By Jim Dees – To answer that question, we have an enthralling new book, Sticky Fingers: The Life and Times of Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone Magazine (Knopf) by Joe Hagan. The book spans 50 years in the life of the magazine from its founding in 1967 by editor Jann Wenner and his wife Jane,…
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Help us carry on the celebration! The party will continue after our 20th Anniversary show this Thursday, October 19th! Help us carry on the celebration at our member’s party which will take place at our home base, Off Square Books, from 7:30-9:30 PM. Food, wine and signature cocktail by The Main Event! Entrance is free…
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by Jim Dees – Would you die for your art? The band, Songhoy Blues, stared down that dilemma in 2012. Their town of Gao, in northern Mali, west Africa, was over-run by a jihadist militia who outlawed music. Armed marauders made house-to-house searches kidnaping musicians and cutting off their fingers or tongues, smashing instruments, toppling cell…
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by Jim Dees – If there are two subjects that pique the southern reader, it’s dogs and the Civil War. This week on The Thacker Mountain Radio Hour, our authors address both of these oft-covered topics in entirely inventive and surprising ways. Acclaimed poet Eileen Myles (pictured with unknown fur friend) has stepped out of…
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by Jim Dees – The Thacker Mountain Radio Hour kicks off its fall season (and 20th anniversary year!) today in the friendly confines of Off Square Books on the Oxford square. Today’s show is a homecoming after the most successful summer road season in our history. Thacker played to full houses in Clinton, Tupelo, Jackson,…
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The Thacker Mountain Radio Hour, the long-running music and literature program heard weekly on Mississippi Public Broadcasting, was awarded a “Certificate of Merit” by the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters (MIAL) at the group’s annual award ceremony on June 3 in Cleveland, Mississippi. MIAL honors Mississippi’s artists each year in the categories…
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By Jim Dees If the American South – and Mississippi in particular – is known for stories and songs, the work of the late Willie Morris and Jim Dickinson ordains them as cultural ambassadors. Neither was a cookie-cutter hero; each brimmed with the quirks of genius. We lost Willie in 1999, Jim in 2009…
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by Jim Dees – Greg Iles is our “headliner” on Thacker this week but our “other” author is a powerhouse as well. Troylyn Bell and her husband, Charlie, an engineer and real estate investor, had spent their entire lives in Texas. Following a near fatal trip to the emergency room with one of their two…
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by Jim Dees At age 85, Sonny Burgess may be the oldest guest we’ve ever had on The Thacker Mountain Radio Hour. He’s definitely the oldest rock and roller. “I like fast music,” he recently told NPR. “You need to be able to dance to it.” Burgess is from Newport, Arkansas and formed his…
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The disco ball at Off Square Books puts it own spin on each edition of the Thacker Mountain Radio Hour. by Jim Dees – This week produced the heart-warming sight of hundreds, if not thousands, of Mississippians becoming enthusiastically active in the affairs of their government. In this case, citizens rose up to defend the independent expression…
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