Recent Stories & Articles Veterans’ Day11/7/2009 10:25:00 PM When I moved to Columbus from Washington, D.C., I was in Miss Emily Potts’s fifth-grade class at Franklin Academy. In Washington people had teased me about my “southern drawl.” In Mississippi they called me a “d---- yankee.” My defense was to try to talk like whoever was talking to me. (I have even caught myself lisping back at someone who lisped!) A memory from MSCW10/24/2009 8:21:00 PM The recent tribute to Disney artist Josh Meador reminds me of an occasion which I probably ought to recount for posterity, assuming posterity is remotely interested. Change is in the air with the possibility of a new name for Mississippi University for Women, so maybe it is time to tell this bit of history — or her story, as some would say. I am not totally proud of it, however. From Columbus to Disney’s studios10/10/2009 7:57:00 PM I don’t remember when I first heard his name. I moved to Columbus when I was 9 years old, so it was well after that. I had practically cut my teeth on the films “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” “Pinocchio” and “Bambi,” but I had really given no thought to the people who animated them — literally gave them life. For me they were just characters, but as real as I was, created, I guess, by God. Jaunt to Memphis10/3/2009 7:36:00 PM Churches have gotten so enthusiastic about taking care of their elderly (not elders) that some of the “old folks” are running around with their tongues hanging out, trying to keep up with the social schedule. I was talking to someone the other day who was going to a church covered-dish supper for their “Over Fifty” group. She and her husband were taking enough food to feed at least 15. Whether they are “Fifty, Sixty, or Seventy Plus,” “Senior Class,” or “Keenagers,” they are busy. A day in the life of ...9/19/2009 9:52:00 PM For some of us it is not easy to get out of bed in the mornings, and some days make it seem hardly worth the effort. The other day I staggered to the kitchen intent on fixing myself a bowl of cereal with some raspberries for breakfast. I had a new box of cereal. I never expected it to be difficult to open. Bety Stone: Be careful whom you follow8/22/2009 10:48:00 PM As I remember the story, the Pied Piper contracted with the people of Hamelin to rid the town of rats. As promised, he led them with his pipe music into the river, where they drowned; but the townspeople refused to pay him. So he then piped their children away as well. Laurels for an athlete8/8/2009 9:23:00 PM Some people become legends in their own time. One of the neat things about going to a water exercise class for non-athletes like me is being among people who are athletes, some of them legendary. Jake Propst is one of those from Columbus. Going back to Bob’s7/25/2009 8:57:00 PM Anyone who lived in Columbus between 1922 and 1992 probably has some story or memory of Bob’s Place, quintessential drive-in of Columbus and thought to be Mississippi’s first drive-in. Small town kudos7/11/2009 Several times lately we have mentioned small town living versus city style. Maybe that means we should think about it a little more. Read any good books lately?6/27/2009 From time to time I hear a teacher or professor lament, “Students just don’t read anymore.” What a pity! I know that the printed page has to vie for popularity with all sorts of high tech entertainment, but I grieve for anyone who misses the pleasure of reading a book. In defense of a heroine5/10/2009 I have hesitated to write about the Mississippi University for Women name change because I have mixed feelings. Something surfaced, however, that I feel compelled to comment on. ¿Pueblo chico, infierno grande?4/24/2009 Let me introduce you to my grandson, Douglas McRae, who is serving a 27-month assignment in Peru as a health volunteer. I thought my readers might like to know something about what it is like to do that, so I asked him to share his experiences with us. It is new to me, too. What he sent me follows. Another take on the point of view4/10/2009 In my last column I passed along a story of Tom Hardy illustrating how an incident can be seen from two points of view. Coincidentally, about the same time Linda Lodato shared with me an illustration of how time can produce two different points of view. It all depends on the point of view3/28/2009 Tom Hardy is a friend who is a good raconteur and who has a long history in Columbus. Recently he shared the following story with me. I could not improve on it, so I’ll let him tell it himself:
“Recently I was driving down Seventh Street South and saw an old water oak tree, between the street and the sidewalk, which brought to mind an incident that has remained in my memory for nearly 80 years. A little bit of learning3/14/2009 Since my last column I have had a birthday. It wasn’t one of the big ones; I’ll probably have to have someone come to hold my hand for that. Nevertheless, it was big enough to make me reflect on what I’ve learned in these many years — or, if I have managed to learn anything. The face in the window2/27/2009 The storm raged and the lightning cracked in jagged, frightening bolts. The prisoner looked out the garret window at the terrifying crowd outside. They had come for him, he knew. He was injured and scared, even though the sheriff had hidden him upstairs in the new courthouse to protect him from a lynch mob. One account of the 1878 drama has Henry Wells shouting to the mob below that he was innocent and that, if they killed him, he would haunt them. Feedback offers story2/14/2009 I got a little feedback from my last column, something that always perks me up, even if I have ruffled somebody’s feathers. This was the good kind, though, with a follow-up story I’d like to share about the postal service “way back when.” (In fact, several people phoned with something to say about the mail service, but we have to remember that in those days there was no competition with e-mail or cheap phone calls, and there were fewer of us.) The times, they are a changin’2/1/2009 A Stone’s Throw Search our archives for older stories by Betty Stone
