AI Grok Overview of Wrestling with Wisdom at the Crossroads: Billy Howell Reflects
AI Grok Overview of Wrestling with Wisdom at the Crossroads Wrestling with Wisdom at the Crossroads: The Aphorisms and Poems of Malachi Montroy, published in December 2025 by Rose & Pearl Publishing, LLC, is a self-reflective collection authored by Chilly Billy Howell under his pen name, Malachi Montroy. Illustrated by Madge Marley Howell, the book compiles original aphorisms (short, insightful sayings) and poems that emerged from Howell’s personal musings, often shared initially on the Delta Bohemian platform. Described as a “devotional companion” in promotional materials, it blends introspection, faith, and humor to guide readers through life’s pivotal moments—or “crossroads.” With its roots in the Mississippi Delta’s cultural and spiritual landscape, the … [Read More...]
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Designing a Logo Ain’t Easy
By MAGICAL MADGE Clarksdale, Mississippi Designing a logo is not easy. My ex-husband Quimby Vance, native Mississippian and founder of EQ Design, deeply impressed upon me the importance of a powerful logo, referencing the brilliant International Harvester mark, designed by The Father of Industrial Design Raymond Loewy. It's "The Man on the Tractor" logo. Simply brilliant. … [Read More...]
Mississippi River Great Books Seminar Openings
By POOR WILLIAM Clarksdale, Mississippi Have you been searching for a salubrious, multi-day adventure in the Mississippi Delta that includes Socratic discussion of seminal Western literature, camping and canoeing on the Mississippi River in a 30-foot-long cypress canoe, and a stay in the oldest extant home in Clarksdale, Mississippi, all during the Tennessee Williams Festival? Well, have ya? … [Read More...]
From Clarksdale to Memphis Fun
By MAGICAL MADGE Clarksdale, Mississippi (PHOTOS and VIDEO) In today's world the distractions we face are immense. To focus on anything for very long is a challenge even for those not diagnosed with ADD/ADHD. The television sits dark most days, the news is depressing. Stacks of periodicals and mail pile up, the to-do list keeps getting longer. Emails flood the inbox, where is that … [Read More...]
Celebrating Unity and Diversity in the Mississippi Delta
By POOR WILLIAM Clarksdale, Mississippi “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” -- Psalm 133:1 The initial Delta Bohemian® tagline: Celebrating the Constancy and Diversity in the Mississippi Delta is still real, true, and spot on, but we are changing Constancy to Unity! Why? … [Read More...]
Mississippi Delta Deer Feelin’ Groovy in a Soybean Field
By POOR WILLIAM Clarksdale, Mississippi (VIDEO) Huh? Great White North? Eh? I thought you were in the Deep Green South! Mr. Lil John, his audacious brother Bunny (Platoon), who will likely not speak to me for mentioning him in a post, but maybe it’s ok this time, and I were riding this weekend behind the levee, which is designed to keep the Mississippi River from overflowing. Well, … [Read More...]
Mississippi Delta Sunsets Nourish The Soul
By MAGICAL MADGE Clarksdale, Mississippi If you follow THE Delta Bohemian®--Poor William, Pontificus Minimus, Chilly Billy--also known as Billy Howell on Facebook, then you know how possessed he is with sharing, via his iPhone camera, the magnificent glory of the evening skies in the Mississippi Delta. Billy snaps photographs. Greg Birdsong, another Delta Bohemian® and native of … [Read More...]
Third Coahoma to Sonoma County Blues Festival
By POOR WILLIAM Clarksdale, Mississippi (VIDEO!) What do Coahoma and Sonoma Counties have in common other than alliteration? Well, some awesome blues, Lagunitas beer, Bill Bowker, Charlie Musselwhite, Charles Evans, remarkable bucolic scenery and some musician swapping—it’s legal and even moral! Coahoma County in Mississippi is home to county seat, Clarksdale, Mississippi, birthplace of … [Read More...]
Stages of a Cotton Plant
By POOR WILLIAM Clarksdale, Mississippi (VIDEO) We love cotton in the Mississippi Delta. We grow it, wear it, think about it, talk about it and are thankful for it. It is a complicated, expensive crop to grow, but the fruiting process makes for some pretty scenery and the product blesses the whole world and our local economy! I “chop cotton” during the summer for some folks south of town. … [Read More...]
