Born during the Depression in Becker, Mississippi, Dr. Jo Miller is a writer and retired counselor. She worked for several schools and three universities: Delta State University, Mississippi State University, and University of Mississippi. As a student at the University of Mississippi, Miller developed a strong interest in literature and pursued a double major in English and history. After graduating with honors from the university in 1952, Miller married and became a mother of four children. In 1960, when her children were in school, she went back to college to receive a master's degree. At that time, she became an instructor at the University of Mississippi Laboratory High School, teaching English for two years before going into the counseling field. During the summer of 1962, Miller received a National Defense Education Grant in Counseling at the University of Houston. The next year, Miller and her four children moved to Texas City, where she continued working as a counselor. In 1977, Miller received her doctorate and continued working as a liaison between the State Department of Education and the various universities in the state of Mississippi. Now in her senior years, Dr. Jo Miller offers her debut novel, A Man Named Ezell. She enjoyed writing and researching it tremendously. During the Great Depression, life is hard for most. But for Ezell Jefferson Oldham, a young black man being raised by a white family in the Deep South, life is filled with constant challenges. Whether mourning the death of his biological mother, searching for his longlost father, volunteering for the marines, or dealing with the aftermath of his time in World War II, Ezell struggles to reconcile his heritage while desperately searching for a place to belong. Told through the words of Alva Jo, a young white woman who was fortunate enough to call Ezell "family," this story weaves together the conflicts, triumphs, loves, and losses of A Man Named Ezell.