Mr. Stone|Oxford Lawyer

The Oxford, Mississippi, lawyer with whom Linda consults while attending the University of Mississippi is named Stone in The Town. At her request, he devises a "contingency" by which Linda stipulates that Flem Snopes should receive any inheritance she is left by her mother. "He was very nice," Linda says (342). (He is mentioned but not named in The Mansion.) The real person behind this character is unquestionably Oxford resident Phil Stone, a lawyer and a descendant of a prominent local family. Four years older than William Faulkner, Stone served as the young writer's friend, mentor, and advocate, especially at the beginning of his career. Stone and Faulkner first developed 'Snopes stories' to make fun of certain parvenu families in Lafayette County. Faulkner dedicated all three volumes of the Snopes trilogy to that real Stone.