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Michael
Andrew Grissom
Michael
Andrew Grissom was born in Oklahoma and received all of his formal
education in that state. Holdenville, located in east central
Oklahoma, is the city of his birth. After graduating from high school,
Grissom attended the University of Oklahoma, where he earned his
bachelor?s and master?s degrees.
He has resided in Oklahoma and Tennessee and is the author of
several books dealing with the history and culture of the American
South. His first book, Southern By the Grace of God, published in
1988, became the first modern book written in defense of the South.
Since that time, he has been recognized as one of the prominent
figures in what has become known as ?the Southern movement.?
Before entering upon his writing career, Grissom taught in the
public and private schools of Oklahoma. Upon leaving the field of
teaching, he organized and traveled with his own musical group, a male
quartet called The Rebels.
During this period, Grissom bought and restored two
historic buildings in Oklahoma - a three-story Victorian house built
in 1899 and a large three-story hotel built in 1907. As a result of
his preservation efforts, the Governor of the State of Oklahoma
presented him with the Distinguished Service Award of the Oklahoma
Heritage Society.
While living in Tennessee, he became the recipient
of the prestigious Jefferson Davis Medal, presented by the United
Daughters of the Confederacy in appreciation for his written defense
of the South.
In 1996, the United Daughters of the Confederacy chose an
inscription Grissom had submitted for the Tennessee monument in the
Vicksburg National Military Park, the text of which follows:
Honor to those who never sought it;
Fame to those who never wished it;
Glory to those who never dreamed it;
Immortality, for they earned it
The Confederate Soldiers of Tennessee
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