Welcome to the Mississippi Writers Page Newsletter for July 4-10, 2003

In this issue:

• This week in Mississippi Literary History
• Author events: readings, book signings, and appearances
• On the horizon: events coming up in the weeks and months ahead

The following events all happened during this week in Mississippi history.

Year:
1826: Soldier, statesman, railroad-builder and writer William Clark Falkner was born in Knox County, Tennessee. (July 6)

1863: Confederate general John C. Pemberton surrendered the city of Vicksburg on the Mississippi River to Union general Ulysses S. Grant following a 47-day siege, prompting U.S. president Abraham Lincoln to remark “the Father of Waters flows unvexed to the sea.” (July 4)

1870: Southwestern humorist Augustus Baldwin Longstreet died in Oxford, Mississippi, and was buried in St. Peter’s Cemetery. (July 9)

1907: Educator and writer Chester E. Swor was born in Harrison County, Mississippi. (July 8)

1909: Rancher and photojournalist Josephine Alexander was born in Biloxi, Mississippi. (July 4)

1913: Speech and drama professor Floyd Leslie Sandle was born in Magnolia, Mississippi. (July 4)

1915: Poet Margaret Walker was born in Birmingham, Alabama. (July 7)

1918: William Faulkner reported to the Recruits’ Depot in Toronto after his acceptance by the Canadian Royal Air Force as a cadet. He entered active service the next day. (July 9)

1920: Presbyterian minister Jack L. Moore was born in DeKalb, Mississippi. (July 9)

1925: William Faulkner sailed for Europe from New Orleans with William Spratling. (July 7)

1929: Walker Percy’s father commited suicide. Percy was 13 years old at the time. (July 9)

1930: Historian Avarh E. Strickland was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. (July 6)

1930: Baptist minister and theologian Clayton Sullivan was born in Jackson, Mississippi. (July 6)

1938: Mystery writer Dianne Day was born in Greenville, Mississippi. (July 5)

1939: Historian John F. Marszalek was born in Buffalo, New York. (July 5)

1944: Library scientist Barbara B. Moran was born in Columbus, Mississippi. (July 8)

1945: Theologian P. Kyle McCarter was born in Oxford, Mississippi. (July 9)

1947: Fiction writer Steve Barthelme was born in Houston, Texas. (July 7)

1947: Tennessee Williams’ play Summer and Smoke premiered at Theatre ’47 in Dallas, Texas. (July 8)

1951: Fiction writer Larry Brown was born in Oxford, Mississippi. (July 9)

1962: William Faulkner entered the hospital in Byhalia, Mississippi. (July 5)

1962: William Faulkner died of a heart attack in the hospital at 1:30 a.m. in Byhalia, Mississippi. (July 6)

1962: William Faulkner was buried in St. Peter’s Cemetery in Oxford, Mississippi. (July 7)

1964: The New Yorker published Eudora Welty’s “Where Is the Voice Coming From?” Submitted June 26, 1964, it was published almost immediately. (July 6)