MY LITTLE SOUTHERN POEMS KEEP MAKING THEIR ROUNDS

I am so proud to say that the audience for the poems from my books Reflections of s Mississippi Magnolia-A Life In Poems and My Magnolia Memories- In Poems keeps growing day by day ..
The poems seem to strike a familiar cord with so many people.

I am very passionate about Celebrating the South and Promoting a Positive Mississippi.
I love that the poems are being used by others to Celebrate the South, in their own way.

THIS SUMMER, I RECEIVED THIS E-MAIL:

Dear Patricia Neely-Dorsey,
A friend of mine found your site and referred me to it so I could read some of your poetry. Your poetry is surely the best I have ever read. As a retired teacher-librarian-media specialist, I have read a few. I moved to Mississippi in the middle of my senior year in high school but went on to college at the "W" and later to MS Southern, East Carolina, Purdue and Samford, for an advanced degrees. I am retired from the Pascagoula School System.
I am president of a Mobile Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. The Alabama Division is having a state convention the middle of this September. We would like to reprint two of your lovely poems from the "Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia." We know it isn't a Mississippi organization but our theme for the formal dinner is magnolias and history of the south. We would like to copy the poems on Southern Life and the one on Magnolias on pastel paper, roll the paper with one poem on it, tie it with ribbon, and place it by the place setting as a gift to each participant of the convention. Your name would be placed underneath as author/poet with reference to your book. The poems are lovely and I think everyone would appreciate them. The centerpieces for each table will be silk magnolia blossoms.
Please consider this sincere request for the use of two of your poems.
With highest regards.

I wrote back that I would be glad to have the poems used at the event.
She was thrilled !

After the event in September , I received conformation that the poems had, indeed,been used.
She wrote :
We used your poems. The lady that was helping me, printed them out . Each one was on a separate and different pastel color paper. The tables for the formal dinner sat eight people at each one. A different poem was placed by each place setting. After the meal and the program, we had a number of ladies that waited around and went table by table to collect the different poems that they didn't get. That should give you an idea of well they were received. They liked them so much they wanted all that was available!
I have praised your work to all who will listen. Thank you again for your help.


SHE SENT ME A PICTURE OF ONE OF THE DECORATED TABLES
with the explanation:
My daughter-in-law did the magnolia arrangements for the centerpieces. She is from Biloxi, a career Air Force child. who used to do arrangements for the furniture stores in Biloxi. Her parents are buried right next to the road in the cemetery on Hwy 90 facing beach. Her father immigrated alone to U.S. from Germany when he was 17. He had escaped from a prison work camp. He was with U.S. Air Force in the Berlin Air Lift during WWII. 

NEVER TOO OLD...

I received a message from a Facebook friend which said :

"I am 57, almost 58 years old and I have not lived up to my own expectations , let alone what I think the Lord wants and needs for me to be doing ."
I told her that I believe we all bloom in our own time and reminded her of the quote that I post all of the time: "You are never too old to set a new goal or to dream a new dream."

It's SO true !!!
Heck, I didn't write my first poem until I was 43 years old and published my first book at 44.
Out of the blue, I decided to compete in the Mrs. Mississippi Pageant at the age of 47, even though most of the other girls were in their 20's and early thirties On top of that , I had only been in one other pageant in my life ...the Miss Northside Pageant ..at the age of 16 !!!!
I am a poster child for NEVER TOO LATE LOL!!!

I am in good company !
DID YOU KNOW ...

F. Murray Abraham got his first decent screen role as an actor when he was 45. The role was in the movie Amadeus and he won an Academy Award for his brilliant portrayal of Antonio Salieri. He had thought of giving up acting just two years before but thankfully didn't. 

Andrea Bocelli didn't start singing opera seriously until the age of 34. Some 'experts' told him it was too late to begin.

Phyliss Diller became a comedian at the age of 37. She was told by many club owners that she was "too old" to become a success.

Stan Lee, creator of Spider-Man, was 43 when he began drawing his legendary superheroes and his partner Jack Kirby was 44 when he created The Fantastic Four.

Julia Child didn't even learn to cook until she was almost 40 and didn't launch her popular show until she was 50.

Elizabeth Jolley had her first novel published at the age of 56. In one year alone she received 39 rejection letters but finally had 15 novels and four short story collections published to great success

Mary Wesley was 71 when her first novel was published.

Harlan Sanders, the Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame, was 66 when he began to promote his style of cooking and create an empire.

Laura Ingalls Wilder began writing as a columnist in her 40s. Contrary to a belief begun by the TV series about her family, the popular Little House books weren't written when she was a young girl at all. They were written and published when the 'girl' was in her 60's!

Sylvia Lieberman became an entrepreneur in fall 2007 when she was 90. This is when she realized her dream of having her first children’s book published. So why not start a company to author and promote the book?
Archibald”s Swiss Cheese Mountain is an award-winning book about a little mouse with a big heart who teaches children how to reach their big dreams.

Anna Mary Robertson Moses is one of the biggest names in American folk art, and she didn't even pick up a brush until she was well into her eighth decade.
Grandma Moses was originally a big fan of embroidery, but once her arthritis grew too painful for her to hold a needle, she decided to give painting a try in the mid-1930s.
She was 76 when she cranked out her first canvas, and she lived another 25 years as a painter -- long enough to see the canvases she had sold for $3 fetch prices north of $10,000.

Ronald Reagan had been no slouch as an actor, but he wasn't elected to his first public office until he was 55 years old. In 1966 Reagan won California's gubernatorial race by over a million votes. 

Orville Redenbacher's Gourmet Popping Corn was founded by Orville Redenbacher and Charles F. Bowman in 1965 when Redenbacher was 58. To this day it is still the #1 selling brand of popcorn.

 

Our Place - written February 14, 2007
 Patricia Neely-Dorsey