“I look as though I’ve just heard something humorous and I’msavoring it.”

That was Eudora Welty’s reaction to a bronze bust Dr. KimSessums made when he showed it to the literary legend several yearsago.

“I’ll never forget that,” Sessums said Tuesday as he recalledsome of his experiences with Welty.

Welty died Monday in Jackson. She was 92.

Sessums said Welty’s death was a sad thing, but she wouldcontinue to touch lives through her many works.

“I think the beauty of her life is she shared it with so manythrough her life and her words,” Sessums said. “She’s truly goingto live on.”

The Brookhaven doctor and artist said Welty had an ability towrite about things in ways so everyone, whether they were from thesouth or not, could relate.

“That was a sweet thing,” Sessums said. “She was a literarylegend around the world and put Mississippi on the map.”

While Welty was known for her writings, Sessums said it was herphotography that attracted him and prompted a desire to create thebust, which was completed in 1998.

“Though she considered herself simply a recorder of life throughthe lens of her camera, she, despite all humility, obviouslypossessed a natural gift, an eye for composition (she cropped theimages on the spot through the viewfinder of her camera) … a trueartist’s eye,” Sessums wrote a brief Welty memorial, which he mayseek to have published.

Sessums began work on the Welty bust in 1995. He said he spent ayear doing research and reading her literary works.

“Some things she revealed about herself in her writings, but shewas a very private person,” Sessums said.

Sessums said Welty was hesitant to allow him to do the bust atfirst. She maintained a close circle of friends, he said, and wasvery concerned that the bust not be pursued as a commercialendeavor.

“After she warmed up a bit, she was tickled by it,” Sessumssaid.

Welty’s Belhaven area home has been left to the MississippiDepartment of Archives and History. Sessums said there have beensome discussions about restoring the home and opening it for publictours.

The first artist’s proof casting of Sessums’ Welty bust has beendonated to the department for possible display at the home.

“I’m hoping this bust will be a reminder to people of what shedid in life,” Sessums said, adding that he hoped it would encouragepeople to read. “That would be something special.”