With exceptional grammatical and syntactical skills, Jimmy Reed distills language to a minimum to maximize the sensory impact conveyed in captivating stories within a 500-word framework. Reed's unique storytelling technique derives largely from his childhood association with a charismatic, adventurous black man named Lonnie "Jaybird" Thomas. He was the author's mentor, best friend and protector.
About Jimmy Reed:
In 1953, the author's father bought a cotton plantation, headquartered at Dunleith, a tiny Mississippi Delta hamlet where Jaybird lived. The elder Reed instructed Jaybird to care for the boy, admonishing him that he was "a curious lad, prone to mischief."
With Job¹s patience, Jaybird taught the boy to fish, hunt, fight, love, and work; he taught him respect, gratefulness and discipline, never hesitating to rap his charge on the head when disobeyed or sassed. He took him to church on Sundays and to the fields on workdays. He taught him to respect nature and the people and creatures inhabiting it.
But most of all, he taught him love of language. Unable even to write his own name, Jaybird used words in a way that transfixed listeners. He crafted yarns the way Michelangelo sculpted.
The humid, miasmic cold of Mississippi Delta winters causes people to flock to the hearth, storytelling's ideal milieu. On such days, the author listened to the maestro weave spellbinding masterpieces.
The beauty of Jaybird's stories derived largely from their simplicity. They contained an easily detectable story line, conflict, crisis and resolution.
Humor spiced the stories, impending danger chilled the listener, good and evil were obvious, and good always came out on top. His stories always ended with a cathartic denouement that left listeners reflecting on them long afterwards.
Asked how Jaybird impacted his life, the author says, "If my stories could ease pain and heartache, lift spirits, cause worries to be cast aside, if I could do these things just one-tenth as well as he, I would consider myself a master storyteller. In Jaybird's memory, I try."
Specific Biographical Information:
Jimmy Reed grew up on Dunleith Farms, a Mississippi Delta cotton plantation near Leland, Mississippi. After high school, he earned an undergraduate degree at the University of Mississippi in 1965. Drafted into the military, he served two years overseas and returned to Delta State University, where he earned a graduate degree. He then returned to Dunleith, where he served as manager from 1973 through 1993.
In 1994, he moved to Oxford, Mississippi, where he supported himself and his family by teaching evening college courses and working as an agricultural journalist. He is the father of three daughters.
