's l o v e f o r the South,
grew up inYazoo C i t y , the s m a l l town t h a t would become the f o c a l p o i n t f o r many
of h i s s t o r i e s .
I n h i s work, N o r t h Toward Home, he d e s c r i b e d Yazoo C i t y as ''on the edge of
the d e l t a , s t r a d d l i n g t h a t memorable d i v i d e where the h i l l s end and f l a t l a n d
begins.' '
M o r r i s had more than a dozen books t o h i s c r e d i t . Among h i s b e t t e r known
works are N o r t h Toward Home (1967), and T e r r a i n s of the Heart and Other Essays
on Home, (1981).
His l a t e s t p u b l i s h e d book was The Ghosts of Medgar Evers, a 1998 work about
the h i s t o r y o f the p r o d u c t i o n of the 1996 f i l m Ghosts of M i s s i s s i p p i . That f i l m
was about t h e 1963 a s s a s s i n a t i o n of the c i v i l r i g h t s f i g u r e and the c o n v i c t i o n
of Byron De La Beckwith f o r h i s murder.
I n h i s l a s t book, M o r r i s e x p l o r e s what the t h r e e t r i a l s and the f i l m of the
s u r r o u n d i n g events say about race i n America, e s p e c i a l l y i n h i s home s t a t e .
1
''The b a s i c c r i s i s i n America i s t h a t of racism,'' M o r r i s w r o t e .
' M i s s i s s i p p i has always been the c r u c i b l e o f n a t i o n a l g u i l t . ' '
M o r r i s became a s s o c i a t e e d i t o r of Harper's Magazine i n 1963, and i n 1967,
became t h e youngest e d i t o r - i n - c h i e f of Harper's, the n a t i o n ' s o l d e s t magazine.
He l e f t Harper's i n 1971, and stayed i n the New York area u n t i l 1980.
He r e t u r n e d t o M i s s i s s i p p i , s e r v i n g as w r i t e r - i n - r e s i d e n c e a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y
of M i s s i s s i p p i i n Oxford, where he wrote The C o u r t i n g of Marcus Dupree (1983),
based on a standout f o o t b a l l p l a y e r .
�Page 9
The Gazette (Montreal), August 03, 1999
I n 1996, he was t h e winner o f t h e R i c h a r d Wright Medal f o r L i t e r a r y
Excellence.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: August 3, 1999
�Page 10
LEVEL 1 - 5 OF 82 STORIES
C o p y r i g h t 1999 Times M i r r o r Company
Los Angeles Times
August 3, 1999,
Tuesday,
Home E d i t i o n
SECTION: P a r t A; Page 14; Metro Desk
LENGTH: 638 words
HEADLINE: OBITUARIES;
WILLIE MORRIS; MISSISSIPPI DELTA WRITER
BYLINE: From Times S t a f f and Wire
Reports
BODY:
W i l l i e M o r r i s , one o f M i s s i s s i p p i ' s most t r e a s u r e d a u t h o r s , who w r o t e many
s t o r i e s based on h i s c h i l d h o o d i n the D e l t a , d i e d Monday n i g h t . He was 64.
He d i e d a t St. Dominic H o s p i t a l i n Jackson, where he had been t a k e n e a r l i e r
Monday a f t e r s u f f e r i n g a h e a r t a t t a c k .
M o r r i s , who developed what he c a l l e d a "good o l e boy" l o v e f o r the South,
grew up i n Yazoo C i t y , the s m a l l town t h a t would become the f o c a l p o i n t f o r many
of h i s s t o r i e s .
Most o f h i s w r i t i n g was about h i m s e l f , but he brought t o h i s n o v e l s and
n o n f i c t i o n works an u n d e r s t a n d i n g of the South and showed how h i s l i f e and t h e
r e g i o n ' s r e l a t e d t o a l a r g e r n a t i o n a l experience.
" I go back t o t h e South, p h y s i c a l l y and i n my memories, t o remind myself who
I am, f o r t h e South keeps me g o i n g , " he wrote i n " T e r r a i n s of the Heart and
Other Essays on Home," p u b l i s h e d i n 1981.
I n h i s 1967 a u t o b i o g r a p h y , "North Toward Home," he wrapped h i s p e r s o n a l
h i s t o r y around t h e h i s t o r y of the c o u n t r y as a whole, g i v i n g h i s l i f e s t o r y b o t h
c h a r a c t e r and r i c h c o n t e x t . I n w r i t i n g about such d i v e r s e experiences as l i f e i n
Yazoo--a c i t y "on t h e edge of the D e l t a , s t r a d d l i n g t h a t memorable d i v i d e where
the h i l l s end and f l a t l a n d begins"--and the high-powered New York p u b l i s h i n g
w o r l d , he spoke " i n t h e accent of a r e g i o n , " r e v i e w e r Peter Schrag wrote i n t h e
R e p o r t e r , g i v i n g readers "something fundamental i n t h e meaning of America."
