Adam Trest
Look who’s here!
Adam Trest will be upstairs at 5:30 for his Illustrated Talk on his recently-released book “Azul”. He will be signing books at Merry NightMarket from 6-8 pm.
Remembering W.C. Handy
Musician, composer and music publisher W.C. Handy, a leading influence in the popularization of blues music in the early 20th century, was born in Florence, Ala. on November 16, 1873.
Born into a family of Methodist ministers and former slaves, William Christopher Handy was drawn to popular music at an early age. He faced resistance from his minister father who, leery of secular music, called Handy’s first guitar the “devil’s instrument” and steered him toward the organ. Undaunted, Handy learned to play the cornet, took a cappella singing lessons at school, and by the age of 16 was arranging vocals of popular songs. “Setting my mind on a musical instrument was like falling in love,” he said. “All the world seemed bright and changed.”
Playing with bands that traveled the South and Midwest, Handy learned about African-American folk music that later would be called the blues. His strong connection to Mississippi came between 1903 and 1909, when he directed the Knights of Pythias band based in Clarksdale. Steeped in the Delta Blues, he later composed a string of blues hits, meanwhile documenting and promoting the genre. The “Father of the Blues” ultimately wrote an estimated 150 songs and several books. The MAX inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 2022.
Remembering William Faulkner
Mississippian William Faulkner, a prolific “modernist” novelist who altered American literature in the 20th century, was born on September 25, 1897 in New Albany. Largely self-taught through reading and travels, Faulkner published 22 novels and various other works. Overcoming frustrations as a little-known young writer, he eventually claimed a worldwide audience, winning the 1949 Nobel Prize, as well as Pulitzer Prizes in 1955 and 1963.
Faulkner’s acclaimed fiction included Absalom, Absalom!, Intruder in the Dust, Soldier’s Pay and The Sound and the Fury. Ten million copies of his books were sold during his lifetime alone. His writings also included short stories, poetry and Hollywood screenplays.
The writer was inspired by a colorful great-grandfather who fought in the Civil War, built a railway line and published a romantic novel. Long associated with Oxford, where his former Rowan Oak home remains an attraction, Faulkner was a master of language and historical drama, saying, “To understand the world, you must first understand a place like Mississippi.” One character in his novel Requiem for a Nun uttered the classic phrase, often quoted today: “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.”
Stream-of-consciousness writing and bold treatments of race, class and violence marked Faulkner’s works. The author was among The MAX’s early Hall of Fame inductees in 2017. Ralph Eubanks, a writer and former MAX board member, said, “William Faulkner helps us understand a lot about our Americanness as well as the tortured racial history of this country.” Faulkner, an influential New South figure, once said, “Don’t bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.”
Remembering Jim Henson
Remembering Jim Henson
Puppeteer, TV producer and filmmaker Jim Henson was born in Greenville, in the Mississippi Delta, on September 24, 1936. The “master of imagination” who celebrated the wonders of childhood spent his early years in Leland, near Greenville, playing in the murky waters of Deer Creek.
“The most sophisticated people I’ve ever known had just one thing in common: they were all in touch with their inner children,” Henson said.
Winning Emmys, Grammys and a Peabody Award, Henson connected with hundreds of millions of viewers around the globe. He was among The MAX’s early Hall of Fame inductees in 2017; in 2019, the institution hosted a traveling Henson exhibition, including original puppets. In Leland, a permanent exhibit focusing on Henson’s boyhood opened in 1991.
Henson’s family moved to Maryland when he was 12 because of a new job assignment for his father, a federal agronomist. Henson—fascinated with television and puppetry from his Cub Scout days—joined a puppet club in high school and began performing on a local Saturday morning TV show. His career took off after a five-minute television program, Sam and Friends, created by Henson and fellow University of Maryland student Jane Nebel (his future wife), won a local Emmy. The bit featured an early version of Kermit the Frog, named after one of Henson’s Delta childhood playmates.
Touting optimism and the joys of learning, Henson replaced wood puppets with soft, expressive ones, calling them “muppets.” The artist brought to life Big Bird, Miss Piggy, Kermit and other characters that resonated with adults and children. “I suppose that he’s an alter ego,” Henson once said of Kermit. “But he’s a little snarkier than I am—slightly wise. Kermit says things I hold myself back from saying.”
Henson’s achievements include launching hit TV shows such as Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, and directing The Muppet Movie and other films. His career was cut shor
We had a great time celebrating our Walter Anderson exhibit! In honor of Anderson’s bike travels, John G. Anderson biked to The MAX for the presentation of The Bicycle Logs of Walter Anderson. Thanks to everyone for making this opening weekend memorable.
