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 About the Author – Kevin's Blog – Audio Clip – Reviews – Press – Home |
Kevin's Blog |
You can read my 2000 Vanity Fair cover story on Heath Ledger which was just posted on vanityfair.com and also a personal reminiscence of him I quickly wrote this afternoon to accompany the story online. I hope the reminiscence is appropriate. I only had half an hour to write it and my mind was - is still - reeling. There is no circus atmosphere like Anna Nicole’s death created. Only sadness.
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January 25th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
Kevin, after I received my copy of Millsaps Magazine in which you were profiled, I ran out and consumed “Mississippi Sissy” in less than 24 hours. I laughed. I cried. I empathized and identified with so much of what you wrote. Your story brought long-buried memories rushing back; some hurtful, but many, hilarious! Like you, I knew that my destiny lay somewhere other than my small hometown, or even the capital city of Mississippi. I came along about 10 years after you to Jackson and Millsaps from northeast Mississippi, yet we share a few acquaintances that were mentioned in your book and probably a few who aren’t. I left Mississippi 20 years ago with every intention of getting to New York; however, I got sidetracked here in North Carolina. Kudos for “Mississippi Sissy” and I look forward to your next installment.
January 28th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
Hi Kevin,
I got a note from the school that you were trying to reach me to follow-up from our recent Parade interview. I have been unable to reach you via the number they provided and cannot find alternate contact info anywhere! Please email me and I would be glad to reply back with the class breakdown you requested.
Hope you are well,
Angela Crimm
teacher at Forest High School
January 28th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
Wow! I cannot begin to tell you the thrill I felt when I found your blog! a dear friend of mine and I just finished reading Mississippi Sissy last week and we agreed we wanted to know more about you, your life, your successes…I can hardly wait to share your blog with him!
Fisrt about your book…Thank you for sharing yourself with such intimate honesty. I know how frightening it might have been to “put it all out there” for the world to see. What courage and great integrity it took to be so bold and daring! I believe as you wrote you might have even heard your mother say “Dare I?” I was moved to tears, okay sobs, as I read about your Scrabble games with your mother… My friend was in Atlanta on a Sunday morning when he finished those pages. He called to tell me he was so moved by your writing that he had to leave the coffee shop! But even that did not prepare me for the rawness of your writing…How heartwrenching it was to read of your last evenings alone with your mom before you had to share her dying with the rest of the world. My mother died when I was 39, but when she died, I grieved not as a women, but as her child… She too was a strong southern woman who made me feel as if the sun rose and set because of my presence…What a wonderful gift your mother and mine gave by not only allowing, but encouraging uniquness!
I read your book with pencil in hand…the manner in which you fashioned your experineces with language was so delicate that I felt the need to capture THOSE words, in THAT order so I would not forget their beauty! Phrases; alliterations allure”, “tinted like Mama’s iced tea in summer,” and words; pentimento, immurred, gibbous, stayed with me. You painted vivid images with your writing, I felt as if I was watching a film. (Which movie star would you like to cast in your role?)
I could say so much more, but I am afraid that I would sound a bit pathetic..like “Oh My god, I am such a fan!” but seriously, with all sincerity, reading your book was a wonderful experience. I am grateful that Lee and I shared the reading of Mississippi Sissy, it gave us so much to talk about; I am grateful that I read Mississippi sissy, it gives me the feeling that I might have something worth writing about; but most of all, I am grateful YOU WROTE Mississippi Sissy, it will give others comfort, hope, and inspiration…all something worth living for.
February 2nd, 2008 at 4:20 am
once again, kevin has pulled magic out of the air
February 2nd, 2008 at 11:15 am
what a good person he is, Mr. Sessums
what a good person
February 11th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
Hi Kevin,
I see that you did quite a substantial book-tour. Now that it is all said and done, what are your thoughts on having done so many cities? If you had to do it all over again would you do fewer or more cities? I know this is grueling and am curious as to whether you feel it is worthwhile or are book signing becoming a thing of the past?
Best regards,
Oliver
February 14th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
Hi, Kevin. I recently watched the DVDs of the “Tales of the City” series and, again, I was amused by your droll - and all-too-brief - appearance. I continue to enjoy your Towleroad reviews and I just used an Amazon gift card to purchase your book (which I can’t wait to read). Thanks for the many hours of enjoyment and insight you have provided us. I sincerely hope that your 2008 is marching along as you hoped!
February 16th, 2008 at 11:47 pm
Kevin,
I just read your interview in Millsaps Alumni mag. I was thumbing through when a familiar photo caught my eye. I remember seeing your portrait as Robert Browning hanging in the display case in front of the theatre at the CC on more than one occasion. Then, of course, I’m sure Lance showed it to me at least 20 times while I soaked up the history and color from the master either in his office while skipping chemistry classes or while sipping tea at his cottage some night. One look at the picture and I had to read the article knowing that it was about a fellow Player and that it would bring back more memories of, as you put it, “some of the most enjoyable days and nights of my life,” working WITH Lance Goss. I owe so much to him in many ways.
