A Hero Turns 100 – The Amazing Life of Joe Barnes
By Katie Tims • Photography by Rory Doyle Joe Barnes was a farmer’s kid from the Mississippi Delta. He wanted to teach children, build a family, and make a decent wage on the outskirts of the Great Depression. But World War II intervened. Barnes shipped off to basic training and joined the 36th Combat Infantry. […]
Treks of Greatness, Shades of Grandeur
Treks of Greatness, Shades of Grandeur Guided Duck Hunting in the Delta By Hank Burdine “Forever and ever, amen” is the oft-time response when a city slicker asks a hardened old duck hunter how long ducks have been coming to the Delta. Or, as legendary Fighting Bayou duck master Skipper Jernigan relates, “since man’s memory […]
Woman of the Wild
By Cal Trout Photography Courtesy of Besty Schonberger “From the warm window sill the endless fields glowed like a hearth in firelight, and Laura, looking out…felt what an arriver in a land feels—that slow hard pounding in the breast.” – Eudora Welty, Delta Wedding For those of us who love to travel and to hunt, […]
Hog Hunting
By Hank Burdine Photography by Melody Golding Danger delivers excitement in the Delta’s woods and swamps. Howard Brent, owner and proprietor of Panther Tract, a 4,600-acre private hunting preserve in Yazoo County that borders Panther Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, is a true Mississippi Deltan with a heart as big as the Mississippi River, from whence […]
Taylor’s Wonderbird Spirits
Taylor’s Wonderbird Spirits By Tom Speed Photography Courtesy of Timothy Ivy Mississippi’s first grain-to-glass distillery uses Delta-grown rice. Ancient mythologies are rife with images of majestic birds, a species that symbolized freedom, power, and wonder. The mighty griffin. The phoenix. Native American myths, too, focus on the majesty of our feathered friends. Far removed from […]
Documentaries capture flood events on film
When William Bristow wakes up in the morning, he may not know the exact details of the day’s schedule, “but I bet it involves water and a jon boat,” he says. He’s kidding, but only a little. The tan line made by his wristwatch marks days spent in boats and waders, documenting Mississippi Delta backwater […]
Have Kitsch. Will Travel: Camping in Retro Style
By Amanda Wells Photography by Tom Beck September/October 2017 You’ll often find three particular couples rolling out of Rolling Fork in kitschy vintage style. Emily and Clark Carter, Mary and Kevin Corban, and Laura and Paul Hollis, have a rollicking good time in their quirky vintage campers, that are often stocked with food and always […]
The Giant House Party
By Amanda Wells Photography by Greg Campbell Three Delta families trek over to the hills for a week of fun, family, food and a generous dose of red dirt sprinkled in for good measure! If your idea of paradise consists of visiting, grazing, politicking and a little sweating, you better get yourself over to […]
A Most Unusual Collector
By Andrew Ross Photos courtesy of Davies Manor Association Research Assistant Kim Fleischhauer and Robert Jordan of Ole Miss Communications The Forgotten Story of Julius Augustus Davies The writer David Cohn may have pinpointed a figurative truth when he famously claimed the Mississippi Delta begins in the Peabody’s lobby. Literally, of course, he was about […]
Kellee Mayfield: Lake Village artist making art with moxie
By Susan Marquez Photography by Rory Doyle Growing up in her home in Ardmore, Oklahoma, Kellee Mayfield was fortunate to have been surrounded by plenty of great artwork. “There was one painting in particular, a portrait of my grandmother that was painted by an artist in New York in the 1930s, that I was always drawn […]