Life After Mississippi

by James A. Autry

From dust jacket "The distinctive southern voice of James A. Autry continues in his second book of verse, Life After Mississippi. As the title indicates, Autry takes us on a personal voyage beyond his Mississippi roots to the corporate world where he currently is president of magazine publishing at The Meredith Corporation. Autry faithfully records the voices he hears, both past and present, amid the joy and pain of living. He is, as Willie Morris writes in his Introduction, 'an observer whose task it is to remind us of those small but important details that add up to a significant understanding.' Throughout Autry's work there is a simple faith in mankind, in the best that people can be. Life After Mississippi makes us stop and listen to a country preacher saving souls, an Air Force ground control operator trying to save a pilot's life, a father trying to understand his son, a young man grappling with the social prejudices of his native land. Yet Autry also knows the deep silenc

88 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1989

About the author

Poet, lecturer, and management consultant James A. Autry was born March 8, 1933, in Memphis, Tennessee, but he grew up in Benton County, Mississippi, and in 1955 received a B.A. degree in journalism from the University of Mississippi, where he was later named a Distinguished Alumnus and elected to the Alumni Hall of Fame. A former president of the Meredith Corporation’s Magazine Group, publisher of such magazines as Better Homes and Gardens, Ladies’ Home Journal, and Successful Farming, he took an early retirement in 1991 to focus more on his present career as speaker and management consultant.

Autry has published ten books, two of which are volumes of poetry. In 1991, the Kentucky Poetry Review published a special issue devoted to Autry’s poetry, and he received national prominence as one of the poets featured on Bill Moyers’ special series The Power of the Word on PBS.

He and his wife, Sally Pederson, live in Des Moines, Iowa.

Reviews

[Adam Kamerer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful book of poetry. I really really enjoyed this one.

[Mills College Library]

811.54 A941L 1989