Mary Jones and I always talked a lot, but in her later years she called me all the time.
Sometimes it would be something as simple as a letter that she got in the mail that she suspected might be a scam. She would read it to me and ask my opinion.
“I’m not bothering you with these questions, am I,” she always asked.
“No ma’am,” I always responded. What I never added was that it was actually flattering to me that someone as smart as Mary Jones thought that my opinion was worth seeking out.
I’ve probably had a million conversations with Mrs. Mary. If I had a dollar for every time she talked about how much she wished someone would revive the “Chronicles of Yazoo” musical focused on local history, I’d be a wealthy man.
We did a full page story a few years ago about the history of the musical and the desire of the creators to pass it along to the next generation, but no one seemed interested in taking on the task.
We also had countless conversations about her belief that modern houses that are closed off and have air conditioning rather than access to fresh air are bad for your health. We purchased an older home where you can get away with just having the screened windows up until it gets very hot outside, and I think she had a point.
We talked about many things over the past decade, but I don’t recall a single conversation where Mrs. Mary didn’t talk about how much she loved Yazoo City. Even in her final years, she still had plenty of good ideas for how to improve our community.
Mary Jones was someone I have looked to as an example of how to make a positive difference in your community. She was always someone willing to do the work, but never boastful about her accomplishments.
As I write this column, I’m holding a 1989 copy of the Main Street Stationer, the publication Jones produced when she operated Mijo’s downtown.
There is some editorial copy that rivals anything a veteran journalist could produce.
From a commentary calling for the removal of the old wooden “artwork” on the lawn of the Triangle that had passed it’s prime to praise for Cecil Cartwright’s work to improve the city, Jones had some strong writing - the kind of work that could only be produced by someone fully committed to the community.
Mrs. Mary would sometimes call us after reading her paper just to tell us that she thought we did a great job. That was so encouraging, and her calls always seemed to come at a time when we could really use some encouragement.
She was really like family to us at The Herald. Jamie, my wife and our managing editor, and I developed a friendship with Mrs. Mary over the years. Kaye Odom, our bookkeeper, and her husband Terry, who distributes our newspaper, have been her neighbors for years.
They loved her like family. We all did.
It seems like I’ve been writing too many tributes to leaders of this community who have passed on lately.
Mary Jones lived a long and useful life, and there’s no doubt that she had faith in God, so it’s really only our own selfishness that makes it so hard to so goodbye.
But that doesn’t make it any easier.
Farewell, sweet friend. We’ll catch up on the good things that happened in Yazoo when we meet again.
