Ferriday, Louisiana [Hardcover]

Ferriday, a once wild and woolly railroad stop across the Mississippi River from antebellum Natchez, Miss., claims to have produced more famous people per square mile than any other small town. Its impressive list cites rock singer Jerry Lee Lewis, TV evangelist Jimmy Swaggart and C & W singer Mickey Gilley. Other natives include journalist Howard K. Smith, general Claire Lee Chennault and trombonist Peewee Whittaker. Puzzling out this celebrity phenomenon in her often-rambling book, biographer and novelist Dundy ( Elvis and Gladys ) traces the region's colorful history, examining its rich mix of culture and religion and its anything-goes atmosphere. Insightful and entertaining profiles of a delightful place, its celebs and townsfolk.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The small Louisiana town of Ferriday has produced more than its share of famous people. Singers Jerry Lee Lewis and Mickey Gilley, evangelist Jimmy Swaggart, newscaster Howard K. Smith, and World War II hero General Claire Chennault are among its notable products. Novelist and biographer Dundy effectively evokes the texture of life there in her portrait of this atypically culturally diverse Southern community. For this reason, her book may appeal to general readers with an interest in her subject. However, the book is weakened by occasionally awkward writing, poor organization, and (most importantly) factual errors that will be evident to readers knowledgeable about Louisiana. The last problem is illustrated by a passage that misidentifies the educational institution employing this reviewer as "Central University" and as the "extension of LSU at Lafayette."-- Thomas H. Ferrell, Univ. of Southwestern Louisiana, Lafayette
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In the chatty, breezy style of her Elvis and Gladys (1985), Dundy explores the history and character of the small southern town that has produced the likes of Jimmy Swaggart, Jerry Lee Lewis, Gen. Claire Chennault, and newscaster Howard K. Smith. What is it about Ferriday that can bring forth from a population of 5,000 these varied celebrities, plus blues trombonist Pee Wee Whittaker and country-and-western singer Mickey Gilley? Dundy examines the early Spanish and French influences; the town's integral relationship to Natchez, Tenn.; the role of the plantations and the Civil War; and the tremendous influence of Leona Sumrall--founder in the late 1930's of the Assembly of God Church--whose evangelical fervor has passed from one generation to another. The author provides some insight by contrasting the differing motivations of 18-century governor Don Manuel Gayoso de Lemos and of his assistant, Don Jose Vidal. Gayoso de Lemos's need for personal glory was inseparable from the glory of Spain, whereas the ambitious Vidal felt little need for personal glory--just personal property. One was a colonialist, the other was an entrepreneur, and, according to Dundy, both are keys to the heritage of Ferriday. Among other factors, Dundy also wants to credit ``telluric'' forces, a term physicists ascribe to an area whose subsurface is unnaturally high in flowing electrical currents. She is more at home in discussing pop figure Lewis and his two cousins (Swaggart and Gilley) and the familial and social influences that brought them to notoriety, but that is ground rather well trod. More discussion of Chennault and Smith would have been welcome, and Whittaker's life in music, which spans nearly eight decades, calls for considerable amplification. Intriguing, but incomplete and inconclusive. (Fifteen photographs.) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.