Dr. J. Stephen Beam is the epitome of a small-town Mississippi success story. After retiring from a thirty-year career in medicine, Beam would write his first novel, The Death Letters, presenting to the Winston County Library on Tuesday, January 30.
Beam began by telling that his initial career wasn’t medicine. He taught school for a few years before getting his own special letter in the mail – one telling that he had been accepted to medical school.
Beam went to his mother, who had always been a great source of support. She herself had wished to become a schoolteacher, but, growing up during the Great Depression, her family could not afford to send her to Fulton (Mississippi) High School. Beam’s mother was an avid reader, and she had inspired the same love in Beam and his brothers.
Beam’s mother asked him one question – “Do you really want to give up teaching to go to medical school? Teaching is the most noble profession.” Although Beam loved teaching chemistry, he wanted more to become a doctor. When he expressed this to his mother, Mrs. Beam simply said, “I’ll support you in anything you do . . . I’ll never mention it again.”
Beam would draw upon the wisdom of his mother as well as the storytelling abilities of his mother, father, and brothers to craft his book. Beam related writing and crafting a book to storytelling. He mentioned how fascinated he was by how writers could put ordinary words together to give readers a glimpse into the mind of the writer.
Not only did his family influence Beam’s desire to write, but he was also influenced by events around him. Not too long ago, Beam had the unfortunate task of burying a beloved pet. This event would later become a scene in The Death Letters. When he finally sat down to put the scene on paper, he remarked, “I had no writer’s block; it just flowed.” Beam spends a lot of time walking (for exercise) and it is during his walks that he maps out many of the scenes that later appear in his book.
The book is set in Fulton, Mississippi, and the plot revolves around an Iraq veteran who returns home and finish his education. He spends much of the week away at school, and, upon returning home one Thursday, he finds his wife gone. In fact, the main character will learn that she hasn’t shown up for work, and, in time, she’ll be declared missing.
The Death Letters is published by Dogwood Press, a Mississippi publishing company. It is available at the Starkville Book Mart on Main Street in Starkville, or it may be found on Amazon.
