Biloxi Pop Culture

If you were putting together a mix tape for a drive along Highway 90, there’d have to be a whole lot of Jimmy Buffett on there—born in the industrial city of Pascagoula and a graduate of the state university in nearby Hattiesburg, Buffett is just about the most famous Gulf Coast native there is apart, perhaps, from Brett Favre (Kiln) or Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts (Pass Christian). Post Katrina, a wave of documentary projects captured the aftermath along the gulf coast; those who watched the infamous reality television show "The Simple Life" (2003-2007), may recognize Ocean Springs, Mississippi as one of the stops made by series stars Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. Ocean Springs and Biloxi made appearances in Mira Nair’s 1991 film, Mississippi Masala, starring Denzel Washington. Mississippi is famous for its writers, from William Faulkner on down. Historian Stephen E. Ambrose lived in Bay St. Louis for years. Ambrose is best-known, perhaps, for his World War II historical novel Band of Brothers, which was made into a 2001 HBO mini-series.