Mother of Pearl (novel) Mother of Pearl (novel) "See Nacre for material produced by mollusks." Mother of Pearl (1999) is a novel by Melinda Haynes, and was chosen as an Oprah's Book Club selection, June 1999. The audio version is performed by Nana Visitor. Set in Petal, Mississippi, a small town at the close of the 1950s, this novel tells the story of the 28-year-old Even Grade, a black man who grew up an orphan, and Valuable Korner, a 15-year-old white girl, who is the daughter of the town prostitute and an unknown father. They are both separately seeking the family, love, and affection
Bruce Pearl November 20, 2010, the SEC ordered Pearl to sit out Tennessee's first eight SEC games. After finding out about additional NCAA violations, as well as a violation of the school's substance abuse policy by a player, Tennessee fired Pearl on March 21, 2011—three days after the Vols' blowout loss to Michigan. On August 23, 2011, Pearl was given a three-year show-cause penalty for lying to the NCAA, effective until August 23, 2014. This meant that the sanctions imposed on Pearl would remain in force if he was hired by an NCAA member school within that period. Specifically, he was prohibited