A traditional publisher with a non-traditional approach to publishing
BY OTIS SANFORD
Newsman
Non-Fiction | Autobiography
From humble beginnings in Como, Mississippi, to the Ole Miss School of Journalism, to the Clarion-Ledger, to the Detroit Free Press, Pittsburgh Press and finally to The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, where he retired as managing editor, Otis Sanford never stopped following his dream…
In ‘Newsman,’ Otis Sanford applies his well-honed skills as a news journalist to reporting his own remarkable story. How a Black farm boy who lived 80 miles from where teenager Emmitt Till was murdered in Mississippi learned to survive and thrive in the Deep South. How a Black man who grew up reading pro-segregation Southern newspapers became an accomplished reporter, columnist, and editor at those very same newspapers … ‘Newsman‘ is an inspiring testament to the power of faith and family, the human spirit and the search for truth.
– David Waters, award-winning journalist for the Memphis Commercial Appeal and The Washington Post.
Through the years, Sanford’s readers sensed that he was a solid, good-natured truth-teller. His back story is an easy read that affirms his principles and his abiding faith in the power of honest journalism.
– Charlie Mitchell, Associate Professor, Ole Miss School of Journalism and New Media.
Featured Books
Non-Fiction | American Music History
Mojo Triangle is a term coined by author James L. Dickerson decades ago to describe the geography and cultural quirks of a land mass defined by connecting Memphis, Nashville and New Orleans with straight lines that form a triangle in which all of America’s original music, except rap—jazz, blues, country and rock—was created in a turbulent cauldron with metaphysical implications. The book contains stories about the recording artists who call the Mojo Triangle home and artists who have recorded in the Mojo Triangle.
Non-Fiction | Biography
Greenville, Mississippi had Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper editor Hodding Carter, who reported on and commented about racism and the World War II concentration camp directly across the Mississippi River in Arkansas, but Winona, Mississippi had a hardheaded radio station manager and announcer named Bob Chisholm who shocked the small town by reporting public corruption in his city and standing up for the rights of its Black citizens.
Non-Fiction | Biography
When Elvis Presley first showed up at Sam Phillips’s Memphis-based Sun Records studio, he was a shy teenager in search of a sound. Phillips invited a local guitarist named Scotty Moore to stand in.
In the News
The Basics of Adoption
First published 20 years ago, “The Basics of Adoption” by James L. Dickerson and Mardi Allen, PhD, is a guide for individuals considering or entering into the process of adopting a child. The book has been revised and updated and will be re-published soon. Written by a former social worker who has placed hundreds of children on adoption and a psychologist who has counseled countless adoptive parents and children, the book contains chapters titled “What They Want to Know About You” and “They Gave You a Child: Now What?” Says Sam Goldstein, PhD, a leading author on childhood disorders: “It is the only book I recommend when families are considering or involved in adoption.”
Yellow Fever
Cengage Learning, a tech company that supplies educational material to universities throughout the world, recently licensed a chapter from “Yellow Fever: A Deadly Disease Poised to Kill Again” by James L. Dickerson for usage in its course material. How refreshing it is that a huge company such as Cengage Learning would do the right thing and license material it uses from authors, instead of stealing it as the major AI companies such as Anthropic and Meta have done. Sartoris Literary Group currently is a plaintiff in a class-action copyright infringement lawsuit against Anthropic for using intellectual property without permission from “Yellow Fever,” along with a half dozen other books sold by Sartoris Literary.