Return to the Land of My Forefathers is the story of an intelligent, engaging young journalist whose short life was determined by the complexities of his own humanity and by the two most controversial and divisive issues challenging this country during the twentieth century: civil rights and the Vietnam War.
Although I did not know Bill Barton personally, I’ve known about him most of my life — his family and my family are from the same place.
As did I, he majored in journalism at the University of Mississippi. My interest in him as a journalist ignited when his lawsuit against the segregationist governor was cited in my law and ethics of the press textbook. I became more curious about him years later when he went to Saigon as a correspondent for the Associated Press. He was shot in the head while there.
During this span of about 10 years, I also discovered a magazine article asking former residents of the state of Mississippi who were employed elsewhere as journalists if they would ever return to the state to live. This book’s title is based on Barton’s response.
That’s when I started researching this biography of Bill Barton. Many bits and pieces have been written about Bill Barton, often getting misquoted as information has a way of doing through time and numerous stories.
No one has pulled all these together and delved into what has been unsaid. That’s what I am doing in this book.
Bill Barton’s short life was filled with intrigue, suspense, humor—and lots of questions. Return to the Land of My Forefathers is the story of a remarkable young man caught in the web of his own humanity and of society’s worst times.
“I would put Billy as one of the civil rights heroes of Mississippi. There were very few whites among the civil rights here. He actually stood up for the main principles that blacks fought for.”
— Bill Minor, syndicated political columnist and 30-year Jackson bureau chief, New Orleans Times-Picayune
“I never met anyone who felt as strongly about their convictions and who stuck to his convictions like Bill did. He believed in equal rights for everyone.”
— Terry Wooten, editor/owner, Crosstie Media Services
“My life was threatened. Bill was threatened, too.”
— Nancy Mason, professor, Dalton State College
“I just think he was an easy target because those were not people who knew how to shoot an elephant. They could never get us. Never. If anybody ever worked harder on something than that, it was them on Dad; then on me.” Hodding Carter III, journalist, politician, reporter and staffer at the Pulitzer Prize winning Delta Democrat Times, as well as son of that paper’s editor and publisher Hodding Carter II.
“Bill was a personable sort of guy.”
— Ken Braddick, UPI correspondent, Vietnam War
“It was the worst moment of my three years as bureau chief, the Bill Barton thing. It’s one of those stories that’s waiting to get told. There’s a hell of a lot of stuff involved in this story and most of it is pretty complicated. It’s one of the most unpleasant stories I’ve had to deal with in journalism.”
— Richard Pyle, The Associated Press Vietnam War correspondent for five years and Saigon bureau chief, 1970 -1973
“I wish you luck. I think this is an admirable project you’re undertaking.”
— Bert Case, WLBT News, Jackson, Miss., 40-year anchor and reporter
“Bill is a perfect person to write a biography about because there is one side of him that seems, even for me who shared an apartment with him, bigger than life. And there is the other side of him that is all too human.”
— Mike Talbert, Journalist
“Good luck with your project.”
— Neal Ulevich, 1977 Pulitzer Prize recipient and 1970-1975 Vietnam War photographer, The Associated Press
“I applaud your efforts. It is providence that you take this on.”
— Ed Meek, Publisher, hottytoddy.com, former assistant vice chancellor for public relations and marketing, The University of Mississippi and CEO, Oxford Publishing
“That’s a tragic end to a tragic story. Good luck with your book project.”
— Terry Wolkerstorfer, Vietnam War correspondent, Saigon, The Associated Press
“I want to read your book. Glad somebody’s doing it for Billy’s sake.”
— Talmadge Littlejohn, Chancery Court Judge, Northeast Mississippi
Gloaming comes from the Scottish dialects of English back in the Middle Ages. The roots of the word trace to the Old English for twilight, “glōm,” which is akin to “glōwan,” an Old English verb meaning “to glow.” In the early 1800s, English speakers looked to Scotland again and borrowed the now-archaic verb gloam, meaning “to become twilight” or “to grow dark.”
With a trace of Scottish blood coursing through my father’s family veins, gloaming is an appropriate word for our vocabulary. But something else that is much more than just a trace also winds its way through our bodies,
and gloaming describes this thief eloquently. Alzheimer’s takes one’s life, moves it into twilight and eventually makes that life grown dark.
