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Eudora Welty
Eudora Welty, Pulizter Prize-winning author and photographer, lived most of her life in Jackson, where she was born in 1909. Her first published short story, “Death of a Traveling Salesman,” came out in 1936, and her first collection of short stories, A Curtain of Green, which included the well-known pieces, “A Worn Path,” “Why I Live at the P.O.” and “Petrified Man,” followed in 1941.
Welty’s bibliography includes twelve collections of short stories, five novels, four collections of literary critiscism and nonfiction, and two photography collections.
Her 1973 novel, The Optimist’s Daughter won that year’s Pulitzer Prize, and in 1992, Welty received the Rea Award for Short Story in honor of her contribution to American literature.
Welty lived on Pinehurst Street from 1957 until her death in 2001. The house has been declared a national landmark and has been turned into a literary museum. Its closets are filled with degrees and awards, including the Pulitzer Prize.
Welty viewed the world through its windows with a compassion and understanding of humanity noted both in her work and in the memories of those who knew her. She was a Jacksonian and a world-changing woman who filled her pages with a mind and heart apart from any before her or since.
In 2001, in Jackson, Welty died of pneumonia, and is buried in the city’s Greenwood Cemetery.
Living Relatives
Mary Alice Welty White
Andy White
Alex White
Elizabeth White
Liz Welty Thompson
Leslie Thompson Jacobs
Zach Thompson
Emily Thompson
Natalie Thompson
Elinor Welty
