Major Works
Emily Jones, Photo by N. Jacobs
- Aging Fearlessly (October 2015)
- Love, Laughter, and Losing My Keys (2014)
Biography of Emily Braddock Jones
Emily Jones, a native of West Point, Mississippi, currently lives in Starkville, Mississippi. She was born May, 2, 1947, in Jackson, Mississippi, to Dr. and Mrs. T. N. Braddock. She has two sons: Braddock and William. Graduating from high school in West Point, Mississippi, she received her college degree from the University of Mississippi in Oxford in 1969 with degrees in Journalism and English and the University of Colorado band marketing program.
Jones has written for a variety of newspapers: first at the Commercial Appeal as a feature writer after college graduation. Later she was executive director of the Jackson-based Mississippi Restaurant Association before returning to the Golden Triangle where she became Lifestyles Editor for the Starkville Daily News from which she is now retired. Even after she retired, she continued to write a humorous column for the paper regularly. She has also composed food related columns for area newspapers and magazines and occasionally writes articles for Town and Gown Magazine.
Jones currently writes for and edits a website called The Deluded Diva in which she (according to Jones) is enjoying the “new world of culinary delights, gardening prowess and holding old age at bay at all costs.” The website is primarily for baby boomers facing retirement, but many others enjoy its humor as well. She is also a popular speaker who keeps her audiences laughing.
Emily Jones with water colorist Nel Slaughter. Photo by Nancy Jacobs
Emily Braddock Jones’s first book, published in 2014, is entitled Love, Laughter and Losing My Keys: A Boomer’s Guide to Survival. It is a humorous look at love, life, and aging outrageously. She is currently awaiting publication of her second book, Aging Fearlessly, which was published in 2015. Artist Nel Slaughter has illustrated both Jones’s books with watercolor paintings.
E-mail Interview with Emily Braddock Jones (August 2015)
Fan Keith Remy and author Emily Jones, Photo by N. Jacobs
- Is your book based on your life or someone you know/knew?
Mine primarily and my adventures with childhood friends who remain close as siblings after 60 plus years.
- Who is your favorite author?
Brenda Ueland
- What author do you think has influenced you the most?
Brenda Ueland -born 1891 and died in 1965….a hilarious woman who rumor has it died of natural causes while practicing handstands at an advanced age. I want to go that way.
- When did you become interested in writing? Was there something in particular that got you interested in writing?
The line for secondary education was too long, so I stepped into the journalism line and found myself a fascinating and satisfying career path.
- What kind of student were you in high school?
Mediocre – pretty sure I have attention deficit disorder. Never focused on anything in my life – well, other than boys.
- How long did it take you to write your first book? Where did you get the idea for this book?
The first book was a compilation of eight years worth of newspaper columns (I would describe them as humor – not merely as entertainment, but to make a statement about surviving life by keeping a sense of humor and adventure.
- Are you working on a new book right now? Do you have a title for it yet? What is it about?
Yes, Aging Fearlessly will be released October 15, 2015. It replaces the newspaper columns which I recently gave up because I feared all the references to aging would be growing tedious for the general public – putting my thoughts on aging in a book instead. (It’s NOT about aging gracefully but more about finding the freedom to age outrageously if that gives us joy and doesn’t hurt anyone.
- Have you received any awards?
I have received awards from the Mississippi and Louisiana Associations of Business Communicators for magazines, annual reports etc. My first book Love, Laughter & Losing My Keys made the top ten best selling books by the Clarion- Ledger much to my surprise.
- Do you have any advice for future writers or students today?
Tighten up the writing without sacrificing imagery and honest emotion.
- How has Mississippi or living in Mississippi influenced your writing?
More to the point – being raised in a small town in Mississippi where character and spiritual values were uppermost in the lives of its citizens and a sense of joy and peace in the face of all kinds of circumstances was hammered into my head and it stuck!
- Have you held other jobs or positions that are important to your biographical information?
My first job was with Memphis Commercial Appeal (where I learned I only wanted to report good news and wasn’t a good investigative journalist) followed by positions as communication and public relations director for several statewide associations in Louisiana, Mississippi & Alabama. Didn’t get back to creative writing until I became a retired senior citizen and returned to the area where I grew up and continued friendships made in the sandbox back in the last century.
- How has Mississippi or living in Mississippi influenced your writing?
Emily Jones signs Love, Laughter, and Losing My Keys. Photo by N. Jacobs
More to the point – being raised in a small town in Mississippi where character and spiritual values were uppermost in the lives of its citizens and a sense of joy and peace in the face of all kinds of circumstances was hammered into my head and it stuck!
- Have you held other jobs or positions that are important to your biographical information?
My first job was with Memphis Commercial Appeal (where I learned I only wanted to report good news and wasn’t a good investigative journalist) followed by positions as communication and public relations director for several statewide associations in Louisiana, Mississippi & Alabama. Didn’t get back to creative writing until I became a retired senior citizen and returned to the area where I grew up and continued friendships made in the sandbox back in the last century.
Review of Love, Laughter, and Losing My Keys (from book cover, used with permission)
Love is difficult enough at any age, and Emily Braddock Jones knows just how to temper the most difficult of circumstances we find ourselves in — with dashes of humor she has regaled us with for years in her newspaper columns, which have run in nearly 40 newspapers across the country. But even Emily isn’t so sure what to do when her car keys disappear! Love, Laughter, and Losing My Keys is a humorous, touching and absorbing collection of her published columns that do what legends like Erma Bombeck did so effortlessly: RELATE to the reader. From tips on “straightening the house” to see a college roommate for the first time in a quarter century to whether to serve a dish that should have been refrigerated but was accidentally left in a cabinet, well, you’ve been there – and so has Emily. You’ll laugh when you find out why her flower bed caught fire in the middle of the night, and you’ll shed a tear as she describes losing her beloved dog, Cajun. Illustrated with breathtaking artwork from artist Nel Slaughter, Love, Laughter, and Losing My Keys will take you on a year-long odyssey of themed essays (Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall) before delving into Emily’s current state of affairs – a baby boomer dealing almost gleefully with issues of aging. Emily pulls no punches while knocking back her daily dose of Ensure, and you’ll be chuckling long after you’ve finished turning the pages — as well as feeling like you’ve caught up with an old friend.