We have another shared experience you mentioned in your interview. One day while sitting with my frat brothers in the cafeteria and being two years removed from Soph Lit, I heard this deep voice behind me calling me out,”Hopkins, what are you going to do with your life after this year?” I turned to see a hawkeyed Dr. Hise looming behind me and waiting for a response. He had actually retired the year before but was studying for his bar exam in the Stacks that day I found out later. To his query, I replied with what I supposed would be an impressive answer, “Well, I’m either going to med school or acting school. I don’t know which one.” With disdain, he turned his head quickly away and without so much as a backward glance, he gave me a parting shot, which left me in a profound state of shock and comtemplation, “Wasting your life! You’re a writer.” This was loud enough, especially with his deep voice, to reach at least half of the bustling cafeteria, and most heads turned to me. Then, to him. He just kept walking. I never saw his face again … ever. And, then, back to me. All I could do was shrug it off with a chuckle and a look like the old man is crazy. In my soul a chord struck that told me, in a small voice that I quickly squashed, that I was the one who was crazy.
After an up-and-down life as actor in London and Los Angeles, I have finally started to write and won some festival awards for a short I wrote a couple years ago. I often think of that moment. I imagine that Dr. Hise is smiling somewhere … for both of us, as is our special mentor and friend Lance.
Kevin, congratulations on all of your outer and inner success. I quickly read some of your musings and find them as colorful, intelligent and razor-sharp as I would expect from a Mississippi writer from Millsaps and the CC stage. Can you still close your eyes and smell the proscenium there?
A friend whom you haven’t met yet,
Gerald
February 18th, 2008 at 1:04 am
Hello Mr Sessums
I just finished reading your book. Mississipi Sissy has just become one of my favourite books. I wish I was back in high school and I could write a paper on this book. I first took note of you through OUT magazine when they had an adrticle on you and also reviewed your book. I was so taken by your honesty and the experience of growing up in the South. I was in South Africa when I read about you, I had a subscription to OUT. When I arrived in America which was a month ago the first thing I did was but Mississipi Sissy. What an amzing book.
Your book is so inspiring, I want to to write. It’s amazing how books can bring the life of another so close to your heart. I love that sissy boy in this book, with tears in my eyes I could just about see myself in those pages.
Your courage is something that some of us hope one day will have. The cover photo of your book captures the book so AMAZINGLY! My favourite parts in the book is when your mother says “he is my sissy” and also when she tells you about the strenght of the word S-I-S-S-Y.
I wasn’t alive even alive at the time you were growing up. I am not even American, but I could so relate to your story. I can only image what you felt when everything was happening at once: the civil rights, your sexuality, your parents, your new living situation, religion. and thos are the ones you mentioned. Powerful! I’m inspired! Keep up the amazing work.
Where you go and whatever you do know that someone deeply appreciates your work. I want my mom to read it!
February 19th, 2008 at 11:02 am
Kevin: Reading these responses to your book are just as enjoyable as reading Mississippi Sissy itself. Such an outpouring of affection and love and understanding is so moving. I hope all is well with you and your new work is going well.
February 25th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
love love love your book (audio). Sometimes I really enjoy audio books, especially when the reader, like yourself, has talent for voice acting and feels the story. Your Mom loved Katherine Anne Porter. Well. Why does that make me feel so happy. I guess cause I like your Mom. And I love Katherine Anne Porter too. With a special affinity for “Ship of Fools.” My God, could anyone draw characters quite as well? If I ever have to small dark grubby dogs, their names shall be: Ric and Rac! Que libro! Que escritora!
February 29th, 2008 at 6:41 pm
Our Stonewall Library of Ft Lauderdale book group is going to discuss your book March the 11th. We would appreciate any discussion questions that you may have been asked or that you may have asked your readers to provoke conversation.
I’m a third of the way through your novel and liking it a lot. You’ve painted some very vivid description of friends and family. You’ve stirred up memories of people and experiences long suppressed or forgotten in my own life. Thank you.
Note: http://www.stonewall-library.org The Stonewall circulating library holdings now number over 18,000 books and audio-visual materials and information about the entire collection has been computerized and is available on a relational, searchable database. New titles are added every week and are available in the “New Arrivals” section of the Library. We also offer over 60 national and regional periodicals in our John Graves Reading Room.
March 3rd, 2008 at 7:12 pm
Kevin, thank you for submitting questions for us to ask at our book club meeting next Monday.
I do volunteer work at the Stonewall LIbrary & Archives in Fort Lauderdale. Recently we had Andrew Holleran speak and sign books in honor of the 30th anniversary of the publication of “Dancer from the Dance.” I wonder if you would like to come here when “Mississippi Sissy” comes out in paperback. I can send you more info if you are interested.
Chuck Ross
clr345@bellsouth.net
March 5th, 2008 at 12:59 am
Good luck on the paperback edition. Saw it in Books Inc in SF today.