Interview with Ron Anderson, Author of I Was Born Poor, I Was Born Black, and I Was Born in Mississippi

What’s the story behind the story? What inspired you to write I Was Born Poor, I Was Born Black, and I Was Born In Mississippi?

The subject himself, George Scott, who emerged from the Jim Crow South above the fray of racial injustice against all odds when few of his companions could not. His resilience and determination stood out above all the others.

If you had to pick theme songs for the main characters of I Was Born Poor, I Was Born Black, and I Was Born In Mississippi, what would they be?

“Where I Got My Name (Down in Mississippi)” by The Blue Tide.

What’s your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?

Biography and Historical Fiction; Western Genre/Old Western.

What books are on your TBR pile right now?

The Fate of the Day; Chenneville; The Revolutionary.

What scene in your book was your favorite to write?

I think the one with the Red Sox’ publicity Director Dick Bresciani who attempted to banish Scott’s 13-year-old son from their newly constructed luxury seating at Fenway Park not knowing he was Scott’s son. It was a racial encounter between the “Boomer” and Bresciani, and a revelation that Boston’s racial matters ran deep.

Do you have any quirky writing habits? (lucky mugs, cats on laps, etc.)

I come upon some of my best ideas in the most unusual places, while I’m driving, or in a crowd when conversation becomes boring, for example. This leads to disparate hand-written notes to capture ideas, but leads further to a humungous pile of notes! Often valuable, however.

Do you have a motto, quote, or philosophy you live by?

Being true to yourself: living by your own values and standards, rather than trying to please others.

If you could choose one thing for readers to remember after reading your book, what would it be?

The doggedness of a young black man of the South to achieve in life when life was wholly stacked against him.

Ron Anderson is the author of the new book I Was Born Poor, I Was Born Black, and I Was Born In Mississippi

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