Planes, Trains & Tractors in the Mississippi Delta
By POOR WILLIAM Clarksdale, Mississippi (VIDEO) The Mississippi Delta ain’ short on modes of transportation and if a seminal sojourner is quick with the iPhone, usually from a moving vehicle, then short, serendipitous captures can make for delightful Delta scenes. Recently, within a couple day period, I was fortunate to capture a plane, a train and a new-fangled tractor all doin’ their … [Read More...]
Foxtrot Gallery Pop-Up Show and RUST Restaurant Festival Menu
Clarksdale, Mississippi The whole pop-up thing continues to trend in the Mississippi Delta. We dig the spontaneity. … [Read More...]
Kingfish plays guitar at Hambone Gallery Pre-Sunflower Fest
By POOR WILLIAM Clarksdale, Mississippi (VIDEO) With the annual Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival officially starting Thursday night at the VIP Tent, Clarksdale has already begun hearing great music. Red’s Lounge, Bluesberry Café and Ground Zero Blues Club all had music on Monday night and Red’s and Hambone Gallery had live blues Tuesday night. Red’s and Ground Zero were still … [Read More...]
Sunflower River Blues Festival Look Back
By MAGICAL MADGE Clarksdale, Mississippi (VIDEO) Remember when the main stage was only about 12-feet-wide and was on a mobile trailer? I do. That was likely the mid '90's. The Sunflower River Blues Festival used to be all we had here in Clarksdale, Mississippi, when it came to blues festivals. It was a big deal way back then because, growing up in the Mississippi Delta, we just never had … [Read More...]
The Delta Bohemian Pedicab Wedding Blues
By POOR WILLIAM Clarksdale, Mississippi (PHOTOS & VIDEO) Hey man, wanna get married and head downtown to a reception like a King and Queen at Bubba’s Bank building? Then, the Delta Bohemian Pedicab is the ticket for your love and riding pleasure! … [Read More...]
Helena Pop-Up Events Trending
HELENA, Mississippi (PHOTOS and VIDEO) Last October, we visited Sean Bad Apple's Helena pop-up bar during the King Biscuit Blues Festival (KBBF) and found it totally enjoyable. The whole idea of a pop-up is trending in Helena. The rivertown recently played host to their very first, successful pop-up restaurant. Go Helena! … [Read More...]
DELTA MAGAZINE – It’s all about the Delta
CLARKSDALE, Mississippi (VIDEO) Let Poor William tell you about the love our Delta Bohemian® Excursions recently received from Delta Magazine in the July/August 2014 issue. Editor-in-chief and founding editor Melissa Baker Townsend, Photographer Jay Adkins and Writer/Teacher Boyce Upholt invested some time in Clarksdale with Poor William and Magical Madge and we all had a very good … [Read More...]
Director Lee Quinby Focuses on Clarksdale
By MAGICAL MADGE CLARKSDALE, Mississippi (VIDEO) Our relationship began three years ago when I spotted a small group of nattily dressed folks exiting Cat Head on a Sunday morning following the Juke Joint Festival. When I get that urge to connect I try to always heed the call and, thankfully, they were eager to make my acquaintance, too. Director Lee Quinby was part of the group … [Read More...]
Whuppin’ Dat Ass Mississippi Delta Style
By POOR WILLIAM CLARKSDALE, Mississippi (VIDEO) Is “ass-whuppin Christian” an oxymoron? You bet! Why is it so many of us give in to our sinful nature when we get pissed off and want to whup (or in my case, try to whup…) some ass when we become angry at somebody? … [Read More...]
Dr. Sharony Green Visits Clarksdale
By POOR WILLIAM CLARKSDALE, Mississippi (VIDEO) Wednesday morning late, I was about to sneak over to Oxford for a couple of hours with wife, Magical Madge, to get my mountain bike fixed and to purchase one for Madge, when I noticed two very cute ladies out front with a distinguished looking man! What’s a fella to do, but check it out! … [Read More...]
High School Honor Students Visit Clarksdale, Mississippi
By POOR WILLIAM CLARKSDALE, Mississippi (VIDEO) No two days alike, no two days the same. Clarksdale Mississippi, much-heralded birthplace of the blues, rarely belies its organicity. The ephemeral nature of the MS Delta, which often appears non-transitory to the uninitiated, beckons the curious with a whisper heard the world over. While giving a Delta Bohemian Pedicab Tour to some visitors … [Read More...]
Being Present
By POOR WILLIAM CLARKSDALE, Mississippi “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?” -- Luke 12: 25-26 Memories and future worries are not reality—not really. Memories, in the non-corporeal form of past actions influence the present and the pre-determinations of our future, but they are no … [Read More...]
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