Bobbie Sue Brantley

Bobbie Sue Brantley’s early life and family will be very familiar to Baby Boomers. The story line is reminiscent of Ode to Billy Joe, Bobbie Gentry’s blockbuster hit from 1967, and will resonate with everyone over 50. We all know the ballad, we all sang the song, we all wondered just how and why Billy Joe ended up in the Tallahatchie River.

The Tallahatchie River divides residents of Choctaw County MS into the haves and the have-nots. Bobbie Sue and Billy Joe McAlister come from different sides. It’s a Romeo and Juliet scenario with Sue, Bobbie Sue’s mom, cast as the villain. Sue came from the Ridge half of the county like Billy Joe, with social climbing aspirations, a love of money and a need for men. The latter focused on younger, single males, most prominently the new young preacher who moved into town.

LIterally millions of high school seniors wrote essays giving their opinions of just what the young couple were throwing off that fated bridge. The mystery has never been solved to anyone’s satisfaction. Bobbie Sue Brantley exposes both the public and private lives of then and there, and could have occurred in any small southern town. In many, the scene still plays out.

Don’t miss the chance to learn the solution to this half-century-old mystery.