While most nonagenarians are taking life a little easier than before, Jim Hunt of Columbus is keeping up an industrious pace. In his just-printed book, “The Impossible Dream of Dr. James W. Hunt,” he hopes to illustrate just how possible the impossible can be. Autobiographical stories reveal the uncommon journey of a boy who left school after eighth grade to help put food on the family table. That boy went on to become a respected educator and innovator, a professor emeritus of education at Mississippi University for Women. The years between were filled with humor, hardships and hope that paved the way for a poor youth from rural Mississippi to eventually establish one of the early centers for the severely disabled, right in Columbus.
Born in 1924 in Ellisville, Hunt and his family came face to face with the Great Depression and, later, World War II. Both shaped who he became. So did delivering store fliers to earn 50 cents at age 10, driving a grocery truck at 13, hitchhiking to Meridian at 16 to try to enlist and, at 18, his first sight of the nation’s capital — the stuff of books and movies — from a troop train crossing the Potomac.
The war took Hunt to France, England, Germany and the frigid battlefields of Belgium. And when his frozen feet turned black with gangrene, the war ultimately sent him back to America, to a rehabilitation hospital in North Carolina. It was there, during long recovery, that something happened to alter his course: Hunt took some tests in an occupational rehab class.
“Never once did I think of the major impact this test would have on my whole life and future,” Hunt writes. “At this point I had no future except to be a truck driver, such as I had been since the age of 13 driving a truck for Bethea Wholesale Grocery in Laurel.”
That was before an occupational therapist told him, “Son, did you know that you have good enough grades on your tests to get into college?”
Instinctively, Hunt knew more education would be necessary if he wanted a better life. “This became an obsession with me,” he says.
Keeping on
Out of the hospital, Hunt returned to Laurel, where his family was living, and enrolled in a few classes at Gardner High School, “a strange place for me to go because I had only completed eight grades of school,” Hunt writes. Then, a turning point.
With the G.I. Bill of 1944 providing funding, and armed with a letter from the hospital about his test results, Hunt marshaled the courage to walk into the high school principal’s office with an application to Mississippi College. He needed Principal C.D. Boyd, known as “Rat” Boyd, to sign it. But Boyd’s response was that Hunt would be crazy to think he could go to college with no high school education. He declined to sign.
With tears on his face, Hunt left the office, only to encounter school superintendent R.H. Watkins in the hall. When Watkins asked, “I told him all about my disappointment,” Hunt says. “Watkins said to me, ‘C’mon, son, let’s go back to see Rat Boyd.'” In Boyd’s office, Watkins prevailed. Boyd signed Hunt’s college application.
In the years to follow, Hunt not only earned that degree, but went on to obtain a doctorate, to become a dedicated educator, and to change the lives of individuals and families living with developmental challenges. His groundbreaking work at Mississippi University for Women saw the startup of not only the center there but also statewide education efforts and a group home in Columbus named for him
Hunt’s story of leaving school after eighth grade is one he has rarely shared before. He does it now to offer hope to others.
“I’ve had the real life experience that a lot of these kids who might be thinking about dropping out of school might be thinking about,” he says. “I finally decided it’s too good of a true story not to put out there and let them know that if your impossible dream has not happened yet, the thing you do is keep on keeping on.”
Early in the book, Hunt writes, “Possibly not any, if a few, would want to read my life story. However, writing your life story is a great way to connect the real self you have become … So write your story to share with yourself and other family members who may not know of your conquering adversities and the joy of being you.”
Editor’s note: To inquire about a copy of Hunt’s book, contact him at 662-328-8959.
Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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