[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 13]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 19316]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



          WILLIE MORRIS, FAMED MISSISSIPPI WRITER PASSES AWAY

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                           HON. RONNIE SHOWS

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, August 3, 1999

  Mr. SHOWS. Mr. Speaker, this morning I stand before you, my 
colleagues and the American people with sad news. One of our nation's 
greatest artists has passed away. Yesterday, Willie Morris died. Willie 
lived in my district down in Jackson. Willie will always live, Mr. 
Speaker, in the hearts of thousands around our planet who have read his 
words discovering a world of penetrating wit, warm memories, and prose 
that can bring the angels to earth and soothe our longings to connect 
with our broader world.
  Willie Morris grew up in Yazoo City. We know about small town America 
in the 1950's because Willie told us about it. He told us about 
childhood friends like Bubba and Henjie. And he let us remember the 
loving wags and pants of childhood pets like his beloved dog Skip. We 
remember an America that only children can recall; an America of simple 
dreams poised to enter the turbulent period we call the sixties. 
Willie's memories were our memories--Christmas with Uncle Percy in 
Jackson, the smell of turkey and talk of baseball, high school football 
on cool autumn nights, and those first dates with sweaty palms and 
nervous laughs. How can we thank Willie Morris enough for putting our 
memories on paper?
  Willie gave us the sixties as a student at the University of Texas 
and a Rhodes Scholar in England. We came of age with Willie as he 
recalled campus ramblings and long road trips. Willie Morris told us 
about the reality of America and being a young person finding his place 
in the greater American family. We see ourselves seeking to understand 
and find our places in the words of Willie.
  When Willie Morris became editor of Harper's Magazine, he was the 
youngest to do so in their history. He led Harper's through the late 
1960's and early 1970's with courage and honesty. He addressed the 
tough issues of the day and refused to cave in to conventionality for 
the sake of getting along. We met Truman Capote, Bill Styron, and so 
many others through Willie's essays. In broadening his world, ours was 
enlarged as well.
  Following his years in New York, Willie became Writer-in-Residence at 
Ole Miss and finished his years in Jackson. His commitment in 
encouraging and bringing out the best of Mississippi's collective 
nature was impactful and profound. He mentored and gave us new Southern 
writers like Donna Tartt. Willie made us laugh at ourselves. He brought 
us together as one.
  I think Willie Morris let us embrace our Southernness in the context 
of being a member of the entire American family. In his prose, Willie 
was honest about himself and his culture. Yet while embracing the 
truth, Willie made us proud of our accomplishments, our potential and 
ourselves. He was a visionary who could make the past alive and 
relevant while caring for the people and events of the present.
  We will always remember and have Willie Morris at our side. We will 
read the pages of North Toward Home, The Courtship of Marcus Dupree, My 
Dog Skip, and his many other books and essays with a reverence and 
realization of our place in the world. Willie Morris was our bridge 
between past and present, and our voice for the better angels in us 
all. He always will be.

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