I n "Yazoo," "Good Old Boy" and " T e r r a i n s of the Heart," he r e m i n i s c e d about
h i s hometown and e a r l y years, e x p l a i n i n g t r a n s f o r m a t i o n s i n Southern s o c i e t y
t h r o u g h h i s own e x p e r i e n c e s . I n "Yazoo," p u b l i s h e d i n 1971, he r e t u r n e d t o h i s
hometown t o e x p l o r e how a Supreme Court o r d e r t o i n t e g r a t e t h e l o c a l schools was
c a r r i e d o u t . The change was made p e a c e f u l l y , he wrote, and he spoke of t h e
v a l u e s and t r a d i t i o n s t h a t h e l d t h e community t o g e t h e r t h r o u g h what c o u l d have
�Page 11
Los Angeles Times August 3, 1999, Tuesday,
been a t r a u m a t i c episode.
M o r r i s had more t h a n a dozen books t o h i s c r e d i t . H i s l a t e s t was "The Ghosts
of Medgar Evers," a 1998 work about t h e h i s t o r y o f t h e p r o d u c t i o n o f t h e 1996
f i l m "Ghosts o f M i s s i s s i p p i . " That f i l m was about t h e 1963 a s s a s s i n a t i o n o f t h e
c i v i l r i g h t s f i g u r e and t h e c o n v i c t i o n o f Byron De La Beckwith f o r h i s murder.
The book e x p l o r e s what t h e t h r e e t r i a l s and t h e f i l m o f t h e s u r r o u n d i n g
events say about race i n America, e s p e c i a l l y i n h i s home s t a t e .
"The b a s i c c r i s i s i n America i s t h a t o f racism," M o r r i s w r o t e .
has always been t h e c r u c i b l e o f n a t i o n a l g u i l t . "
"Mississippi
M o r r i s was a j o u r n a l i s t e a r l y i n h i s c a r e e r . He was e d i t o r i n c h i e f o f t h e
Texas Observer i n A u s t i n from 1960 t o 1962. Then he moved t o Harper's magazine
as a s s o c i a t e e d i t o r , r i s i n g t o become i t s youngest e d i t o r i n c h i e f i n 1967, when
he was 33. He l e f t Harper's i n 1971 b u t stayed i n t h e New York area u n t i l 1980.
"He brought t h a t magazine k i c k i n g and screaming i n t o t h e p r e s e n t . W i t h h i s
l o v e o f words and v e r y c o n s i d e r a b l e charm, he'd taken an a r c h a i c magazine and
made i t an e x c i t i n g magazine t h a t was on t h e c u t t i n g edge," s a i d w r i t e r David
Halberstam, r e c r u i t e d by M o r r i s a t Harper's. "There was a moment he s o r t o f
owned New York."
He r e t u r n e d t o M i s s i s s i p p i , s e r v i n g as w r i t e r - i n - r e s i d e n c e a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y
of M i s s i s s i p p i i n Oxford, where he wrote "The C o u r t i n g o f Marcus Dupree," a 1983
book based on a s t a n d o u t f o o t b a l l p l a y e r .
I n 1996, he was t h e winner o f t h e R i c h a r d Wright Medal f o r L i t e r a r y
Excellence.
W r i t e r L a r r y Wells s a i d M o r r i s "was one o f t h e t r u e l i t e r a r y v o i c e s o f t h e
South and o f America."
On a p e r s o n a l l e v e l , he s a i d M o r r i s was a famous p r a c t i c a l j o k e s t e r who "had
f u n ; e v e r y t h i n g about him was f u n . "
M o r r i s and h i s o n l y c h i l d , David, a f r e e l a n c e p h o t o j o u r n a l i s t l i v i n g i n New
Orleans, were c o l l a b o r a t i n g on a new book. The a u t h o r i s a l s o s u r v i v e d by h i s
second w i f e , JoAnne P r i c h a r d , whom he m a r r i e d i n 1990.
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: W i l l i e M o r r i s i n 1991 PHOTOGRAPHER: A s s o c i a t e d Press
LANGUAGE: E n g l i s h
LOAD-DATE: August 3, 1999
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Lowell Weiss
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Lowell Weiss
Office of Speechwriting
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1997-2001
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/show/36408">Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7431951">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
2006-0470-F
Description
An account of the resource
This collection consists of the speechwriting files of Lowell Weiss. Lowell Weiss worked as a Special Assistant to the President, Presidential Speechwriter from June 1997 - August 2000. Weiss traveled and wrote speeches for President Clinton on domestic issues. His speeches cover a broad array of topics. Major issues he wrote on concern the environment, education, the economy, and race relations. He wrote weekly radio addresses; commencement speeches; and remarks for bill signings, events, and conferences. The records consist of speeches, drafts, memoranda, correspondence, schedules, event and travel arrangements, notes, articles, and printed email.
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
Extent
The size or duration of the resource.
464 folders in 36 boxes
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
Paper
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Willie Morris
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Office of Speechwriting
Lowell Weiss
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
2006-0470-F
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
Box 35
<a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/show/36408">Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/20761234">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Adobe Acrobat Document
Medium
The material or physical carrier of the resource.
Preservation-Reproduction-Reference
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
20761234
42-t-7431951-20060470-F-035-011-2015