Ellington

Charles Hollingsworth Hooker Jr., 58, holds dear his faith, family, furniture—mid-century modern business furniture, that is—and jazz. After growing up in his father's downtown business, the Mississippi Stationery Company, the Jackson native now owns and operates its present incarnation—OffiSource on Old Square Road. A product of Jackson Public Schools, Hooker said he's pleased with the 36 years since he graduated with a business degree from State.

Thirty-six years is the exact length of his marriage to Anne. They met at Murrah, but she went to MSCW—Mississippi's Sweetest Collection of Women, Charles shared with a chuckle. Still in awe of the woman who won his heart, he said, "What you see is what you get—that's her, 24/7."

The pair raised two sons, 30-year-old Charles Hollingsworth Hooker III and William Yerger Hooker, 27. "I'll tell you this—grown children rival little children for how much fun they are," Hooker said as he stood to retrieve pictures of his family from around his office.

Hooker mentioned parental advice he received from his priests at St. Andrews Episcopal: Listen intently, respectfully to what your children have to say as they make adult decisions, always allowing them room to realize they've made a decision that they need to change, if it comes to that. "My earliest dream [for my sons] was that when they were grown, we'd have an adult-to-adult relationship," Hooker said. They do.

Hooker's involvement with jazz in Jackson began when he and Anne heard Rhonda Richmond sing at the now-defunct Blackwater Café, then a week later at the now-defunct Musiquarium. The Hookers were hooked.

He began sponsoring OffiSource Jazz at Musiquarium, great fun for two years. Getting to know the musicians has been great, too. "They are the best people. I haven't yet met one who's a jerk, and what other profession can you say that about?" Hooker asked. He now sponsors Jazz, Art and Friends at the Mississippi Museum of Art, one Thursday each month.

The May Thursday the Ezra Brown Quartet played, Hooker looked over at me during a break and said, "They're having a conversation among themselves, and we're allowed to listen in." Then he and Anne continued listening with relaxed pleasure and unabashed appreciation of the individuals and their gifts—skills he honed while raising his two sons.