Christmas Memories from Mississippi

Warm recollections of the unique Yuletide experience in Mississippi.

With essays by Glen C. Allison, Mary Anderson, Maude Williams Ballou, Patti Carr Black, Lottie Brent Boggan, Billy G. Bridges, Freda McKissic Bush, Jerry Lee Bustin, Will D. Campbell, John M. Floyd, Richard Ford, Chris Gilmer, Bishop Duncan Gray III, Carolyn Haines, Beverly Wade Hogan, Walter Howell, Richard Howorth, Caroline Langston, Beverly Lowry, Bill Luckett, Beverly Marshall, Charline R. McCord, Margaret McMullan, Mary Ann Mobley, Mary Libby Payne, Maureen Ryan, Michael F. Smith, Ronnie Riggs, Dorothy Shawhan, Lester Senter Wilson, Seetha Srinivasan, Judy H. Tucker, Wyatt Waters, Robin Whitfield, Oprah Winfrey, Elise Winter, John M. Yarborough, and Steve Yarbrough

This beautiful book of thirty-eight essays, illustrated by Mississippi’s premier watercolorist Wyatt Waters, will ring true with treasured recollections of Christmases past. Remember the Christmas it snowed on the Mississippi Coast? Glen Allison recalls that miracle. Richard Ford and Waters tell exactly what they felt when they first laid eyes on a bicycle left under the tree by Santa Claus. These Mississippians celebrate Christmas pageants, the decorating, the family dinners–even as they recognize war and loss as part of our lives and sometimes part of our holidays. Christmas Memories from Mississippi looks at the holidays from the early twentieth century through the present and offers the celebrations from various points of view, both religious and secular. This book makes an ideal memento of shared traditions and lovingly extends the spirit of the season across the state’s diversity.

Charline R. McCord, Clinton, Mississippi, is a freelance editor and a training/technical assistance coordinator with the Education Development Center. Judy H. Tucker, Jackson, Mississippi, works as a freelance editor.