NATCHEZ &8212; Nostalgia for the old days at Homochitto community was not the only reason for writing his new book, Mississippi author and former Natchez resident Paige Cothren said.

&8220;Home Sweet Homochitto&8221; is a tribute to a unique place in Southwest Mississippi, he said. For instance, from this little settlement of about 400 people came 23 young men who played college football in the mid 20th century, with six of them going on to play professional football in the National Football League and three making All-Pro.

Stories about the athletic prowess of its young men are only the beginning of the Homochitto memoir, however. Cothren describes Homochitto as a &8220;liberal arts community in sweaty work clothes.&8221;

There was not wealth but there was desire for education. In his generation, &8220;the desire to be educated produced an inordinate number of teachers, coaches, preachers and professional people like doctors, nurses, attorneys and bankers,&8221; he said. &8220;In the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, around 75 percent of the community&8217;s young people did (go to college), many of them working their ways through.&8221;

Moreover, Homochitto people liked to read and write poetry, sing and play musical instruments and perform on stage. &8220;And all of this flowed into what we called Children&8217;s Day,&8221; he said.

On Children&8217;s Day, every child in the community performed individually for all the parents and grandparents. &8220;Some sang solos, some played musical instruments, including the piano and some, like me &8230; memorized and quoted poems or essays,&8221; Cothren said.

Homochitto, or Brushy Creek, located in Amite County near the Franklin County line, has declined in population, Cothren said.

Central to the community is the Mount Vernon Methodist Church, still standing but with only about eight members.

&8220;My goal with this book is to preserve the culture of that community,&8221; he said. &8220;And every penny of book sales will go to that little church.&8221;

He remembers about 90 houses within three miles of the church in his childhood in the late 1930s and the 1940s.

&8220;That old church was founded in 1835,&8221; he said. The building is not the same, as &8220;we were more interested in comfort than condition. We remodeled it.&8221;

For Cothren, growing up in Homochitto was idyllic. &8220;I&8217;m sure there were conflicts, but I don&8217;t recall any,&8221; he said.

Cothren, who moved to Natchez when he was a senior in high school, was among those Homochitto boys who went on to play football in college and then as a professional for the Los Angeles Rams and the Philadelphia Eagles.

He earned a business degree from the University of Mississippi and later a master&8217;s degree from Dallas Theological Seminary.

He always has enjoyed writing, he said. &8220;If I had known you could have a profession as a writer, I would have majored in English or journalism,&8221; he said.

No matter; he has published 24 books and large booklets, including a book about Ole Miss football that is in its fifth printing.

He has written novels as well as books he used with patients in his Memphis counseling clinic.

Cothren lives near Tupelo now but also spends time in North Carolina, where he and his wife have a condominium.

He travels throughout the country to speak, most often on football, as that is the subject his audiences enjoy. &8220;I&8217;ve spoken in Natchez seven or eight times in recent years,&8221; he said.