Two Big Trees

Emma Flautt Crisler. Keith Douglas Kirkland. Each a Big Tree in their Forest.

Ghost River section of the Wolf River (from Wikipedia)

Two big trees fell in the forest of our communities last week ~~~ RIP Emma Flautt Crisler (1939-2025) ~~~ RIP Keith Douglas Kirkland (1957-2025).  

Their lives and deaths were completely unrelated, and yet I enjoyed a deep & intimate life bond with each, (and I know many of my readers did as well).  I hope you don't mind, I am going to recognize both in one newsletter.  Two separate lives, and yet connected through me and my family, and through the inclusive nature of our mighty Mississippi.

(Confession: I have been reluctant to recognize the loss, resisting painful reality like hot glue sticky in my heart.  I woke up early this cool spring morning, and finally tossed that aside this morning along with suffocatingly warm blankets.  The anguish of accepting the inevitable end is balanced by the cathartic enlightenment that comes with accepting the loss, and sharing life stories.) 

Each was a remarkable person.  Each was a big tree in the depth of their community forest.

Emma Flautt Crisler 1939-2025

Big Em with Little Em

I first met Big Emma (Flautt Crisler) in Clarksdale, MS, during a Thanksgiving meal on the front porch of my good friend Panny Flautt Mayfield, who is Big Emma's older sister.  Clarksdale has a wonderful tradition of kindness to strangers. I also met Emma's daughter, Sarah, on same porch; later we married.  When we had a daughter, we decided to carry on the family name.  We called grandma "Big Emma" to distinguish her from our daughter "Little Emma" (even though the little one quickly outgrew the big one as the years progressed forward!).  

Big Emma was a pillar in the temple of her community.  Despite her physical stature, she left giant footsteps behind wherever she walked, in the form of stories and commentary and photographs -- endless stories both vocal and written, stories shared with anyone who would listen, and also news stories through her newspaper, the Port Gibson Reveille (oldest family-owned weekly in the State of Mississippi).  Everything she wrote was hard copy, with her trusty manual electric typewriter, throughout the decades, and in and out of one century, and one millennium, and into another.  A true renegade of the American journalism tradition.

Big Emma loved flowers, and butterflies, and she loved traveling around her beloved Claiborne County to visit and photograph waterfalls and any open water scenes as viewed from bridges and roadside pullovers, mostly within the drainages of Bayou Pierre, Little Bayou Pierre, the Big Black River, Cole Creek, and the Mississippi River, as seen from Grand Gulf (AKA "Grand Gulp"), and the Port Gibson Harbor.  

She was a long time reader of this newsletter; she helped support our summer camps and community canoes, and was influential in the creation of the Rivergator: Paddler's Guide to the Lower Mississippi.  She was a fan of geography and nature, as much as she was of history and literature.  (although she could get spicy when it came to grammar, as well as board meetings, truancy, and delinquency). 

True to form, Big Emma did not leave the earth before getting the paper out.  She died from a bump on her head, at end of day leaving downtown Port Gibson offices, and just minutes after getting the latest edition of the Reveille out the door (last issue, May 1, 2025, with front page column & color photos "Did Rain Wash the Flowers Away?").  Yes, Miss Emma, the rain did wash the flowers away that day, and you were the biggest and most beautiful of them all.

Big Emma shared the wonders of changing seasons of South Mississippi flora and fauna, in the weekly Reveille, including local garden trophies, and local trophy fish caught, as surely as she covered County Supervisor meetings, and Police Reports, and many other topics in her rambling community commentary in her editor's column.  She was the conscience of her community.  And yet her eyes (and camera) have always been attracted by the endless varieties of color and beauty splashed around the corners of Claiborne County.

This is my vision of Big Emma, post mortem: she is now forever following trails of butterflies and flowers in the great heavenly beyond, hand-in-hand with her late husband Edgar Crisler, Jr, now reunited, and taking photos as a team, and now reporting on the daily doings and dramas of the angels and saints, and all other souls in her heavenly company.  And of course admiring all the flowers and flowing waters found in that promised land in the great beyond.

Above photo: a fine tradition continued through the generations: grand-daughter Emma helping grandma Emma and staff, Margie Bufkin (d), her daughter Patricia and grand-daughter Finley.  The Port Gibson Reveille, Mississippi's oldest family-owned weekly.  Note: in concurrent tragedy, on Wed May 7th, the day of Big Emma's funeral, Marjorie "Bufkin Marjorie "Margie" Cain Bufkin 1945 ~ 2025 passed away after 37 years as a dedicated employee of the Reveille.  You can read Miss Bufkin's obituary here.

Big Emma with her trusty manual typewriter. Everything she wrote throughout the decades, and in and out of one century and into another, was hard copy. A true renegade of the American journalism tradition.

