Noted author, sportsman and adventurer, George Plimpton makes recent appearance at Delta State
Plimpton joined by Cleveland native and concert pianist, Bruce Levingston for performance at Bologna Performing Arts Center

On October 26, attendees at DSU’s Bologna Performing Arts Center got a
special treat as New York celebrity George Plimpton and native son, Bruce
Levingston delivered an extraordinary musical program of of poetry, painting
and uproarious humor. The evening specifically centered around 20 paintings
by Charles Martin and 20 short poems describing the scenes in the paintings
which contained humorous sketches on the sports of golf, tennis, sailing,
fishing and fireworks. The paintings were incorporated into a multi-media
presentation which was projected onto a screen while Plimpton and Levingston
performed. The program was a reprise of their recent Carnegie Hall program
of Erik Satie’s “Sports and Divertissements”.
Levingston, a native of Cleveland who now resides in New York, has performed
in concerts and musical festivals throughout the world and in fact is noted
as one of the premier concert pianists in the world. In addition to his
recent appearance at Carnegie Hall, Levingston has performed at New York’s
Lincoln Center, the United Nations and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. His
performance have been broadcast on PBS, CNN and on a number of radio
programs including New York City’s “Concert Grand.”  Levingston and
Plimpton’s longtime friendship resulted when Plimpton asked him to sit on
the Board of Philomusica, one of the oldest chamber music organizations in
New York City.
Plimpton is perhaps best known for actually doing those things about which
Walter Mitty only dreamed. He played quarterback for the Detroit Lions NFL
football team, basketball for the Boston Celtics, hockey for the Boston
Bruins, and percussion for the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.  These
“sports experience” provided the basis for Plimpton’s many books including
Paper Lion, Out of My League, The Bogey Man, and Shadow Box. Plimpton is
also the editor of The Paris Review, the literary magazine he co-founded in
1953.
Earlier in the day, Plimpton joined Governor William Winter at the Capps
Archives building on the campus of DSU for an informal conversation in front
of about 75. Topics including everything from Plimpton’s great-great
grandfather who was governor of Mississippi during the reconstruction era,
to stories about Willie Morris.  On one of Plimpton’s visits to Mississippi
many years ago, Morris cooked up a gag whereby he wrote a letter for
Governor Winter stating that Plimpton was only allowed a 12 hour pass in the
state of Mississippi, that Mississippians still remembered his relative whom
the North had installed as governor during reconstruction and that partially
because of this, Plimpton had limited privileges while in the state. The gag
continued when Mississippi Highway Patrolmen interrupted Plimpton’s dinner
one night while in the state telling him he only had one hour left in the
state and that they would escort him to the Tennessee State line.
“We are a forgiving people and we welcome you home,” Winter said early in
the morning discussion.
During Plimpton’s great-great grandfathers administration, Governor Ames was
impeached by a crew of Mississippi natives that included one of Morris’
relatives who did the deed. Until Morris’ death, the two often laughed about
Governor Winter’s gag letter openly. In Morris’ Terrains of the Heart, the
letter is published. Back