by Jeannine Smith

Artesia, MS — Tales of Tom Wilburn compiles personal stories and photos of life in Mississippi’s prairie land and of the early days of harness racing across the United States from Illinois to Florida and New York to California.

The oral history, published by Gateway Press in Baltimore, takes readers from Tom’s initial efforts to manage the family land shortly after he graduated in 1939 from Mississippi A&M, now Mississippi State University, through the career decisions that took him in his great-uncle’s footsteps as a trainer.

Over the course of his racing career he racked up over 2,000 wins. Tom’s racing stories center around what he calls “the characters around the racetrack,” people like Thin Dime Murphy and Michigan Joe.

Read the stories that earned him a place in the Illinois Harness Racing Hall of Fame. Read Wilburn’s tales passed down from Civil War veterans and prairie residents from the late 1800s. Read, and realize, the truth of the proverb, “When an old man dies, a library burns to the ground.”

To order a copy of Tales of Tom Wilburn, please contact co-author Jeannine Smith, P.O. Box 15, Artesia, MS 39736. One can also phone her at (662) 272-5600 or e-mail rockynkelly@hotmail.com.