Boyce Upholt, photo credit: Rory Doyle Photography
I’ve been known to be aggressive about making friends. I don’t mean that I tackle people or “Frank Underwooded” them into being my pal, but I have invited people that I’ve met at the grocery store to meet me for lunch, shown up at old farmhouses for bluegrass pickin’ parties after meeting the host at a coffee shop once, told a pair of friends at a lecture that I thought they were cool and that I wanted to be a part of their circle, and gotten myself (and Brett) invited on a weekend camping trip with some folks I sort of knew from work because I thought they seemed like people I wanted to know better. You never know what will happen, right?
This has worked out well for me. I’ve met some of my favorite people this way. In fact, the camping trip scenario helped us befriend my then-Teach for America colleague, Boyce Upholt, who turned out to be an adventurer and aggressive seeker of people’s interesting stories, as well.
These days, Boyce is a writer who tells stories about how people shape place and how place shapes people. When you live in the Mississippi Delta, a lot of the time that means that you’re writing about culture and food, as those play a big role in conveying the spirit of southern culture and communities. Boyce does just that….
