Mark LaFrancis has been a writer, photographer and film maker for more than thirty years. He has won many local, state and national writing awards and was selected as the 2018 Mississippi Scholar by the Mississippi Humanities Council for his extensive work as an oral historian and filmmaker.
He has extensive experience as a journalist (33 years), film maker (10 years), and teacher of film and photography (15 years) with students from age 7 to 70. Read more about his workshops for youth and adults.
A retiree of the Armed Forces, Mark served for twenty-three years in the Air Force, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve, earning two Air Force Commendation Medals.
Mark also is the founder and president of Home With Heroes Foundation Inc., a private non-profit organization dedicated to helping veterans and their families, especially those suffering from combat and near combat experiences.
Inspired by soldiers and their loved ones
For the past seven years, Mark has interviewed soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan and their loved ones, and World War II veterans, letting them inspire a book collection and a multimedia program, which has been endorsed by the Mississippi Humanities Council as well as the Mississippi Arts Commission.
film and book
“The Parchman Ordeal: The Untold Story,” an award-winning documentary about the humiliation, abuse and punishment of more than 150 young Civil Rights advocates in Mississippi in 1965. The Parchman Ordeal. Vimeo for streaming and download.
Companion book: “The Parchman Ordeal: 1965 Natchez Civil Rights Injustice” available at Amazon. With foreword by James Meredith, Civil Rights Legend
