Divide and conquer

Southern Living, Oct 1999 by Horton, Orene Stroud

In return, the river deposited layer upon layer of rich earth stolen from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Iowa-earth that farmers could turn into money. Although soybeans, corn, and rice are important crops too, fields of cotton, flat and greener than a $20 bill, still define the landscape. For me, the sight is charged with purity. I can feel the Delta.

Soon, however, I just feel hungry. I'm glad we have dinner reservations at Lusco's. A fixture in Greenwood since 1933, Lusco's is as quirky as its broiled pompano is good. Diners sit in numbered booths, concealed behind ruffled, floral curtains.

The layout, says co-owner Karen Pinkston, was designed by her grandfather, Papa Lusco. It's a holdover from Prohibition. "Papa built partitions in the back where he'd serve home brew. They had screen doors and curtains, and you had to know the password to get in," she explains.

Of course, the setup can sometimes be misinterpreted. Years ago, actress Debra Raffin was asked by Johnny Carson if she had visited any interesting places on the Delta. She said yes, she just had dinner at a restaurant called Lusco's, which used to be house of ill repute.

Greenville, Mississippi

Nestled against the great river, Greenville struggles with the same economic uncertainties as most Mississippi cities, Stagnating farm prices and departing manufacturing jobs have led to an uneasy courting of casinos. Still, if you look closely, you find evidence oftraditional values and neighborliness.

"FREE PLANTS TODAY" shouts the sign in front of a firehouse. An eager crowd sifts through pots of iris, daylilies, cannas, and mondo grass. Amid the commotion, Georgie Fisher tells a novice gardener how easy it is to start Queen Anne's lace from seed.

Georgie got the idea for the Plant Share program after dividing plants in her garden. "I thought how often gardeners have surplus plants with no way to distribute them to those who want them," she says. "What we needed was a place in every neighborhood where people could pick up plants year-round."

The perfect place? The local fire station-and not just because it has plenty of water. "It helps the fire stations," Georgie explains, "because they get to know people in their neighborhood."

Georgie thinks this is one idea Greenville can share with us all. "I'd love for it to spread," she says. "There's not a town in America that can't do this."

Greenville marks the final stop on my leg of Highway 82. Dianne and Gary follow the road from here to the white sands of New Mexico. Before leaving town, I stop in at the McCormick Book Inn at 825 South Main Street, one of the South's few remaining independent bookstores that specializes in literature, rather than latte.

I ask its owners, Hugh and Mary Dayle McCormick, how the incursion of new people and industries is affecting Greenville and the South. Mary Dayle's answer surprises me.

"The superficial things, like how we dress, how we eat, and how we talk, are really being preserved by tourism," she says. "Outsiders come in and say, `Show us what you got,' and we show off. So in a way, it's the influx of people that helps us hold on to some of those traditions, even if they are a myth."