The Columbus Cultural Heritage Foundation hosts Neil White, the creator and editor of “Mississippians,” “Mississippians II,” and “Mississippi’s 100 Greatest Football Players of All Time,” at a book signing today from 10 a.m. until noon at the Tennessee Williams Home Welcome Center at 300 Main St.
The “Mississipians” books feature more than 300 notable people who have come out of, or spent substantial phases of their lives in, the Magnolia State.
“Mississippi has produced more Pulitzer Prize-winning writers per capita than any other state. The same goes for National Football League players. How’s that for range?” writes White in the introduction to “Mississipians II” (Nautilus Publishing, 2011).
The collection encompasses those who are recognized by a single name — like Oprah and Elvis — but also highlights the accomplished Mississippians behind FedEx, MTV, The Muppets and Viking Range. Actors, sports figures and visual artists (including Columbus’ Birney Imes) are in the book, but so are social reformers and “little-known people to watch.”
Football greats
White concedes any attempt to quantify the “100 greatest” anything is subjective, at best, but adds that “Mississippi’s 100 Greatest Football Players of All Time” (Nautilus Publishing, 2011) is “meant to be fun.”
“In Mississippi, we love our football, and no state can compare to the kind of talent we breed here,” he writes.
The Gulfport native, now living in Oxford, is also an experienced novelist, having penned “In the Sanctuary of Outcasts: A Memoir,” “Lepers and Cons” and “Paper Symmetry,” among other books.
“This is a wonderful opportunity to come out and meet this acclaimed author,” said Nancy Carpenter, executive director of the Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau and Columbus Cultural Heritage Foundation. “These handsome books, especially when autographed, make great gifts.”
For more information, contact the CVB at 662-329-1191.
Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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