Lines Were Drawn looks at a group of Mississippi teenagers whose entire high school experience, beginning in 1969, was under federal court-ordered racial integration. Through oral histories and other research, this group memoir considers how the students, despite their markedly different backgrounds, shared a common experience that greatly influences their present interactions and views of the world--sometimes in surprising ways. The book is also an exploration of memory and the ways in which the same event can be remembered in very different ways by the participants. The editors (proud members of Murrah High School's Class of 1973) and more than fifty students and teachers address the reality of forced desegregation in the Deep South from a unique perspective--that of the faculty and students who experienced it and made it work, however briefly. The book tries to capture the few years in which enough people were so willing to do something about racial division that they sacrificed immediate expectations to give integration a true chance. This period recognizes a rare moment when the political will almost caught up with the determination of the federal courts to finally do something about race. Because of that collision of circumstances, southerners of both races assembled in the public schools and made integration work by coming together, and this book seeks to capture those experiences for subsequent generations.

Lines Were Drawn looks at a group of Mississippi teenagers whose entire high school experience, beginning in 1969, was under federal court-ordered racial integration. Through oral histories and other research, this group memoir considers how the students, despite their markedly different backgrounds, shared a common experience that greatly influences their present interactions and views of the world-sometimes in surprising ways. The book is also an exploration of memory and the ways in which the same event can be remembered in very different ways by the participants. The editors (proud members of Murrah High School's Class of 1973) and more than fifty students and teachers address the reality of forced desegregation in the Deep South from a unique perspective-that of the faculty and students who experienced it and made it work, however briefly. The book tries to capture the few years in which enough people were so willing to do something about racial division that they sacrificed immediate expectations to give integration a true chance. This period recognizes a rare moment when the political will almost caught up with the determination of the federal courts to finally do something about race. Because of that collision of circumstances, southerners of both races assembled in the public schools and made integration work by coming together, and this book seeks to capture those experiences for subsequent generations.

Enjoy these literary conversations with some of the foremost authors writing in America today. Though writing is what they do best, talking about literature is an act that the Mississippi writers included here do marvelously well. This is the first of two volumes of interviews with eleven of the state's prizewinning writers. This series shows that Mississippi continues to flourish with authors of importance and acclaim. Included in this first volume are Jones's informal conversations with Eudora Welty, Shelby Foote, Elizabeth Spencer, Barry Hannah, and Beth Henley.

"Mississippi Writers Talking" provides new insights into understanding the views, the works, and the craft of principal American authors who are Mississippians. They speak with candor about themselves and tell of the urges that brought them to write the books and stories for which they are best known.

Volume two includes interviews with Walker Percy, Margaret Walker, Ellen Douglas, Willie Morris, Turner Cassity, and James Whitehead.

Enjoy these literary conversations with some of the foremost authors writing in America today. Though writing is what they do best, talking about literature is an act that the Mississippi writers included here do marvelously well. This is the first of two volumes of interviews with eleven of the state's prizewinning writers. This series shows that Mississippi continues to flourish with authors of importance and acclaim. Included in this first volume are Jones's informal conversations with Eudora Welty, Shelby Foote, Elizabeth Spencer, Barry Hannah, and Beth Henley.

"Mississippi Writers Talking" provides new insights into understanding the views, the works, and the craft of principal American authors who are Mississippians. They speak with candor about themselves and tell of the urges that brought them to write the books and stories for which they are best known.

Volume two includes interviews with Walker Percy, Margaret Walker, Ellen Douglas, Willie Morris, Turner Cassity, and James Whitehead.