Jane Flowers
In the pre dawn hours on May 10, 1980 two youths were driving down a Mississippi Street when they noticed smoke billowing off in the distance at a house fire. The two youths reported the fire to the nearest fire station at 3:28 a.m. that was located only three blocks from the house engulfed in flames. The home on fire was taht of U.S. Navy Veteran Dentist Dr. Tom Boring and he died in the fire as a result in a Cold Case murder mystery that stunned everyone in the Mississippi Delta and people with in the fine art community. Tom had been involved throughout his life in a number of controversies with the law. Twice within his lifetime he had his Dental license revoked for convictions concerning manufacturer or possession of marijuana. Tom’s unsolved murder is just one episode in his highly unconventional private life that involved guns, alcohol,drugs and women.His Legacy is best known for fine art photographs his friend photographer Wiliam Eggleston brought kicking and screaming into the art world over 40 years ago. His life story detailed in the pages of this book is about what happened before, during, and after the famous photograph (Untitled) Greenwood, Mississippi 1973, informally known as 'The Red Ceiling,’ was taken by William Eggleston in Tom’s home. In the photo shows a naked light bulb in the center of a bright red ceiling. 'The red ceiling is simple a red ceiling whith white diagonal cables and a light bulb hanging down in the middle. There’s a Kamasutra freeze. There’s something pornographic here almost. It’s the sight of a murder. A horrible murder. The walls are bleeding. This is someting terrible has happened in this room. It could be also be witnessed by a fly. You know buzzing around that bulb in the abstinent heat. The room probably stinks. One picture of a red ceiling and it can carry all that. It’s about surface and it’s not. It is about what it depicts and it’s not. It’s about something much more.The True Legacy of Dr. Tom Boring will forever transform the way you see and get you closer to photgraphs taken in the 1970’s of Tom and his home by William Eggleston, while recreating the crime scene of where and how he was murdered in the Mississippi Delta. 3
