The Willie Morris FundThe following letter concerns an opportunity for members of The James Jones Literary Society to contribute to The Willie Morris Fund. Note the address at the top of the letter for the Bank of Yazoo City, Mississippi, where contributions should be sent. August 10, 1999 Willie Morris Fund Dear Mr. Norquist: RE: James Jones Literary Society contribution to the Willie Morris Fund On behalf of the James Jones Literary Society and because of its appreciation for Willie's friendship with and support of author James Jones and his works, I am enclosing a check for $100 for the Willie Morris Fund. I understand that the money in the fund will be used for Yazoo County schools and the Rick Memorial Library. The library and the county schools are appropriate recipients of money in Willie's memory. Undoubtedly, both the schools and the library there had much to do with his early education and later contributions to contemporary literature and life. Willie was a good and decent man who will be sorely missed by those who knew him personally and by those who knew him through his writings. He was a longtime friend of James Jones, whose respect for Willie's editorial skills was apparent in the anecdote Winston Groom wrote in the introduction for the soon to be re-issued Morris book, "James Jones: A Friendship." When he was in ill health and in a race with death to complete "Whistle," the final book in his war trilogy, Jones would invite Morris, Groom and other writers and friends living on Long Island to his home occasionally to read from the manuscript. He read to the group, Groom said, but "you could tell he was really reading it to Willie, whose literary judgment he respected without reservation." After Jones' death, Willie finished the novel in narrative form from tape recordings and notes provided by Jones from work up until hours before he died. And Willie drove to Robinson and Springfield for symposia to celebrate his friend's life and works on two occasions. At other times, he graciously lent his name and credibility to the Society. He was truly a friend of James Jones and the Society that promotes public interest and academic research in his work and celebrates his memory and his legacy. I hope the $100 will be some small part in helping to educate another young Willie Morris now coming through the Yazoo County schools and the Rick Memorial Library on the way to becoming a new "voice of the South." Respectfully, Ray Elliott Ray Elliott 217 337-6510 |