Stories, humor, travel, news, links, poetry, personal essays, memoirs, and lots more. No bells and whistles, just good reading.

USADEEPSOUTH

Home Articles Links Stories from the Press Snippets Analecta Message Board Editor's Bio Bulletin Board Submissions Free Update E-mail Link to USADS --Back Issues-- Oct~2002 Nov~2002 Dec~2002 Jan~2003 Feb~2003 Mar~2003 Apr~2003 May~2003 Jun~2003 Jul~2003 Aug~2003 ___________________ ARTICLES ABOUT SOUTHERN PEOPLE AND PLACES . . . AND ANYTHING ELSE WE FANCY! One of the best sites on the Net for readers, writers, storytellers, travelers, nostalgia buffs, and gossips. YAHOOOO! NEW! Read the columns of GENE OWENS here at USADS. Southern Talk “It’s really not that hard to paint on black velvet.” -- artist Sandow Birk “I am a devout disciple of Southern cooking: cornbread, grits, banana pudding, fried chicken, fried okra, fried squash, fried corn, fried anything.” -- Robert St. John "According to the calendar, summer is almost over . . . Why doesn’t Mother Nature know this?” -- Butchie Nations "A true slice of New Orleans is a visit to the Blaine Kern’s Mardi Gras World, designer and maker of some of the city’s grandest Mardi Gras floats." -- Mary Alice Quinn “If a writer has to rob his mother, he will not hesitate; the ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’ is worth any number of old ladies.” -- William Faulkner "I discovered Faulkner at a late age -- thank God." -- Padgett Powell “I write out of a greed for lives and language. A need to listen to the orchestra of living." -- Barry Hannah “That bunch up there [in Washington] is so divided that it’s like a bunch of bullfrogs with no brains just hoppin’ around one another tryin’ to find a place to sit down.” -- Howard Finster "Sports is like war without the killing." -- Ted Turner "We believe that on the eighth day the Lord created the Crimson Tide." -- Jeremiah Denton "In the South, football is creatively confused with religion, chivalry, the Civil War, and women." -- Diane Roberts “In the year I was born, 1960, non-farm households in the South spent two-and-a-half times the national average on cornmeal and twice the average on lard.” -- Julia Reed "What tickled me was how he'd set the hook. He'd lean way back when a fish hit, and you'd think he was going to fall out of the boat, but then the fish would be hooked and Charlie's arm would be cranking on the reel and he'd tow it in." -- Larry Brown “When it’s darkness on the Delta, that’s the time my heart is light. When it’s darkness on the Delta, let me linger in the shelter of the night. Fields of cotton all around me . . .” -- The Red Tops Comments? Questions? Suggestions? Click here! ___________________ ~Southern Speak~ “low” ~~really sick~~ “Estelle has been plum low ever since Easter.” For more great Southern expressions, please click here. @2001, 2002, 2003 All Rights Reserved Best viewed on IE Updated Sept/03

~September '03 Featured Articles~ September Special! Eddie Draper’s Deep South Poems Gravity Bites by Mike Bay Ahhh, the call of the wild. Mike Bay takes his funny pen and describes an experience that penetrated his . . . um . . . memory for all time. Welcome to USADS, Mike. The Ten Commandments For Elevators by Sheila Moss Moss makes her debut at USADS with this hilarious piece on elevators. How does one create outrageous elevator humor? Well, just read . . . Amending the Neighborhood Constitution by Charles Dowdy What? The new neighborhood has rules? For whom, may we ask? Not the rollicking Dowdy crew, for sure. Charles Dowdy scores again! DING! Review: Bobbie Ann Mason’s Clear Springs by Augusta Russel Scattergood Read Gusty’s review and find out why Bobbie Ann Mason is a favorite. Clear Springs is an account of Mason’s growing up in Kentucky in the ‘50s/’60s. Wonderful book. Tour de France Observations by Beth Boswell Jacks How (and why) do these Tour de France guys do what they do? Jacks explores the mindset of a real biker. Interesting territory. 55 Minutes Past the Hour by David Norris Norris expounds on grandaddies and watches and time and travel and more. This man is a fabulous writer. We’re so proud to have him here at USADS. Uncle Willie Shoots a Ford by Asa Sparks Based on a real live, shootin’ tootin’ pal of Asa’s, Uncle Willie does it again. Only the adjectives and adverbs are in question. Mamaw and the Night Visitor by Lonnye Sue Sims Pearson Lonnye Sue takes us back to her childhood, a time when grannies weren’t afraid to tote a gun in the night, but were always gentle enough to soothe a child back to sleep. Review: Jim Fraiser’s The Delta Factor by Kent Fletcher Kent tells us about a book he found hard to put down. Takes place around Leland, Mississippi, this story . . . and the twists and turns will keep you guessing. Memories Lost by Gene Goodson Gene gives us another beautiful story. This one is about September memories, and you’ll love it -- or your money back. Dragging the Swimming Pool by Betty W. Beamguard Even the worst chore is fodder for a story according to writer Beamguard. Tell that to her sister! Looking For A Southern Belle by Ted Garon Here’s a first for USADS -- a classified ad (sort of). Garon is on the prowl, but he doesn’t want just any ol’ woman. He wants a Southern damsel, complete with chocolate chip cookies. Witty man, this Ted Garon. Jones Bayou by Tom Givens Heeeeeere’s Judge Tom again with another dear memoir. This time he talks about Jones Bayou, that meandering stream that runs through--well, it could be any Deep South town, couldn’t it? Memphis Storm by Hugh Frank Smith The summer storm that rocked Memphis is the subject of Hugh Frank’s story. This was a disaster that few in the rest of the nation knew about, but the good citizens of the Memphis area knew--all too well. CSA by Steve Fay Confederate States of America? Canadian Sauced Anteaters? Just what does CSA stand for? Fay’s got the info right here. Welcome aboard, Mr. Ornery! Baloney Southern Style by Edward V. Folkes Any way you slice it, baloney is the meat of choice for many Southerners. Ed Folkes knows all about baloney. Really. The Little Harlem Club by Jim Harrison Harrison writes about a jiving, foot stomping, hip swinging spot in the Mississippi Delta. Just thinking about it makes him young again. Oh, yes. Someday She’ll Be My Girl by Joyce Scarbrough This is an excerpt from Scarbrough’s new book titled True Blue Forever. Scarbrough’s good. Read and see. ___________________________ And why not enjoy these "oldies but goodies"? Kissing Lesson -- Beth Boswell Jacks Poems -- David Ritchie A Letter From Paris -- Augusta Russel Scattergood Skiing on the Catfish Pond -- Wes Wilson Bottle Trees -- Don Drane Ketchup Bottles and Manhood -- Jack Kean Czech Boy Supper -- Floyd Shaman Breast Cancer Survivor -- Janie Givens Miller I Don’t Do Bugs -- S. D. Craig

Stories, humor, travel, news, links, poetry, personal essays, memoirs, and lots more. No bells and whistles, just good reading.