Jackson Free Press

This state has two passions: football and politics. We elect about every official that one could imagine all the way to the Mississippi Supreme Court. We pull for the candidates of our choice just like a favorite college team on the field, and emotions run high.

However, when the average citizen thinks of a member of the Supreme Court, we are reminded of a reserved jurist, hidden from the public. State Supreme Court Justice Randy "Bubba" Pierce is an exception to the rule with his love of writing where he defines the emotions of politics in Mississippi.

Pierce, a Greene County native, is a writer and his latest novel, "Mississippi Mud," defines state politics in the very sense of this state's current landscape. 

The novel is about the events of a gubernatorial race in Mississippi where two very well-liked officials, a Democrat and a Republican, are locked in a close contest. In the final stretch, a tragedy shocks the entire state, and partisan politics takes a back seat.

Pierce's writings remind readers of how candidates and public officials are just like everybody else; they are not immune from personal tragedy. In his novel, Pierce demonstrates how short life can be. He shows how Mississippians put politics aside and has sympathy for the individual who is going through something they would not want to imagine happening to them. Even if the victim of such misfortune is on the other side of the political spectrum, reality hits, and we come together.

I first met Pierce a decade ago in Jackson at the Mississippi Democratic Convention when he was serving as chairman of the Education Committee in the House of Representatives under Speaker Billy McCoy, a Democrat.

In 2005 Gov. Haley Barbour, a Republican, appointed Pierce chancery judge of the 16th District. He was later elected in his own right to the state Supreme Court. It is encouraging to see a member of this state's highest court share his love for writing with Mississippians.

Pierce's writings makes me believe there could be more issue-oriented and fewer ego-driven campaigns if prospective candidates picked up a copy of "Magnolia Mud" to read before filing qualifying papers. 

Ken Strachan is former member of the State Democratic Executive Committee, a former mayor of North Carrollton and serves as Carroll County coroner.