Through my personal essays, Into the Gloaming tells the story of my father and his life that was stolen by Alzheimer’s and its effect on our family. Perhaps by reading these essays, other people facing similar circumstances will learn something useful. But my real goal for readers is that by learning they are not alone, they will find a bit of light through the darkness.
Essay topics include:
When I have a project on deadline or when the writing gets tough, my mind instantly tries to lure me into new ideas. So, my next project already lurks in my mind. It will be another biography.
Several other ideas tumble around defining themselves in my mind as I continue to delve into my current writing.
Writing biographies combines my fascination with history and my curiosity about people and how they live or lived their lives. Even most of my yet-unpublished children’s books are historical and biographical.
This seems to be my writing place.
Beyond Termination is a book I wrote with two other people in which I conducted the research, structured the book and wrote the contents.
Based on the personal story of one of the other contributors and numerous other women in the same circumstance, the professional guidance in the book comes from the third contributor, a professional counselor.
Beyond Termination, co-authored with Myra M. Marshall and Dr. Dan McGee (Broadman Press, Nashville, 1990)
Quiet Moments for a New Mother contains devotionals intended to draw new mothers into a moment of quiet reflection so that they do not become overwhelmed at the welcome and awesome, but sometimes trying changes in their life.
Quiet Moments for a New Mother (New Hope, Birmingham, 1987)
I’ve written numerous magazine and newspaper articles ranging from personality pieces to selling pizza to healthcare to law to fishing to devotions for teens to books and bookstore management. And always, it is the challenge of learning something new and putting it into a form that is pleasant to read and that communicates to the readers.
My satisfaction comes from turning letters into words, words into sentences, sentences into paragraphs and paragraphs into readable pages that inform, enlighten and entertain the reader.
Gloaming comes from the Scottish dialects of English back in the Middle Ages. The roots of the word trace to the Old English for twilight, “glōm,” which is akin to “glōwan,” an Old English verb meaning “to glow.” In the early 1800s, English speakers looked to Scotland again and borrowed the now-archaic verb gloam, meaning “to become twilight” or “to grow dark.”
With a trace of Scottish blood coursing through my father’s family veins, gloaming is an appropriate word for our vocabulary. But something else that is much more than just a trace also winds its way through our bodies, and gloaming describes this thief eloquently. Alzheimer’s takes one’s life, moves it into twilight and eventually makes that life grown dark.
Through my personal essays, Into the Gloaming tells the story of my father and his life that was stolen by Alzheimer’s and its effect on our family. Perhaps by reading these essays, other people facing similar circumstances will learn something useful. But my real goal for readers is that by learning they are not alone, they will find a bit of light through the darkness.
Essay topics include:
When I have a project on deadline or when the writing gets tough, my mind instantly tries to lure me into new ideas. So, my next project already lurks in my mind. It will be another biography.
Several other ideas tumble around defining themselves in my mind as I continue to delve into my current writing.
Writing biographies combines my fascination with history and my curiosity about people and how they live or lived their lives. Even most of my yet-unpublished children’s books are historical and biographical.
This seems to be my writing place.
Beyond Termination is a book I wrote with two other people in which I conducted the research, structured the book and wrote the contents. Based on the personal story of one of the other contributors and numerous other women in the same circumstance, the professional guidance in the book comes from the third contributor, a professional counselor.
Beyond Termination, co-authored with Myra M. Marshall and Dr. Dan McGee (Broadman Press, Nashville, 1990)
Quiet Moments for a New Mother contains devotionals intended to draw new mothers into a moment of quiet reflection so that they do not become overwhelmed at the welcome and awesome, but sometimes trying changes in their life.
Quiet Moments for a New Mother (New Hope, Birmingham, 1987)
I’ve written numerous magazine and newspaper articles ranging from personality pieces to selling pizza to healthcare to law to fishing to devotions for teens to books and bookstore management. And always, it is the challenge of learning something new and putting it into a form that is pleasant to read and that communicates to the readers.
My satisfaction comes from turning letters into words, words into sentences, sentences into paragraphs and paragraphs into readable pages that inform, enlighten and entertain the reader.