My Two Oxfords
Jul 2014 · Univ. Press of Mississippi
Ebook
32
Pages
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About this ebook
One of America's most beloved authors and a master of the personal essay, Willie Morris (1934–1999) wrote nineteen books and hundreds of articles and reflections. To honor his memory on the seventy-fifth anniversary of his birth (November 29, 1934), My Two Oxfords is a special edition of one of these choice essays.
In this piece, he addresses the quirky circumstance of having lived in “two of the world's most disparate places.” There were two Oxfords in his life—Oxford University in England, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar in the 1950s, and Oxford, Mississippi, the home of the University of Mississippi, where he was writer-in-residence when he wrote the essay.
Among the obvious contrasts between the two places, Morris finds complexity: “The legendary beauty of the Ole Miss coed is not myth. The girls of Oxford, England, so stringently screened by some of the world's most demanding academic requirements, were often dour; yet the occasional warm-spirited beauty among them was always worth the waiting. . . . By the same token, the intellectual Ole Miss sorority girl of good and gentle disposition is a joyous song in the heart and will endure.”
This essay is quintessential Morris—lyrical and evocative, a blend of personal experience and memory, history, a strong sense of place, and a bit of whimsy. A foreword by JoAnne Prichard Morris and a photograph by David Rae Morris make this edition a must-have for Willie Morris's many fans.
In this piece, he addresses the quirky circumstance of having lived in “two of the world's most disparate places.” There were two Oxfords in his life—Oxford University in England, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar in the 1950s, and Oxford, Mississippi, the home of the University of Mississippi, where he was writer-in-residence when he wrote the essay.
Among the obvious contrasts between the two places, Morris finds complexity: “The legendary beauty of the Ole Miss coed is not myth. The girls of Oxford, England, so stringently screened by some of the world's most demanding academic requirements, were often dour; yet the occasional warm-spirited beauty among them was always worth the waiting. . . . By the same token, the intellectual Ole Miss sorority girl of good and gentle disposition is a joyous song in the heart and will endure.”
This essay is quintessential Morris—lyrical and evocative, a blend of personal experience and memory, history, a strong sense of place, and a bit of whimsy. A foreword by JoAnne Prichard Morris and a photograph by David Rae Morris make this edition a must-have for Willie Morris's many fans.
About the author
Willie Morris (1934–1999), a native Mississippian, came to national prominence in the early 1960s as the youngest-ever editor of Harper's magazine. His first book, North Toward Home, became an instant classic. Among his other notable books are New York Days, My Dog Skip, The Courting of Marcus Dupree, and My Mississippi, the latter two published by University Press of Mississippi. David Rae Morris's photographs have appeared in numerous publications including Time, Newsweek, USA Today, the New York Times, and National Geographic, as well as in Missing New Orleans, Before (During) After: Ten Photographers' Visual Reactions to Hurricane Katrina, Katrina Exposed: A Photographic Reckoning, and My Mississippi, published by University Press of Mississippi in 2000. He has made several documentary films including Yazoo Revisited: Integration and Segregation in a Deep Southern Town, which won the “Most Transformative Film” award at the 2015 Crossroads Film Festival in Jackson. He was born in Oxford, England, and grew up in New York City. He and his longtime partner, Susanne Dietzel, live in New Orleans.
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