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Lance Bass' love letter to my hometown
Published: 2/7/2013 1:41 PM
Last Modified: 2/7/2013 1:41 PM


Fellow Laurel, Miss.-native Lance Bass.

For a city as small as my hometown of Laurel, Miss., it claims a nice handful of celebrities as native sons and daughters.

Among them are the late Tulsa World cartoonist and "Kudzu" comic-strip creator Doug Marlette, opera legend Leontyne Price (whose birthday is Sunday, by the way), Olympic gold-medalist Ralph Boston, writer James Street and actress Parker Posey, who graduated the same year from Laurel High School as my brother. LOVE her, want her to star in the film adaptation of my novel, Lord willing it gets published. And, Lord willing, I ever write it.

Ditto for Lance Bass -- or maybe he could just sing the movie's theme song, if he's opposed to acting. Whatever, the former 'N Sync vocalist is a Laurel native. I remember having my photo taken at his granddad's photo studio.

So I was tickled to read on the Huffington Post that he wrote an open love letter, of sorts, to our mutual hometown.

"Dear Laurel,

"You exert a gravitational pull on my family. Bass Studio, my Granny and Granddaddy's photography business, was and is our geographical center, a place full of fond memories peopled by relatives and friendly locals.

"With family spread over the neighboring towns of Laurel and Ellisville, the Basses always gathered at the Studio. On any given day, at least one of us could be helping out in the dark room. We spent hours upon hours in there. Spending the day with Granddaddy was considered a treat.

"The man was a local celebrity.

"Jimmy Bass took pictures of everyone on their ?rst birthday, during their high school graduation and as they walked down the aisle. Because he was always around -- taking school or maybe team pictures -- there was not a person in town that didn't know his name. We jokingly called him the 'Mayor.'

"Growing up in a town best known for giving the world Tom Lester from 'Green Acres,' Hollywood and its bright lights were not exactly on the horizon. Tinseltown was when the main street sparkled during the annual Christmas parade. Every year we would stop by the Studio on our way to the parade, but not before picking up some delicious glazed sugar cookies from M&M Bake Shop to munch on while we watched. It was the highlight of the year when Santa came through downtown Laurel on his ?oat.

"The people of Laurel were more than neighbors and friends, something closer to family. We spent Friday nights at the Phillips Drive Inn devouring the best burgers in the world before attending football games 'between the bricks' (that's what they called the Laurel High School stadium). It was a small town with very little to do, so we spent our time together.

"Everyone looked out for one another and pitched in when needed. We were a community where no one locked their doors and where everyone was excited for the annual Day in the Park.

"I live thousands of miles away now, but you and I know that your people shaped my life. I go back often to see my family and to see you.

"Bass Studio is now closed -- Uncle Tim keeps the family tradition alive with his photography business -- and there is no M&M Bake Shop. Granddaddy volunteers at the Veterans Memorial Museum. Like you, they have changed or evolved. Like you, they pull me back.

"I know I'm home when I'm just Lance Bass, Jimmy's grandson. Love, Lance"

I thought that was too sweet not to share. So what would your love letter to your hometown include?

Peace, love and tap roots ... XOXO


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Living Wright

While other kids were watching "The Smurfs," Scene Writer Jason Ashley Wright was tuned in to "Style with Elsa Klensch." By fourth grade, he knew he wanted to write, and spent almost three years publishing a weekly teen-oriented magazine, Teen-Zine -- circulation: 2. After earning a degree in journalism from the University of Southern Mississippi, he became the medical reporter and teen board coordinator for the Hattiesburg (Miss.) American, a Gannett newspaper. Eight months later, with visions of Elsa dancing in his head, he applied for the fashion writer position at the Tulsa World, where he began working on Aug. 3, 1998. He is now a general assignment reporter for Scene.

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