NMissCommentor » Oxford – Ole Miss Community

My father talks about Phil Stone and William Faulkner

NMC — Thu, 17 May 2012 23:07:12 +0000

Here’s a short documentary my daughter Sarah Simonson did for a Southern Studies class. The documentary is about Phil Stone (my dad’s first law partner) and William Faulkner and includes a section of my father talking about Stone and Faulkner. (I’m in there, too). I’m so glad this is on video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Sarah gets her masters in architecture at Tulane on Saturday!

Hal Freeland, obituary and funeral arrangements

NMC — Sat, 12 May 2012 21:52:22 +0000

My father’s funeral will be Tuesday, May 15th at the First Presbyterian Church in Oxford. There will be a visitation at Coleman’s Funeral Home on Highway 7 North on Monday from 4:00-6:00. My family is asking that, in lieu of flowers, folks can contribute to a memorial fund in honor of T.H. Freeland, III at the Innocence Project at Ole Miss Law School, with the donations being made through the Ole Miss Foundation. Just let them know it’s in memory of T.H. Freeland or Hal Freeland and send any contribution to the Foundation at P.O. Box 249, University, Mississippi 38677.

Here’s the obituary….

Thomas Henry Freeland, III, 82, died at home Thursday, May 10, 2012 in Oxford, MS.

Born in Brookhaven, MS, Mr. Freeland lived in Oxford for 58 years. He practiced law for more than a half century. He mentored generations of attorneys, first as a part-time law professor and later by hiring promising law students as clerks. His practice included precedent-setting cases in civil rights, commercial litigation, and libel law. In 1988, a case he argued before the U.S. Supreme Court forced Mississippi to reform century-old inequities in public school finance for the state’s northern 23 counties. He was a founding member and past president of the North Mississippi Chapter of the American Inns of Court. Mr. Freeland was a member of First Presbyterian Church in Oxford, MS. He was a life-long quail hunter, avid fly-fisherman, master of the occasional well-placed cuss word and devoted teller of courthouse yarns and family stories, some of which were true.

Survivors include his wife, Judith H. Freeland of Oxford, MS; two sons, Tom Freeland and Hale Freeland, both of Oxford, MS; one daughter, Lee Freeland Hancock of Tyler, TX; 6 grandchildren.

MidTown Farmers Market is back in fine form

NMC — Sun, 06 May 2012 03:49:51 +0000

This was the best opening market I remember in a long time. One news bulletin: The Bosts are set up for accepting Food Stamps. I’m not sure how to spread the word, but the Bosts’ prices are very reasonable; any Food Stamp eligible family would do very well to check it out.

I saw a number of growers who had been there for years, and a few new ones, and at least one who was back after a hiatus. I came home with spinach, carrots, garlic, several varieties of lettuce, English peas, new potatoes, sweet potatoes, and cucumber. There were cabbage, beets, and a number of other things I didn’t grab.

Rebel Bear Provides Brief Demonstration of Power of Flight for Law Enforcement Officers in the Grove

NMC — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 15:51:22 +0000

More details here and here. h/t to Christen Hemmins on Facebook.

Thacker Mountain and Oxford American team up for a big show at the Lyric

NMC — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 04:39:13 +0000

Thursday night, Thacker Mountain’s last show of the season– and the Doubledecker weekend show– is going to be a joint production with the Oxford American– whose latest music issue was about Mississippi.

They’re going to have the Mighty Gospel Warriors, my favorite Mississippi Gospel band– purveyors of intense Gospel funk– Tyler Keith (with his new band) and readings from the Oxford American that will include Bob Palmer’s piece about recording R.L. Burnside and Lisa Howorth’s piece about Tyler.

It will be much fun. Be there.

I am compelled to post this for Chris Offut

NMC — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 03:25:28 +0000

I enjoyed Chris’s reading, sponsored by Vox last night. There can not possibly be a more appropriate post than this one. If you weren’t there, you’ll not know why until his next novel is published, but you’ll at least experience the lessons of Dave Batholomew and “The Monkey Speaks His Mind.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

Chris Offut at the Power House tonight at 7:00

NMC — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:25:22 +0000

Tonight, there’s “An Evening With Chris Offut” sponsored by Vox Magazine, at the PowerHouse in Oxford at 7:00 PM. My prior experience at Chris’s readings suggest a splendid time is virtually guaranteed.

I’ll be there.

Excellent Blues and Southern Soul with Johnny Rawls at 2 Stick Tonight in Oxford

NMC — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 18:31:16 +0000

Click here to view the embedded video.

He’ll be playing at 10. Johnny began playing in Z.Z. Hill’s band while still in high school, and played later with Little Johnny Taylor and the Sweet Inspirations. In the mid to late 70s, he was O.V. Wright’s band leader, and then lead Johnny Talyor’s band for five years. Since then, he’s been a frontman, recording for Jim O’Neal’s Rooster BLues, JSP, and other labels.

He puts on an excellent show. He’ll be solo tonight, and I’ll be there.

Remembering the Ritz Theater in Oxford

NMC — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 16:59:22 +0000

John Cofield is posting on Facebook photos from around the web and from his family (60-something years of Oxford photography, beginning with his grandfather Col. Cofield in the 20s). Above is the Ritz Theater, right at the end (it was on Van Buren, next door to what is now Bottletree Bakery).

Thinking about what movies I saw here…. The two part Russian War and Peace, Taxi Driver, Barry Lyndon, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Birth of A Nation (during a 1970s era theatrical re-release). First movie I ever saw in a theater was there, Mr. McGoo and the Arabian Nights (also saw 101 Dalmatians). I think I saw Gone with the Wind here when I was a fourth grader.

This was all mixed in among the usual first release junk and the like. But it also suggests how much better the choice of movies were in a town with two theaters and a drive-in (at the Lyric I saw Lawrence of Arabia and To Kill a Mockingbird, the later as a fourth grader, also, at the Rebel Drive In) at that time, as opposed to now, with how many ever screens they’ve got at that Malaco thing in the mall.

For a while near the end, they were showing late night soft core porn; when they showed something from the series of movies “Debbie Does Dallas,” etc., the theater delighted in featuring the male lead on the marquee: John Leslie. Happened to be the name of the town’s mayor at the time. There was a small lozenge-shaped tear in the screen for well over a decade, from the night that Jim Mobley threw a dill pickle at some movie or other.

Oxford’s Joey Lauren Adams comments on her IMDB page….

NMC — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 20:52:40 +0000

Joey Lauren Adams Remembers Joey Lauren Adams Movies from Joey Lauren Adams