Emma Flautt Crisler
March 1, 1939 - May 2, 2025

Emma Flautt Crisler, editor and publisher of the Port Gibson Reveille, died Friday, May 2, 2025, at UMMC, from a fall after “putting the paper to bed” for the weekly edition. She was 86. 

While Emma worked full time in her own career and raised her daughter, she also assisted her husband Edgar every Wednesday, often late into the night, completing the paper for publication on Thursday. When Edgar died in 1997, Emma retired, intending to steer the Reveille until the 100th anniversary of the paper being in the Crisler family in 1998. After she reached this initial goal, Emma’s dedication to the importance of a free press in a democratic society inspired her to continue for twenty-seven more years. 

Emma loved history and had an extraordinary memory for dates and stories. She was a member of the Pathfinder Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and held numerous offices in the local chapter and at the state level. She was also a member of  the Colonial Dames and served on the Port Gibson Heritage Trust. Both the work and the friendships she shared through these organizations meant the world to her.

Emma was born March 1, 1939 in Memphis, TN to William and Mary Flautt and grew up in Tutwiler, MS. She attended West Tallahatchie High School and participated in band and Girls’ State. She attended Marymount College in St. Louis, MO her freshman year and graduated from the University of Mississippi in 1961 with a degree in English and a minor in Journalism. At Ole Miss, Emma was a member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority. After graduating, she taught at McComb High School and also at Cooper High School in Vicksburg, MS. She met Edgar Crisler, Jr. through her sister, Panny Mayfield, and they were married in September of 1969. They settled in Port Gibson, and she taught briefly at Claiborne Educational Foundation. 

Emma began a Master’s degree at Mississippi College before being interrupted by the birth of her daughter. She never liked to leave things unfinished, and with the steadfast help of Edgar driving her back and forth on the Natchez Trace, she completed her Master’s degree in English. 

When she returned to work soon after, she became an eligibility worker at the Welfare Department and soon thereafter a social worker, and she was dedicated to this work for over twenty years until she took over at the Reveille. 
Outside of her professions, Emma was a devoted member of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church where she taught Sunday school for many years and was an integral part of the church community.

Emma often joked about not having hobbies, but her rich life was full of family, church, and community. 

Emma was preceded in death by her parents, Willam and Mary Flautt, her brother, William F. Flautt, Jr., and her husband, Edgar Crisler, Jr.

She is survived by her daughter, Sarah Crisler-Ruskey, and her granddaughter, Emma Crisler-Ruskey, her sister Panny Mayfield, and her nieces, nephews, and great-nieces and great-nephews. She also leaves behind her cherished longtime co-workers, Margie Bufkin and Janice Carter.

Visitation will be at the family home at 1 p.m. Wednesday, May 7 and services at 2:00 p.m. at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church with burial to follow at Wintergreen Cemetery. 

Memorials may be made to St. Joseph’s Catholic Church or the Harriet Pearson Memorial Library.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Emma Flautt Crisler, please visit our floral store.

Keith Douglas Kirkland 1957-2025

I first met Keith back in the mid-90s at Outdoors Inc Mid-Town.   I was immediately drawn to his cheerful and charismatic nature; his booming Tennessee drawl filled the store. He told great stories, and delivered helpful knowledgable  advice on all manner of equipment for sale.  Memphis is one of those neighborly cities where individuals seem to shine, and Keith was a bright one -- a ray of sunshine.  We became fast friends through our mutual love of nature and paddling.  He turned me onto the surprising wonders of the Wolf River.  Several years later he & his vibrant wife (Margaret) joined us in the Delta for a multi-day New Years Mississippi River adventure in a big canoe during the second year of our operations as a company (1999), putting in at Mhoon Landing in Tunica and sailing downstream to Helena (or maybe Montezuma, near Friars Point).  We paddled 27' Ladybug Canoe.  Keith proudly remembered that trip as "the one where my daughter Hannah was conceived!" This was a story he repeated to anyone who would listen, as he did with so many other stories, which for us friends became chapters in a favorite book we repeatedly opened, the stories cutting grooves into our psyches like wagon wheels into the muddy bluffs of the Natchez Trace.  

