Every Day by the Sun : A Memoir of the Faulkners of Mississippi

In Every Day by the Sun, Dean Faulkner Wells recounts the story of the Faulkners of Mississippi, whose legacy includes pioneers, noble and ignoble war veterans, three never-convicted murderers, the builder of the first railroad in north Mississippi, the founding president of a bank, an FBI agent, four pilots (all brothers), and a Nobel Prize winner, arguably the most important American novelist of the twentieth century. She also reveals wonderfully entertaining and intimate stories and anecdotes about her family'in particular her uncle William, or "Pappy," with whom she shared colorful, sometimes utterly frank, sometimes whimsical, conversations and experiences. This deeply felt memoir explores the close relationship between Dean's uncle and her father, Dean Swift Faulkner, a barnstormer killed at age twenty-eight during an air show four months before she was born. It was William who gave his youngest brother an airplane, and after Dean's tragic death, William helped to raise his niece. He paid for her education, gave her away when she was married, and maintained a unique relationship with her throughout his life. From the 1920s to the early civil rights era, from Faulkner's winning of the Nobel Prize in Literature to his death in 1962, Every Day by the Sun explores the changing culture and society of Oxford, Mississippi, while offering a rare glimpse of a notoriously private family and an indelible portrait of a national treasure. From the Hardcover edition. In this book the author recounts the story of the Faulkners of Mississippi, whose legacy includes pioneers, noble and ignoble war veterans, three never convicted murderers, the builder of the first railroad in north Mississippi, the founding president of a bank, an FBI agent, four pilots (all brothers), and a Nobel prize winner arguably the most important American novelist of the twentieth century. She also reveals wonderfully entertaining and intimate stories and anecdotes about her family, in particular her uncle William or Pappy with whom she shared colorful, sometimes utterly frank, sometimes whimsical, conversations and experiences. This memoir explores the close relationship between Dean's uncle and her father, Dean Swift Faulkner, a barnstormer killed at age twenty eight during an air show four months before she was born. It was William who gave his youngest brother an airplane, and after Dean's tragic death, William helped to raise his niece. He paid for her education, gave her away when she was married, and maintained a unique relationship with her throughout his life. From the 1920s to the early civil rights era, from Faulkner's winning of the Nobel Prize in Literature to his death in 1962, this work explores the changing culture and society of Oxford, Mississippi, while offering a rare glimpse of a notoriously private family and an indelible portrait of a national treasure. -- From Book jacket My father's death Second coming Ancestors My father's world Count no count Brothers The Waco World War Two Wese and Jimmy Jill Cho Cho and Vicki Nobel Prize Pulitzer Prize Faulkners and race The women Pappy loved Postcard from Paris A wedding My last year at home Pappy's funeral. The niece of William Faulkner explores their close relationship while tracing the story of their family, chronicling the achievements of ancestors whose ranks included pioneers, war veterans, and a Nobel Prize winner.