The University of North Carolina Press

William Ferris

William Ferris is Joel R. Williamson Eminent Professor of History and senior associate director of the Center for the Study of the American South at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A former chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, Ferris coedited the Encyclopedia of Southern Culture and is the author of Blues from the Delta. Rolling Stone magazine has named him among the top ten professors in the United States. In 2010, Ferris received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters.

Visit the book website at GiveMyPoorHeartEase.com.


For the Author Q&A, click here.


For media materials (author photo, press release, etc.), click here.

See this video of William Ferris discussing the importance of blues music in American culture.