On September 30, 2001, two towering figures of Mississippi history met each other for the first time at a bookstore in Jackson, Mississippi, during a book signing for William Doyle's "An American Insurrection: the Battle of Oxford, Mississippi, 1962." James Meredith greets eighty-five year old William Simmons, former chief of the Citizens Council of America, thirty-nine years to the day after their surrogate armies prepared to clash at the Battle of Oxford.

Although they had both lived in Jackson much of their lives, the two men had never met before. The two one-time arch-enemies greeted each other warmly, sat down and discussed American history while signing copies of Doyle's book.

"I've heard of the lion laying down with the lamb," Simmons quipped upon meeting Meredith, "but I'm not sure which is which!"