Bill Text: MS HR90 | 2017 | Regular Session | Engrossed
Bill Title: Richard Grant; commend upon release of his book, Dispatches from Pluto: Lost and Found in the Mississippi Delta.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2017-03-26 - Enrolled Bill Signed [HR90 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2017-HR90-Engrossed.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2017 Regular Session
To: Rules
By: Representative Holland
House Resolution 90
(As Adopted by House)
A RESOLUTION COMMENDING AND CONGRATULATING RICHARD GRANT UPON THE SUCCESSFUL RELEASE OF HIS BOOK, DISPATCHES FROM PLUTO: LOST AND FOUND IN THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA.
WHEREAS, Richard Grant, a writer, blogger, journalist and relatively new Mississippian, recently penned a book titled Dispatches from Pluto: Lost and Found in the Mississippi Delta, which fabulously elaborates on everything that is the Delta, including the generosity of his newfound friends and neighbors, the race relations in what is perhaps the poorest area in America, and the adventures of settling into an environment that included regular encounters with snakes, mosquitoes, deer and alligators, as well as the stifling heat and humidity; and
WHEREAS, born in Malaysia, Richard lived in Kuwait before spending most of his childhood in England, and after earning a history degree from the University College in London, he trekked to America's Western Frontier, living an itinerant life until he settled in Tucson, Arizona, and then New York City; and
WHEREAS, his next adventure, a truly unexpected one, landed him in the tiny Mississippi Delta community of Pluto, and his recently released book, Dispatches from Pluto: Lost and Found in the Mississippi Delta, charmingly and hilariously depicts how he and his now wife, Mariah, came to not only settle in Pluto but to also love the little Southern town that sometimes seems like its a completely different world; and
WHEREAS, when Richard decided to settle down in the Delta, it was not his first experience with Mississippi, as he had been visiting friends, including cookbook author Martha Foose, in Oxford, Mississippi, since the 1990s, but it was the invitation extended to him from Martha to visit her family farm in Pluto, out by Bee Lake in Holmes County, that ultimately stole his heart, as he fell in love with the area's uniquely Southern charms and breathtaking landscapes; and
WHEREAS, Richard loved the area so much that he purchased Martha's father's house, a beautiful old plantation home in a very remote setting, and luckily, Mariah loved the location as well, and the two envisioned it as a place they could grow old together, raise their children together, live with lots of freedom, grow their own food, hunt for meat and live close to the land; and
WHEREAS, this book covers almost every aspect of Delta life, including poverty, crime, social life, music, weather, hunting, the state penitentiary, the schools and as always, the relationship between blacks and whites, and Richard admits that his hardest adjustment to living in the Delta was not the poverty or the heat, but the race relations, as the degree of segregation is ubiquitous, and while modest progress has been made, the continuing obsession with race still means that the color of one's skin totally dominates how he or she is perceived and how his or her future unfolds; and
WHEREAS, Richard's book totally debunks the normal stereotypes associated with Mississippi, looks behind the Magnolia Curtain, and showcases Mississippi for what it truly is, a deep, rich, utterly distinctive culture with a marvelous tradition of storytelling and artistic creativity and full of specially Mississippi enigmas, contradictions and eccentricities; and
WHEREAS, worried that, as an outsider who had only lived in Mississippi for a year, he might get some things wrong about the state, Richard is relieved to learn that is not the case, and he hopes that a fresh perspective will reveal things that locals may have lost sight of, and that readers in the rest of the country will understand what a unique and interesting place the Delta really is; and
WHEREAS, while Richard and Mariah have loved living in Mississippi, they have been truly awed by the copious amounts of hospitality and generosity bestowed upon them pretty much since they pulled into their new drive for the first time, and after only meeting their Pluto neighbors once, they returned for the second greeting with a truckload of furniture with the condition to use it as long as they wanted to, keys to their old cars because Richard and Mariah would need a second car, and a cord of split firewood, all of which helped them feel accepted into the warm and loving family that is the Mississippi Delta; and
WHEREAS, it is the policy of the House of Representatives to recognize and commend fine authors in Mississippi, especially those such as Richard Grant, whose witty and descriptive portrayal of Mississippi, especially the Delta, helps those around the world realize that Mississippi truly is America's best kept secret:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, That we do hereby commend and congratulate Richard Grant upon the successful release of his book, Dispatches from Pluto: Lost and Found in the Mississippi Delta, and extend sincere wishes for continued success in all of his future endeavors and adventures.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be furnished to Richard Grant and to the members of the Capitol Press Corps.
