56 years ago on September 26, 1956, Elvis Presley performed at his Tupelo Homecoming Concert in Mississippi. Daddy was there to lend support and open Elvis’ concert doing comedic impersonations of Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney and Marlon Brando. Elvis wowed his hometown and this was to be one of the most important moments in his life.

“When Elvis came up on that stage I thought someone had just dropped an Atomic Bomb. They cheered so loud I thought I was going to lose an eardrum. Someone told me the population of Tupelo was 12,000. Well there were close to 50,000 people at Elvis’ Homecoming.” (The Rebel and the King excerpt by Nick Adams)

Elvis was about to give a show to many who had only thought of him as the poor boy with a bad Daddy. Elvis, ten years earlier, a gangly 11 year old with glasses and a dimestore guitar he bought at Tupelo Hardware, had won fifth place in a talent show singing Ole Shep.

“Elvis told everyone what a great thrill this was for so many reasons. One of them was because he used to sneak into this very same fair when he was younger because he didn’t have any money to buy a ticket. Elvis said, “Last time I was here, I didn’t even have a nickel.” (Excerpt by Nick Adams)

In honor of this anniversary, The Rebel & the King is now available on Amazon after a successful, pre-release tour surrounding Elvis Week at Graceland in August. The video “Walking in Memphis with The Rebel and the King” that Roy Turner put together of Maria Sanderson’s photos, Big Jim, Hal Lansky, all the interviews clips and his special archival collection of Elvis history- says it all. Marc Cohen’s “Walking in Memphis” seems to be written for my Elvis pilgrimage. But, in all honesty, TUPELO, MISSISSIPPI is the star of the trip because that’s where I met Roy Turner, which is kind of a strange story.

Right around the time I was publishing the book I went to my healer just after reading Elaine Dundy’s scathing portrayal of Nick Adams in her book, Elvis and Gladys. Little did I know, my healer was Elaine Dundy’s, New York socialite and famed writer of The Dud Avocado, best friend. During our session, my healer confessed that she never gives messages, but this one was so strong that she had to deliver it. Elaine Dundy was directing me to contact Roy Turner. OMG, I just read something she wrote about my father. How can I get a hold of her? She died four years ago. Okaaay…As fate would have it, I was too busy to contact Roy, so Roy contacted me. I went out on a limb and told him about my psychic, medium communication with Elaine. Roy assured me he knew Elaine Dundy’s spirit well and he and I were soul mates from then on.

Roy brought me into the soul of Elvis by introducing me to Elvis Presley’s birthplace in Tupelo. Dragging me and 800 books (I had delivered to his driveway right before a rain storm), Roy was my ambassador to all the warm (Tupelo in August everybody is warm) friendly Elvis fans with stories to tell and pictures to share. Here I was in the midst of a true American tale of rags to riches where Elvis with the faith of a mustard seed became the entertainer of his dreams. And it is Elaine Dundy’s writings that gave me the greatest insight into the boy Elvis. I hit the motherlode in Tupelo and will never be the same.

Coming soon is an essay “Elvis and The Mississippi-Alabama Fair” written by Elaine Dundy on April 17, 2005 before her death when she was practically blind from a degenerative disease and still writing with a special keyboard. This never before published essay is a key insight into the significance of the Tupelo Homecoming on Elvis. Stay tuned and go to http://www.Amazon.com to order The Rebel and the King. Feel free to write a review if you have read the book. Thank you to everybody who keeps making this journey an adventure.