Category Archives: Weekly Column

It’s a strange position to be asked to write an obituary for your mother. It was something I dreaded for several weeks. She passed away while I was working out of the country, and I tabled it for a few weeks. Finally, on the flight home, in an environment without distractions, I started, and finished,Continue reading “Mom part II”

HATTIESBURG, MISS— After seven weeks overseas, I’m finally home. My time in Italy was a whirlwind of hospitality, history, and a heavy heart. Five groups of 25 people each joined me on tours across the island of Sicily and in the heart of Tuscany. These RSJ Yonderlust Tours aren’t just trips; they’re journeys through localContinue reading “No Place Like Home”

PETROGNANO, TUSCANY—Yesterday, I took my guests to a local friend’s sheep farm just down the road from our villa. It’s a working dairy farm where 500 head of sheep provide milk to make excellent pecorino cheese. This farm isn’t for show. It’s where three families live and work. The spicy fig jam they sell inContinue reading “Exposure”

PETROGNANO, TUSCANY— Last night I was sitting at the long dinner table in our Tuscan villa. Fourteen of my American guests from all across the South were enthusiastically engaged between courses. I found myself doing something I often do—pushing my chair back from the table and leaning back to take it all in. The roomContinue reading “The Hospitality Gene”

At 63, I’m still a work in progress. If you’d asked me at 30, I’d have told you I’d have life and business all figured out by now, with nothing left to do but coast. How wrong I was. Back then, I thought I’d cracked the code of my 20s and that my 30s andContinue reading “Gratitude and Candor”

My first clear memory of her is not a happy one. It’s when she came into my brother’s bedroom and told us our father had just passed away. I was six. My final memory of her isn’t good either. She was in the hospital, unable to talk, unable to recognize me. It was just twoContinue reading “Mom”

There’s something comforting about a Saturday night in a Mississippi catfish house. The smell of catfish frying, and the familiar buzz of friendly voices make one feel as if you’re exactly where you are supposed to be in that moment. My wife and I were at Cuevas Fish House in Purvis after a full dayContinue reading “A Silver Anniversary of Sorts”

“Home is the nicest word there is.” – Laura Ingalls Wilder It’s true that there’s no place like home, and I deeply and dearly love my hometown of Hattiesburg and my home state of Mississippi. I could live other places, but I never will. My family’s taproots are deep rooted in the loblollys of SouthContinue reading “Mississippi You’re on My Mind”

“A river cuts through rock, not because of its power, but because of its persistence.” — James N. Watkins The restaurant business, and all its aspects— positive, negative, challenging, rewarding, complicated, and simple— is my life. I love what I do. Other than my faith, family, and friends, restaurants have brought the most joy toContinue reading “The End of an Era”