NATCHEZ &045; Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist William Raspberry and Mildred D. Taylor, award-winning author of &uot;Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry,&uot; were presented Saturday with this year’s Richard Wright Literary Excellence Awards.

A Saturday night ceremony, part of the Natchez Literary and Cinema Celebration, also featured screenwriter Callie Khouri (&uot;Thelma & Louise&uot;) receiving the Horton Foote Award for Outstanding Screenplay Writing.

During the event, which was held at the Natchez Convention Center, all three winners said they were deeply honored to receive the awards.

But for the most part, all three stayed on message, speaking of the need to pass history on to children, the need to see all sides of a controversy and the need to support quality films at the box office &045; or suffer through the shallow films that result.

Mildred D. Taylor

In accepting her Richard Wright Award, Mildred D. Taylor, Newberry Award winner for &uot;Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry,&uot; told a tale of two letters.

In one she recently received, a teacher in small-town Illinois said two of Taylor’s books were about to be banned in a school because they contained &uot;the n-word.&uot; In another, a student in Pennsylvania told of being asked by a teacher what novel he was currently reading. He asked a fellow student to &uot;grab me a book&uot; from a nearby shelf. She grabbed Taylor’s &uot;A Road to Memphis.&uot;

&uot;He said that because he read that book he began to understand the history of black of relationships between black and white (people) Š and why there was a need for a civil rights movement,&uot; Taylor said.

While she can understand why parents don’t want their children reading painful words, she said it’s important for families, not just schools, to give children a full account of the past.

Taylor said that because her relatives &045; foremost her father, an animated and powerful storyteller &045; told stories of the trials and accomplishments of black people, she could use those stories as the basis of her books. She dedicates her awards to her father, she said, because &uot;without his words, my words would not have been.&uot;

William Raspberry

In a time when the news presents states, parties and people as &uot;red&uot; or &uot;blue&uot; depending on their political bent, William Raspberry believes most thoughtful people are slightly Š purple.

That’s what the Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, a 45-year veteran of the Washington Post, told ceremony attendees in receiving his Richard Wright Award.

While Raspberry has been commended for his fairness, he believes the reason his long-syndicated column resonates with readers is simply because he does his best to present all sides.

Raspberry said the lessons he’s learned in his journalism career can be boiled down to one: &uot;On virtually every important controversy, Š most thoughtful people believe both sides.&uot;

While the news presents &uot;red&uot; (voting majority Republican) and &uot;blue&uot; (mostly Democratic) states, Raspberry said &uot;there is a little blue in the reddest of us, and a little red in the bluest of us. We’re all just a little bit purple.&uot;

Seeing all sides doesn’t mean a person doesn’t have the courage of his convictions, Raspberry stressed.

&uot;I’m sick to death,&uot; he said, &uot;of watching us try to grind each other to dust, Š like it’s a sin to acknowledge the other person just may have a point, too.&uot;

Callie Khouri

Callie Khouri needs your help.

Not to achieve recognition from her peers &045; she’s already won an Oscar, for her 1991 screenplay &uot;Thelma & Louise.&uot;

Or to attain a name for herself in Hollywood &045; she’s already achieved that with the success of such screenplays as &uot;Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood&uot; and &uot;Something to Talk About.&uot;

But in accepting this year’s Horton Foote Award, Khouri said studios’ quest for the biggest-grossing films has led to make movies catering to 16- to 25-year-old males, shallow flicks for young girls and action movies.

In the process, Khouri said, there has become less of a market for more emotionally complex movies. Her translation: less work for her and the thoughtful screenwriters that are now coming to Hollywood behind her.

&uot;I worry that their movies won’t see the light of day,&uot; Khouri said, noting that &uot;movies (that speak of) the intricacies of the human heart are harder to get made than ever before.&uot;

Therefore, Khouri challenged discerning moviegoers to support the good films that are coming out of Hollywood. &uot;There has to be a demand,&uot; she said.