Clarksdale in Coahoma County, Mississippi — The American South (East South Central)
Richard Ford
Mississippi Writers Trail
Photographed by Mark Hilton, October 26, 2023
1. Richard Ford Marker
Inscription.
Richard Ford. . Born in Jackson in 1944, Richard Ford won critical acclaim with his first two novels, A Piece of My Heart (1976), and The Ultimate Good Luck (1981). While he and his wife, Kristina Ford, lived in rural Coahoma County, Ford wrote The Sportswriter, which brought him international acclaim; the book was named one of Time magazine's top 100 novels published since the magazine's inception. The Sportswriter's protagonist, Frank Bascombe, later appears in Independence Day (1995), The Lay of the Land (2006), and the story collection, Let Me Be Frank With You (2014). Independence Day won the Pulitzer Prize and PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction in 1996. In 2017, Ford wrote the memoir, Between Them, Remembering My Parents. He is an internationally-respected story-writer and cultural essayist. About his work, he says, "As a writer, I have the urge to meld the Southern experience into the larger American one."
Born in Jackson in 1944, Richard Ford won critical acclaim with his
first two novels, A Piece of My Heart (1976), and The Ultimate Good Luck
(1981). While he and his wife, Kristina Ford, lived in rural
Coahoma County, Ford wrote The Sportswriter, which brought him
international acclaim; the book was named one of Time magazine's
top 100 novels published since the magazine's inception. The
Sportswriter's protagonist, Frank Bascombe, later appears in
Independence Day (1995), The Lay of the Land (2006), and the story
collection, Let Me Be Frank With You (2014). Independence Day won the
Pulitzer Prize and PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction in 1996. In 2017,
Ford wrote the memoir, Between Them, Remembering My Parents. He is
an internationally-respected story-writer and cultural essayist.
About his work, he says, "As a writer, I have the urge to meld
the Southern experience into the larger American one."
Erected 2021 by the Mississippi Writers Trail Advisory Committee.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Arts, Letters, Music. In addition, it is included in the Mississippi Writers Trail series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1944.
Location. 34° 12.216′
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N, 90° 34.508′ W. Marker is in Clarksdale, Mississippi, in Coahoma County. It is on Delta Avenue north of East 2nd Street, on the right when traveling north. Located in front of the Clarksdale Public Library. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 114 Delta Ave, Clarksdale MS 38614, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Greater Memphis. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Deep South, in the Mississippi Delta, and in the Great River Road Region. Globally, it is in North America, a Gulf of Mexico state, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain, the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
2. Richard Ford Marker at Clarksdale Public Library.
Credits. This page was last revised on October 28, 2023. It was originally submitted on October 28, 2023, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. This page has been viewed 281 times since then and 33 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on October 28, 2023, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.
