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For Stephen Ambrose
Echo staff photo by Shannon Jenkins
Freda Hartness, president of Friends of Mississippi Libraries, unveils the landmark marker during a reception held at Bay St. Louis-Hancock County Library Tuesday. The library was designated as a national literary landmark in honor of the famed historian Dr. Stephen Ambrose, who used the library to research for his book "Nothing Like It In the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad, 1863-1869."
Separate Ceremonies Honor Late Historian
BY BENNIE SHALLBETTER Staff Writer
1-10 brought us to Bay St. Louis,? said Moira Ambrose, the widow of Dr. Stephen Ambrose, at a dedication ceremony naming a section of the highway for the world renowned author and historian Monday evening at Our Lady of the Gulf.
?We were house hunting ... we passed many shoreline lots and saw this lot with a big live oak ... he (Stephen) asked, ?where do I sign.?He felt at home here ... he couldn?t call everyone by name, but the people here provided a safe and friendly place and a private place for writing. I want to thank family and friends
Dr. Stephen Ambrose
and all of you for the wonderful experience of living here and for this occasion that I and my family will treasure forever.?
In an evening filled with happy memories, often expressed through tears, friends, family and colleagues remembered the man who - though famous the world over for his award winning books on history -was most remembered locally as the guy who rode his bicycle everywhere with his dog following behind.
?He could have lived anywhere in the world, but he chose Bay St. Louis as his home and his final resting place,? said Leo Seal, who
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Ambrose
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said he remembered Ambrose as an ordinary citizen who rode his bike down city streets.
Seal commended local legislator J.P. Compretta as being the man responsible for seeing to it that the request to rename the section of highway for Ambrose did not fall pray to a string of red tape. He also gave credit to Southern District Transportation Commissioner Wayne Brown for designating the section of highway from the Mississippi/Louisiana state line to Hwy. 43 as the Stephen E. Ambrose Memorial Highway.
?When motorists see the sign they will know they are in Stephen Ambrose country,? said Seal.
?He bridged this generation to the last and he took us on rides we never dreamed about,? said a
friend and colleague. ?He wrote about roads, the poetic roads less traveled where men and women dreamed and in a way that we knew he was speaking to us.?
A letter sent by U.S. Rep. Gene Taylor lightened the mood of the evening. Taylor recalled sitting beside Moira at an event where Ambrose was speaking.
?Moira said that if I fell asleep during Dr. Ambrose?s speech, she would never vote for me again,? the letter said.
Ambrose grew up in Wisconsin. Besides being a best-selling author, he served on the faculty of many universities including the University of New Orleans, from which he retired in 1995. He was also instrumental in establishing the National D-day Museum in New Orleans.
Echo staff photo by Bennie Shallbetter
The Mississippi Transportation Commission?s color guard opens ceremonies Monday for the unveiling of the marker designing a portion of 1-10 as The Stephen E. Ambrose Memorial Highway.
Echo staff photo by Bennie Shallbetter
The highway sign dedicating a portion of 1-10 as the Stephen E. Ambrose Memorial highway is unveiled Monday evening at a ceremony at Our Lady of the Gulf Catholic Church in Bay St. Louis.
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