Reaching down into the msfame.liquidcreative.net mailbag

Often readers comment on stories and columns on this website long after publication. And, for that reason, I fear a lot of readers, who might be interested, never read the comments.
Today, let’s catch up on what readers have said about some past columns and blogs.
Well over a year ago, I wrote a column on Mike Dennis, the former Murrah and Ole Miss football star, who was retiring from his Jackson dentist practice and moving back to Oxford.
Reader Tod Littlefield apparently didn’t see the piece until today. Wrote Littlefield:
“I knew Mike as a child in 1968-1970 when he played for the (Los Angeles)Rams.  He, Jeff Jordan, Billy Truax and others would come to Kern County and go duck hunting with my dad.  He was the kindest man…he had an aura around him that was just good and I could sense this as a young boy.  My mom thought of him like a son and pointed to Mike as what it was to be a man. 
“I was so sad when he injured his knee during the preseason in ’70, I think it was against Pittsburgh.  After his surgery his wife (I think her name was Lori) called us and said that he would not be able to play football again.  She also said, ‘Mike was so fond of y’all.’
I remember being so happy that Mike would think of our family in that way. I wanted to be like him so much that I played football in high school, made all-league, played in the Central California All-Star Football Game and received a football scholarship to Boise State (opening game against Ole Miss this year).  Like most great people, Mike has an impact on those around him far, far greater than he knows.”
Hall of Famer Bill Buckner died last month, prompting an outpouring of praise for Buckner’s character — and sympathy for his family. Buckner once played for Hall of Famer Bull Sullivan at East Mississippi Community College in Scooba and Big Vic Sullivan, Bull’s oldest son, did not learn of Buckner’s death until this week. Wrote Sullivan:
“I learned today that Bill Buckner died on May 23rd. Bill may have been the best player that Daddy ever coached but for sure he was the finest person to ever wear the Lions uniform.
“He will be missed.”
When long-time Jackson columnist Orley Hood died in February, I wrote about what had he had meant to Mississippi and to me, personally.
Others have since chimed in. Here are two:
From Mickey Spagnola, whose journalism career took him from the Jackson Daily News to Dallas: