Who
is Will D. Campbell?
Site of Campbell's Baptism
Amite County, MS
Well, a part of what I grew up on was that I had been sort of given to the Lord. You know, they had kind of made a deal with the Lord there, I guess, /it was/ almost "Well, look at him he's not worth anything so if you want to pull him through you can have him", /laughter/ like the runt in a litter of fish[pigs]: "Look, you can have him, he is yours anyway". So I sort of grew up on that.
Again, I'm not being critical of that because that's as good a way to receive a divine call as any; as a burning bush or anything else. But I lived with that. I never had any thought, except when I'd get a whipping or something, and be mad or rebellious, I'd think "Well, I'm going to be a merchant marine, like Addison Sinclair", or "I will be a railroad man like Uncle Boyce Parker". But I was always going to be a preacher.
--- Will Campbell Oral History
