William Faulkner once said, “To understand the world, you must first understand a place like Mississippi.” This week I had a chance to test that principle for myself, including a visit to Faulkner’s home in Oxford, Mississippi. I spoke at the University of Mississippi’s The Declaration of Independence Center for the Study of American Freedom about my book, “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.” As I often do, I decided to take some pictures as I explored the campus and the nearby environs of Ole Miss. This is an extraordinary place filled with the nicest people you could ever hope to meet. I could not recommend a visit more highly.
I had the ultimate guide upon my arrival in Oxford in the form of Rankin Sherling, the Associate Director of the Declaration of Independence Center for the Study of American Freedom and a Mississippi native. We went straight to the home of Faulkner, which is an utter delight.
Called Rowan Oak, Faulkner bought the 1844 antebellum mansion in 1930 for $6,000 after he published The Sound and the Fury.
Faulkner insisted on writing from the house, and one room still has his draft of the chapter of one of his novels, A Fable, written on the walls.
There is the phone on which he was told he had won the Nobel Prize, and his typewriter in his office. Every inch has been lovingly preserved as it was when he lived in the deep South that he loved so much.
Rankin and I had dinner with a wonderful group at the City Grocery in Oxford, which still feels like a walk back in time. The courthouse was rebuilt after Union soldiers burned down the original in 1864. The area saw fierce fighting in the war, and one of the most storied Confederate units was composed of Ole Miss students. They were called the University Greys (Company A, 11th Mississippi Infantry) and, on July 3, 1863, suffered a 100% casualty rate during Pickett’s charge at the Battle of Gettysburg.
I spent a couple of hours walking around the gorgeous Ole Miss campus. I had a chance to speak with various students who are delighted to share their own stories and favorite sites on campus.
Both faculty and students made it clear that there was one person who should not be named, or whose name must be preceded by such descriptive terms as “traitor” or “soulless monster.” That, of course, is former Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin, who left midseason to take a higher-paying coaching job with LSU, a longtime nemesis of Ole Miss. I was told that the home game between Ole Miss and LSU was already driving ticket prices over $6,300 for choice seats.
I loved my time with all of my new friends at Ole Miss, who epitomize the tradition of Southern Hospitality. To all of them, I offer my own cheer:
“Are you ready?!
Hell, yeah! Damn right!
Hotty Toddy, Gosh Almighty
Who the hell are we?
Hey Flim Flam, Bim Bam
Ole Miss, by Damn!”
I have visited Oxford and Ole Miss once, in the 1980s when I was still a bachelor. I remember three aspects of its beauty: the town, the campus, and the women.
Oxford is one of the most charming small cities I have ever visited, My wife was an amateur Faulkner scholar and attended a convention of Faulkner academics at Ole Miss and we had time to explore the town and surrounding areas. Genteel is the only word I can think of to describe it.
Well, I liked this post even though I was born in Starkville while my dad attended the arch-rival Mississippi State. I am glad you were welcomed with warm, open arms and the the didn’t poison you with their hot toddy!
What is remarkable about Prof. Turley’s vignettes about the places he’s visited is that they are not only affectionate, they are unbiased. Almost any other writer from the Northeast would feel the need to remind the reader of the slave-holding past of MS or mention the name Medgar Evers. It is to his great credit that JT does not feel the need to bend his knee to the moralists of the Left.
It is a nice state to visit and drive through but my favorite place was along its gulf shore.
Yeah, if Lane Kiffin is traveling north, he probably should drive around Mississippi or fly over it. Those people can carry some grudges for a long time. They are very serious about their football.
Um…. its sad to see how this blog has become a place totally affected with rightwing hatred and the demand by Christian nationalist for the killing of liberals, in a corrupt rightwing world reeking of partisan politics and their maniacal demand for tribute from poor Americans and the rightwing fixation on wealth accumulation to destroy of beloved USA.
There, fixed it.
Bless your heart.
So says the cat lady.
Surely you are being facetious!
It is nice to hear about a place totally unaffected by the abject hatred of progressives, the fanatical killing by religious zealots, the corrupt world of partisan politics, and and the continuing quest for wealth.
I live in a similar world in Texas. Do you know I twice left my checking book in my shopping cart at the grocery store, and both times someone turned it in with the cash still in it! Still in shock.