Mississippi Native: Johnny Wray
"Whether it’s walking the pastures and woods of our farm, taking a drive down the Natchez Trace, or visiting my maternal kinfolks in rural Choctaw County, I feel rooted and grounded in this place."
What does it mean to call Mississippi home? Why do people choose to leave or live in this weird, wonderful, and sometimes infuriating place? After many years away, Johnny Wray moved back to Mississippi to fulfill his dream of living and working on a small, regenerative farm. He and his wife now run High Hope Farm near West Point, where they raise grass-fed beef and lamb and share hospitality to a steady stream of guests at the farm’s Grateful Guest House. Johnny writes: “We are striving to make our farm itself a community of hospitality—what we like to call ‘a harmony of goodness’—from the network of microbes in the soil to the animals that graze our fields to the many and varied guests who make their way here.” Today Johnny shares how his home state’s many contradictions have kept him rooted here.
Where are you from?
I was born and raised in West Point.
Why did you leave Mississippi? Where did you go?
After graduating from Mi…
