We Will Miss Will

William Davis Campbell was born in the heat of a southern Mississippi summer of 1924, and some of that heat soaked right into him. Campbell grew up to be a preacher, strong-headed and heated about his conviction: Thou shalt love thy neighbor. All of thy neighbors. This belief stayed with him as he fought racism in his home state of Mississippi. It stayed with him when friends were martyred battling for the civil rights of others. And it stayed with him when he began preaching to those who had persecuted his friends. Campbell decided "With the same love that it is commanded to shower upon the innocent victim of his frustration and hostility, the church must love the racist." He began to preach and minister to the members of the KKK as well. As you can imagine, many people were against this notion. Will Campbell simply carried on.

He also wrote a few books along the way. His Brother to a Dragonfly was a National Book Award nominee. And Also With You intertwines the life of another white, religious civil rights proponent in Mississippi, Duncan Gray, with the story of a group of Confederate soldiers from Ole Miss. Robert G. Clark's Journey to the House traces the eponymous politician's battle to become the first African-American member of the Mississippi House of Representatives. Fiction, non-fiction, children's, and adults--Campbell reaches every audience. He was even the inspiration for a Kudzu comic character, the Reverend Will B. Dunn, who was a creation of friend Doug Marlette.

The Reverend Will Campbell died last night, June 3, 2013. He will be missed, but we will continue to read his books and listen to his message.


"The First Church of Rednecks, White Socks, and Blue Ribbon Beer" Rolling Stone, 1990. Web. 4 June 2013. http://www.maryellenmark.com/text/magazines/rolling%20stone/920S-000-031.html
"Will Campbell." Contemporary Southern Writers. Gale, 1999. Biography In Context. Web. 4 June 2013.
"Will D. Campbell, Maverick Minister, and Civil Rights Stalwart, Dies at 88" The New York Times, 2013. Web. 4 June 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/05/us/will-d-campbell-maverick-minister-and-civil-rights-stalwart-dies-at-88.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0