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nine, studious, more obedient twin who
delights in playing dress up and dolls.
Throughout the book, the twins learn to use
their differences to their advantage, switching
places when necessary to always put the
best twin forward in any given situation.
“It’s everything twins can get away with
because they can, and we did. We did our
whole lives,” said Kat, summarizing the
book. “How did they put it? I’m the mastermind
and Margaret is the co-conspirator.”
The book follows the twins’ high jinks
from age 6-12. From hitching rides on the
back of William Faulkner’s truck to poking
out the glass eye of an elderly woman’s fox
stole in the middle of church service out of
pure curiosity, the twins’ antics keep the
reader laughing through the entire book.
“We switched classes the first day of first
grade, and we never looked back,” said
Margaret. “We’re kind of Lucy and Ethel.
She’s Lucy, and I’m Ethel. Whatever she
gets into, we have to figure out how to get
out of it.”
“I think anybody who grew up in the ‘50s
is going to love this book. I think young people
who want to know what growing up in
the ‘50s was like are going to love this.
Faulkner lovers and Southerners in general
will enjoy this book,” said Kat.
“Y’all Twins?” is available for purchase
from the twins’ website, www.yalltwins.com.
It is also sold through Deeds Publishing,
Amazon.com and Square Books, The
Mustard Seed and Lammons Jewelry in
Oxford.
Fellow LYTC instructor and accomplished
newspaper columnist, Jimmy Reed, better
known as “Sarge” to the students lucky
enough to have him for composition, cre-
LYTC instructor and accomplished newspaper columnist, Jimmy Reed (left),
joins Kat (center) and Margaret King to display their most recent literary feats.
Reed released “Boss, Jaybird and Me: Anthology of Short Stories” in May last
year, while the Kings released “Y’all Twins?” in February.
Photo by Sarah Sapp
www.northwestms.edu
ative writing or literature class,
released “Boss, Jaybird and Me:
Anthology of Short Stories” last May.
Its 720 pages contain 230 short stories,
written by a master storyteller in
the old, time-honored, Southern tradition.
A unique aspect of the book is
that every story contains exactly 500
words, because each was carefully
crafted and edited to fit layout for a
newspaper. Reed regularly writes for
the Oxford Eagle and Canada Free
Press. Because most of the stories are
seasonal, the book's contents are listed
by the 12 months in a year.
“I’ve written two books so far. I’ve
been a newspaper columnist for many,
many years, and every so often I have
enough stories to be put together in a
book, so that’s what I do,” said Reed.
Most of the stories are about family,
growing up farming the Mississippi Delta
and Reed’s military experience, but quite a
few have to do with his experience in the
classroom. “Students are a great source for
stories,” said Reed. Reed stresses the
importance of being able to tell the best
story possible with the fewest number of
words. His evocative language is succinct,
but it communicates a vivid picture in each
short story.
“Mr. Jimmy Reed is a phenomenal
teacher. He is more than a teacher to me;
he is more of a mentor. He shares with us
life lessons while at the same time teaching
us to better ourselves in writing, grammar
and syntax. He is straightforward about
everything and tells you how it is. One of the
best quotes I have ever heard came from
Mr. Reed—‘Do what you fear to do and that
will be the death of
fear.’ I have fun
learning in his class
while learning the
discipline it takes to
make something of
myself through hard
work and determination,”
said Skyler
Ray of Randolph,
one of Reed’s students.
“Boss, Jaybird
and Me: Anthology
of Short Stories” is
available at
www.squarebooks.com
and
directly from the
author.
In addition to
the great autobiographicalstorytelling
penned by
Northwest’s Lafayette-Yalobusha Technical Center in
Oxford hosted a book signing for the King twins in
April. Photo by Mary Katherine Sharman
Ranger authors, textbooks and nonfiction
are also being produced by some of
Northwest’s finest instructors. Northwest’s
Division of Business Director, Amy Payne,
has recently co-authored “Technology
Integration and Foundations for Effective
Technology Leadership.” She is responsible
for writing chapter six titled, “Professional
Development.” Math instructor and recent
recipient of the Mississippi Virtual
Community College Instructor of the Year
award, Carolyn Warren, has co-authored the
textbook,
“Beginning
Statistics.”
She and her
fellow authors
have just finished
the second
edition of
this text, published
by
Hawkes,
which will hit
campus bookstores
this fall
with substantial
updates.
David Bourne,
DeSoto Center
economics
instructor,
The first edition of “Beginning
Statistics,” co-authored by
math instructor Carolyn Warren.
The second edition will be on
sale this fall.
recently authored his first book, “The History
of Economic Thought,” that will be published
later this year. According to Bourne,
the book is a part of a series of reference
books about economics that will be marketed
to high school and college libraries. The
book looks at the development of ideas
about economic relationships and behaviors
from ancient to modern times and explores
how these ideas have been contextual,
reflecting the prevailing problems and cultural
realities of the times.
Summer 2012
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