Lucky to be able to share such interesting stories
Published 5:42 pm Friday, March 17, 2017
There are definitely aspects of my job I dislike. Having to hit deadlines can be terribly stressful, and sitting at a computer for hours is not great on the neck. But then when I think about what I do get to do, sometimes those negatives do not seem so bad.
For the past few weeks, the positives have seemed to outweigh the negatives as I have had the pleasure of doing research on the history of the Jewish community in Vicksburg.
I have written a story for Sunday’s paper that will hopefully whet your appetite about the upcoming centennial gala that is to be held at the B.B. Club on March 25, and I will also be doing a story about the history of the Jewish community for a future issue of our Vicksburg Living Magazine.
Now to say this assignment has been totally stress free would be a straight up lie. Some of the sources I have been using are conflicted. So gleaning the truth has been a challenge.
However, all the reading has been interesting, and my interviews have certainly been entertaining.
Last week I sat down with Richard Marcus to talk about the early days of the B.B. Club and what the Jewish community used to look like in Vicksburg.
Let me just say, Mr. Marcus, like his cousin Steven, is a master at story telling.
I could have listened to his memories of days gone by for days.
And how exciting it must be to know so much about your heritage. I actually felt a little envious.
The same was true when I talked with Stan Kline. He showed me pictures of Jewish families who had lived in Vicksburg, and like Mr. Marcus described, I could see that downtown Vicksburg thrived with Jewish merchants.
My favorite story he told was about a woman by the name of Corinne Sartorius. She had actually worked for The Post, and her column was named “About Town.” According to Mr. Kline, her column was apparently nothing short of a gossip column.
I can only imagine the number of enemies, I should say friends, that Mrs. Sartorius must have acquired through the years. She knew everybody’s business.
The landscape of Vicksburg is known worldwide for its treasure trove of history, but we also have a wealth of interesting individuals whose stories are just as valuable.
So for now, I get to be the lucky one to help share these stories. I hope you will read what I heard from my sources. Now if my boss would only supply me with a better chair, maybe I would not have a crick in my neck all the time.
Terri Cowart Frazier is a staff writer for The Vicksburg Post. She can be reached at terri.frazier@vicksburgpost.com.