Random Facts

B.B. King’s nickname, “B.B.” is short for Blues Boy, part of the name he used as a Memphis disc jockey, the Beale Street Blues Boy.

While he was living in Paris, Richard Wright’s novel <span style=”font-style: normal;”>Native Son</span>, was adapted for the screen. At the age of 41, Wright himself decided to play the role of young Bigger Thomas in the 1951 film…

In 2005, the American Film Institute included Stanley Kowalski’s agonized scream of “Stella! Hey, Stella!” from Tennessee Williams’ <span style=”font-style: normal;”>A Streetcar Named Desire</span> among its 100 greatest movie quotes of the last 100 years…

William Faulkner holds the record for writing the longest sentence in an American novel – 1,288 words (in Absalom, Absalom!, published in 1936).

Eudora Welty spent her childhood in her family home near the state capitol in Jackson, at times roller-skating through its marble, domed rotunda on her frequent trips to the library.