PICAYUNE —
Grace Booth is this week’s Picayune Item Super Senior.
She was born to French parents and remembers when they came to south La. to settle for her father’s mission work.
“He thought it would be easy to integrate into the Cajun life but he found they spoke a different type of French and were very suspicious of outsiders. It took some years for him to gain trust that he had just assumed would greet us with open arms upon our arrival.”
The young Grace was to learn much about integration, the first in 1950s, when the family moved to New Orleans, La.
“We had just moved to New Orleans and had to be taken to a notary to prove we were white or we could not enter school. It was traumatic to think that this person could decide were not allowed to enter our school.”
The second was when the government began integrating schools.
“I was there when they first integrated the schools and kept journals of my experiences. I went on to share these journals in a documentary shown on the History Channel called ‘Voices of the Civil Rights.’
Writing has been a part of her life from a young age.
After a career as an English teacher, she discovered her love of being published and mentoring others to do the same.
She has been published numerous times in Guideposts magazine, as well as the Gauthier Publication’s “A Homecoming Friends Christmas,” in which she wrote a story about her granddaughter’s prayers to have her deployed father home for Christmas being answered.
Booth is well known in the Gulf South for her contributions to writing groups and locally for her work as a mentor for budding authors through the Resurrection Life Ministries Life Group “Royal Writers.”
“So many people have amazing stories to tell but don’t know how to tell it in a short version which others can actually read. Everyone can express themselves; the beauty is in the uniqueness of their voice.”
She has been married to Doug for 47 years as of October and says, “We haven’t had to work at it.”
The couple stay busy in their yard where they are avid gardeners on their two acres. In addition to the two life groups that Booth facilitates, she is also the president of the Picayune Garden Club. She sings in seasonal choirs with her husband and loves to read, travel and practice her photography.
Features
Related Photos
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Above: Picayune author Grace Booth holds a Candy Cane Camellia from her garden and one of the many books her short stories have been published in. Jodi Marze
Grace Booth
Picayune Item's Super Senior
- Features
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southern gardening
Every spring the home gardener is bombarded with new and improved petunias for the garden and landscape, making it hard to decide which to bring home from the garden center. In my opinion, you simply can’t go wrong selecting any of the Supertunias.
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arboretum paths
Spring is now in full swing at the Crosby Arboretum, and the show is well on its way toward a crescendo. The blooms of native purple Iris can be seen along the edge of the Piney Woods pond, pink “honeysuckle” azalea is flowering near the Pinecote Pavilion, and the yellow blooms of the pitcher plants — called “buttercups” by local residents — are beginning to carpet the south Savanna Exhibit.
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USM set to host Children’s Book Festival
One of the most anticipated events celebrating children’s literature, the Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival at The University of Southern Mississippi, will be held April 10-12 at the Thad Cochran Center on the Hattiesburg campus.
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Amber Bounds breaks six-year-old state swimming record
The Southern MS Aquatic Club (Mantarays) participated in the Santa’s Best Swim Invitational in Biloxi Nov. 30-Dec. 2. The Mantarays finished 6th out of 22 teams competing from LA, AL, FL, and MS.
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Capitol Pages
Jonathan Fail of Picayune, and Lorrie Warren of Poplarville recently served as pages for the Mississippi Senate.
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Yellow jasmine brightens yards
According to the calendar, we are just a few days away from the official start of the spring season. But if you have been watching the garden and landscape like I have, you’ve seen signs of spring for at least several weeks. The plants are starting to wake up.
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Native blooms abound at the Arboretum’s spring plant sale
The long-awaited weekend is upon us – that time which comes but once a year. Yes, it’s the Crosby Arboretum’s spring native plant sale.
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Welcome Center celebrates arts and literature in March
The Mississippi Development Authority, Division of Tourism will be celebrating “Arts and Literature” during the month of March. Each of the Welcome Centers will be decorated differently for this celebration.
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Lamont Rowlands house important to historical heritage
Pat Crosby first moved to the Lamont Rowlands house in 1992.
Although she found the home in disrepair, she couldn’t imagine not living there and knew that was her new home.
“It just spoke to me, and it still does,” said Crosby, the wife of the late Tommy Crosby, son of R.H. Crosby. Tommy Crosby completely renovated the home and grounds. -
Pearl River County Arts League Art Show and Sale
Pearl River County Arts League Art Show and Sale will be held on Saturday, March 23, from 10 a.m. till 5 p.m. and Sunday, March 24, from noon till 4 p.m. at The Knights of Columbus Hall, 408 Carroll Drive. The show is open to all artists and admission is free to the public.
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