Some of the best chapters of this book include the "Doo-Rag" chapter, the "River Guide 3 Responses You Can Use to Answer Any Question" chapter, the "Juke Joint Woman in the Gold Lamé Dress I'll Give you Twins" chapter, the "River Grabbed her Paddle and Wouldn't Let Go!" chapter, the "What'd He Just Say? A Towboat About to Run Us Over?" chapter, the "Rooster in the Hot Springs" chapter, the hillbilly "You Have the prettiest Lips!" chapter, the "Cold night lost in the Maze of the Ghost River" chapter, and so on and so forth.  Anyone who spent an evening around the riverbank campfire with Keith will know these gems, usually shared with a can of beer in one hand, and illustrative hands gestures alongside, and many more, treasures we now share as those lucky enough to have rubbed elbows with his finely tuned sense of family, adventure, conservation, drama, and gritty love of wild places.  If he didn't like you, you would probably end up in one of his stories, beginning with an exclamation, "That Sonofabitch!"  When you live a passionate life rooted in wilderness & family & community ethics, as Keith lived, and you have a deep moral compass, like Keith did, you will inevitably cross paths with those that don't.  

He was so proud of Margaret and Hannah, a deep loving husband, and a doting loving father, he endlessly related fun stories from their life's adventures.  But Margaret kept him in check telling as many stories about Keith, as Keith did, such as the time he "Forgot to Step on the Brake First to start his Prius," and the "Lick Creek Escape" story, and many other goodies full of good humor and earthy wisdom.  And how about the many tales that involves Keith's sense of direction?   Such as the time he "Failed to Return from WalMart West Memphis," and also the "Which Way is Memphis? -- Strange Case of the Delta Triangle" chapter.  We'll definitely have to add those to the book!

Keith was there for me in and out of several girlfriend heartbreaks; he & Margaret  became my home base when I started dating my wife-to-be, Sarah, who was a French professor at Rhodes at that time.  Keith & Margaret came to our wedding and gifted us a pair of sweet bending branches bent shaft paddles, the finest paddles I'd ever used up to that point.  My marriage didn't last, but the paddles did (as well as our beloved daughter Emma-Lou, who knew Keith & Margaret, and was entranced by Hannah -- just graduated from the Mississippi School of the Arts, and going to Middlebury College).

I cherish these stories and memories with Keith, his eyes lit up like glowing embers, his rich resonant voice rumbling clearly amongst the gurgles of the water, and owl and coyote calls.  His infectious laugh.  We shared many a river adventure, and cooking by the campfire story, on the Wolf River, the Mississippi, the Big South Fork, and the Hatchie River.  I am running out of space and time here.  Someday in the future I'll share more Keith stories, and sometime I hope to hear some of yours!

Keith Douglas Kirkland
July 17, 1957 – April 29, 2025

Keith Kirkland, of Memphis, Tennessee, passed away on April 29, 2025, at the age of 67. Born in Memphis, Keith lived a life guided by a deep love of family, nature, music and community.

A proud graduate of the University of Memphis, Keith was an avid outdoorsman, conservationist, educator, husband and father.  He spent many years managing Outdoors Inc., where he shared his passion for the outdoors and helped foster a spirit of adventure in others. Following his time at Outdoors Inc., he served as the Executive Director of The Wolf River Conservancy, where his dedication to conservation left a lasting legacy.

Keith was among the first to navigate and chart the Ghost River section of the Wolf River, blazing a trail rough that swamp that has since been enjoyed by countless others. His pioneering efforts and vision helped protect and promote one of the region’s most treasured natural areas.  Keith was also known for leading and planning amazing group adventures like the monthly full moon floats on the Wolf River.  It was on one such an adventure that Kieth met his wife, Margaret.

Keith cherished his wife Margaret and their daughter, Hannah. Together they shared many great adventures.

Keith was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Margaret Welsh Kirkland; his parents, Billy Joe Kirkland and Marium “Mimi” Kirkland. He is survived by his daughter, Hannah Kirkland; his brothers, Karl Kirkland and Kerry Kirkland (Kim); his sister, Kim Wolfe (Steve); and his cherished nieces and nephews: Lauren Patterson (Andrew), Mathew Kirkland (Meridith), Brandon Wolfe (Ambher), and Brittney Wolfe. He also leaves behind seven great-nieces and great-nephews, all of whom brought him joy.

Keith will be remembered for his commitment to family, love of Juke Joints, generosity, campfire story-telling, adventurous spirit, and lifelong commitment to protecting the natural world. His impact on those who knew him and the landscapes he loved will be felt for generations to come.

A celebration of life service will be held May 29th at the Overton Park Shell- a venue very dear to Keith.  We will have a deck reserved to see the band, Chapparel. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Quapaw Canoe Company (Clarksdale Mississippi) in Keith’s honor.  Keith was a big supporter of Quapaw’s mission to support and educate low-income kids of Clarksdale.
RIP sweet Keith.  It’s time to rest.  You’re leaving a gap in Memphis and our hearts but we know you’re now with Margaret again.  

“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most exciting view.  May your mountains rise into and above the clouds,” 
-Edward Abbey

For more Keith stories, click here

Lower Mississippi River Dispatch No. 974
"Voice of the Lower Mississippi River"