Have you ever read a book and wished that your family and friends would read it, too, and be impacted in the same way that the story affected you? Alas, interest in dedicating time to the written word is fleeting, and the attention of our family and friends are almost always preoccupied with seemingly more important things.
I’ve been especially blessed the past few months to carefully read and edit a memoir of J. Stuart Lassetter, a missionary for the United Pentecostal Church International. It’s a story that he worked on for at least eleven years from the time he retired from his life’s work, and it’s an endearing memory of simple, yet sometimes turbulent times in the deep South, entitled My Clinton.
Stuart was a professor of botany who grew up with deep roots in the small town just to the west of Jackson, Mississippi. He was a storyteller who knew how to do academic research; like my oldest son, he was drawn to the smallest of details, had a quirky sense of humor and adventure, was an artist and sculptor, and grew to love his Creator with zeal and intensity. He passed away last fall, leaving a terribly unorganized old laptop full of story files, copious notes, an abundance of found “treasures” through his dwelling place, and a legacy of true love.
Most of the stories were not ready for an editor yet. After many, many, many hours (I decided not to keep track of the number), the manuscript includes 30 chapters and an epilogue, equaling about 500 pages, and it’s still not quite ready. My next step will be to check and revise his citations, particularly of The Clinton News, which is only available at Mississippi College’s library.
The work is a mix of genres–memory and researched facts. (Hence, there’s a question of how to cite sources!) My desire, which may be unrealistic, would be for My Clinton to be published by University Press and distributed to Mississippi’s quaint, independent bookstores. In my humble opinion, it should be required reading for students of Mississippi College. A contact at University Press suggested otherwise.
If any of my readers have advice on the matter of publication, would you leave me note? I’d appreciate it! Stuart Lassetter’s My Clinton is a story worth telling.
