JACKSON, Miss. >> Nearly seven months after blues legend B.B. King died, his Mississippi grave site is being turned into a serene spot where blues fans can pay their respects.
A black granite marker engraved with his signature is the centerpiece of a memorial courtyard outside the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center in Indianola.
The courtyard, with benches, eventually will be surrounded by walls that alternate between solid panels engraved with song titles and wooden slats that allow breezes to pass through the space.
King was 89 when he died May 14 at his home in Las Vegas. He was buried two weeks later at the museum in Indianola, the hometown in the Mississippi Delta where he first sang and played guitar on street corners and where he continued to play annually until a year before his death.
“One kind favor I’ll ask of you / One kind favor I’ll ask of you / It’s one kind favor I’ll ask of you / Please see that my grave is kept clean,” King sang on his Grammy-winning 2008 album.
King’s grave was kept clean, but not extravagant, in the first few months after his burial. The site is surrounded by a chain-link fence and marked only by a patch of artificial turf and a wreath of purple silk flowers.
Expenses to develop the memorial courtyard will be paid partly by King’s estate and partly by private donations. Mississippi’s economic development agency is also contributing about $50,000.
Park ups its ‘Harry Potter’ appeal
LOS ANGELES >> Rides and other attractions based on Harry Potter will open April 7 at the Universal Hollywood theme park in Los Angeles, Universal announced Tuesday.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter will include an immersive 3-D ride called Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, along with an outdoor family coaster, Flight of the Hippogriff. The Wizarding World also features depictions of Hogwarts castle and the village of Hogsmeade, both central backdrops for the “Harry Potter” book and movie series.
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