To compile his new book, My Favorite Place on Earth, Jerry Camarillo Dunn Jr., interviewed dozens of famous people -- from Natalie Portman to the Dalai Lama -- about the places they loved most. He'll be guest blogging about his experiences here for
the next few weeks. Click here for recent posts.
Back in 1906, a railroad hoping to attract passengers coined the slogan "See America First."
But which America?
A fantastic musician and great gentleman from My Favorite Place on Earth has some ideas. For his spot, musician Jack White of the White Stripes and the Raconteurs chose Clarksdale, Mississippi, a town that stands among plowed fields at the legendary crossroads where Highway 49 meets Highway 61. It has been home to blues singers Robert Johnson, Charlie Patton, and Jack White's hero, Son House.
"I didn't expect to feel the way I do about Clarksdale," Jack told me. "I thought maybe I'd find that it's all Wal-Marts and commercialized chain stores, like a lot of the western world now. When you're driving around the country, you think it would be nice to pull off the road and eat at a mom-and-pop diner or café, but you can't do that anymore. They're gone, and it's really sad. Now it's 'Take your pick of what corporation you want to have lunch at.' So I was worried that my idea of Mississippi wasn't going to be there anymore. But that wasn't the case. Clarksdale was the Mississippi I had in my head.
Back in 1906, a railroad hoping to attract passengers coined the slogan "See America First." But which America?
A fantastic musician and great gentleman from My Favorite Place on Earth has some ideas. For his spot, musician Jack White of the White Stripes and the Raconteurs chose Clarksdale, Mississippi, a town that stands among plowed fields at the legendary crossroads where Highway 49 meets Highway 61. It has been home to blues singers Robert Johnson, Charlie Patton, and Jack White's hero, Son House.
"I didn't expect to feel the way I do about Clarksdale," Jack told me. "I thought maybe I'd find that it's all Wal-Marts and commercialized chain stores, like a lot of the western world now. When you're driving around the country, you think it would be nice to pull off the road and eat at a mom-and-pop diner or café, but you can't do that anymore. They're gone, and it's really sad. Now it's 'Take your pick of what corporation you want to have lunch at.' So I was worried that my idea of Mississippi wasn't going to be there anymore. But that wasn't the case. Clarksdale was the Mississippi I had in my head.
Continue reading Jack White's Favorite Place on Earth.
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