It has been just a few days over two years since the death of Bill Lytal, a professor and friend of mine. I came to know him when I transferred from Hinds JC to Mississippi College. Unsure of exactly what I wanted to major in, I chose business and communications and became an employee of the Learning Resources Center (LRC). It was in the day prior to VHS when large video cassettes taped shows from PBS and they were catalogued and placed into the Learning Resources Library. Dr. Lytal reigned over the LRC and staff employee, Richard Ritchie and librarian, Wanda Mosley helped to run a very interesting place to work during my last two years of college.A day at the LRC could range from anything from working in the studio, building sets (he was a good carpenter) for an academic challenge or coaches playback show , running camera or switchboard or editing film or video tape or simply working the counter and checking out video tapes. Sometimes we would go into the field and tape a commercial for Mississippi College or some event that was happening on campus. Once we bounced around Mississippi, taping a couple of MC professors, the late Ed Akin and Ron Howard, in a Mississippi History series.
For as much as I learned from Bill Lytal, perhaps one of the most important conversations that I had with him was near the end of my junior year of college, several months after my father abandoned my family and left me, my mother and sixteen year old sister to fend for ourselves. I told Dr. Lytal that I was thinking of dropping out of college and getting a job. I told him that I would work for a few years and then come back and finish my degree. I remember Lytal telling me to step into his office. He closed the door behind me and gave me what was some of the best advice ever given a college student:
"Ricky, you're not going to drop out. You're going to come back and finish your degree next year. From this point on, your major is graduation. I don't care what your diploma says, your major is graduation. When you get that diploma, someone will hire you and train you to do whatever it is they want you to do, however they want you to do it... but you have to have that diploma."
Thank goodness for Dr. Lytal and the advice that he gave me that day. I did major in "graduation" and my class ranking was less than stellar, but I got a diploma from MC and everything that Lytal told me was correct.
Mississippi College was the right place for me at that time and Dr. Lytal was the professor, advisor and friend that I needed. God bless the memory of Bill Lytal and may his family forever be blessed with the memory of such a great man.
