Living in Mississippi: The Life and Times of Evans Harrington

A little over a year ago Robert Hamblin's excellent brief biography of William Faulkner, Myself and the World, appeared here. Recently we received another most welcome 148-page biography by Hamblin, Living in Mississippi: The Life and Times of Evans Harrington, the story of one of Mississippi's most courageous intellectuals and social activists. Harrington (1925-97) was one of the most popular professors on campus, teaching all creative writing classes (Poetry, the Short Story, and Expository Prose) and most modern literature courses (Modern American Drama, the Modern English Novel, and Modern Poetry) at a time when English departments almost universally taught the work of only dead writers. Harrington was active in important civil rights and free speech issues and cases. Upon receiving the ACLU's Civil Libertarian of the Year award, one of the writers Harrington was responsible for bringing to the University of Mississippi, Barry Hannah, said, "He is Emerson's 'American Scholar.' He is Whitman's 'man of the open road.' He is not just a supporter of of the arts, civil rights, and humanitarian enlightenment, but a great participator." We will celebrate Robert Hamblin's life of Evans Harrington at the close of this year's Faulkner Conference—of which Harrington was it's 1974 co-founder. The book is now available. -- RH