Introducing Delta Magazine Welcome to the premier issue of Delta Magazine, a new publication dedicated to celebrating the lifestyle of the Mississippi Delta. Just over five years ago we at Coopwood Publishing Group, Inc. saw the need for a business publication in our region and launched the successful Delta Business Journal. About two years ago, we saw a need not only to report on Delta business, but also to celebrate Delta life. Recently we moved forward with this idea of which you now hold the result in your hands–Delta Magazine. Once we made a commitment to this new venture, we also made a commitment to ourselves and to our potential readers to publish a lifestyle magazine of the highest caliber, a magazine whose design, writing, and photography would compare favorably to similar magazines published in Atlanta, Memphis, or New Orleans. Scott Coopwood Delta Magazine will initially be published six times a year with a starting circulation of approximately 15,000 households in the Delta and part-Delta counties. Additional copies will be mailed to Memphis, Oxford, and Jackson; and the magazine will be offered at most bookstores in the Delta and the additional circulation cities. In every issue of Delta Magazine we’ll bring you the best of the Delta: Delta homes, food, hospitality, the arts, our history, architecture, and our people. In the coming months we’ll add special focus sections that will allow us to explore topics of special interest. Delta Magazine will celebrate our region for Delta readers and present our region to a wider audience. Like you, I believe in the Mississippi Delta. As a fifth-generation Deltan, my roots run deep in this fertile soil. I believe in our land, in our people, and in our future. Some define the Delta in geographic terms, but to me the Delta is a frame of mind. It is the magic and mystery of this frame of mind that Delta Magazine will explore. Let me take this opportunity to introduce the editor of Delta Magazine, Melissa Baker Townsend, a native of Indianola and a current resident of Belzoni. Melissa is a graduate of the University of Mississippi’s School of Journalism. After Ole Miss, Melissa moved to Chicago and worked for a weekly arts and entertainment publication for five years, followed by a stint in Internet media and a position with one of the largest cable networks in the world. She moved back to Mississippi almost a year ago, and we at Delta Magazine are fortunate to have Melissa on board. Her experience and personal knowledge of the Delta make her a perfect choice to lead this magazine. In closing, I want to call your attention to our cover story on the McCartys from Merigold. We thought it would be most appropriate in our debut issue to feature this fine couple who have invented the Delta's original "calling card" that is found all over the world today–their unique pottery from Merigold, Mississippi. We look forward to hearing from you, our readers. Please participate with us in this new venture. Send us a story idea, compliment us, criticize us. Your feedback will help this magazine be what we envision: a celebration of the people and the places of the Mississippi Delta. Scott Coopwood Publisher <...HOME...>