Tombigbee Tales

William Paul Odom WWII Aviator and Race Pilot

William Paul Odom flew cargo planes prior to World War II across The Hump between China and India. During the war he flew heavies including bombers. After the war he began setting distance flight records before fatefully entering the Thompson Trophy Race in a P51c Mustang.

20th Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina with Rod Davis and Julie Liddell Whitehead

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the landfall of Hurricane Katrina. The catastrophic impact on the people living in its path and its periphery is still part of our collective memory in the Deep South. Authors Rod Davis and Julie Liddell Whitehead examine the impact on their recent novels.  Rod Davis:  Life in the Time of Hurricanes, TCU Press, Sept. 2025. Fiction.   Very short bio: Rod Davis is the author of The Life of Kim and the Behavior of Men; East of Texas, West of Hell; South, America; Corina’s Way, winner of the fiction prize in the PEN Southwest Book Awards for 2000-2005; and of American Voudou. Rod has worked at The Associated Press, The Texas Observer, D Magazine, the San Antonio Express-News, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and at UT-Austin, SMU, and the Texas A&M System.     https://roddavisauthor.com/ [https://roddavisauthor.com/]   Rod's book is published through TCU Press with more details and a short synopsis. It is available for pre-order at Amazon and most other booksellers: Life in the Time of Hurricanes [https://tcupress.tcu.edu/9780875659336/] tcupress.tcu.edu [https://tcupress.tcu.edu/9780875659336/]   Julie Liddell Whitehead lives and writes from Mississippi. An award-winning freelance writer, Julie covered disasters from 9/11 to Hurricane Katrina throughout her career. She writes on mental health, mental health education, and mental health advocacy. She has a bachelor’s degree in communication, with a journalism emphasis, and a master’s degree in English, both from Mississippi State University. In August 2021, she completed her MFA from Mississippi University for Women. https://julieliddellwhitehead.com/ [https://julieliddellwhitehead.com/] Order her book here:  https://madvillepublishing.com/product/hurricane-baby/ [https://madvillepublishing.com/product/hurricane-baby/] Hurricane Baby is also available through Barnes and Noble and Amazon.

The Ossipoff Family Saga From Russia to Japan to Columbus, MS

What does the FBI, the CIA, Daniel Boone, and the fated Russian Czar Nicholas II have to do with Columbus, MS, and Friendship Cemetery? Let me take you on an old-fashioned Mississippi bird hunt.

Hale and Murdock - Early Columbus Industrialists

Today, we're diving into the fascinating world of Harrison Hale and Abraham Murdock, two entrepreneurs who transformed iron production in the antebellum and Civil War South.

The Murder of Sharecropper Alfred Borders, Crawford, MS

In the sweltering heat of a late July evening in 1881, a dark tale of murder was about to unfold on the Nick Hairston plantation near Crawford, Mississippi. This is a story of domestic tension, betrayal, and a crime that would shock the local community.