Greenwood Soul Mates – Cameron Abel
For us, “soul” represents that unique essence each person contributes to their community, weaving a colorful tapestry of stories, talents, cultural experiences, and more. In Greenwood, this tapestry is formed by numerous unique individuals whose captivating stories and deep connections to the region’s food, music and history define our identity as a town and make Greenwood such an extraordinary place to visit. These remarkable individuals are our “Soul Mates.”
A Life Shaped by Words and Service
If you spend even a few minutes with Cameron Abel, one thing becomes clear: his life has unfolded as a long conversation between creativity, service and community. Originally from Oxford and a Greenwood resident for more than three decades, Cameron has followed a winding path from journalist to teacher to lawyer to professor, nonprofit leader and preacher. Every chapter connects through language, curiosity and a desire to help people find their way.
Greenwood, he says, is not just a place you live. It is a place that asks something of you. “Greenwood is an extremely unique place. The culture is very different, from senses of humor to what you do on a Friday night, and the adjustment itself is actually a joy. Becoming a Greenwood resident is very much a kind of search for yourself.”
Finding Home and Purpose in the Delta
Cameron came to the Delta in the mid-1990s, drawn partly by work and partly by love. He and his husband of 32 years, Buddy, settled in Greenwood while Cameron chased stories as a young journalist. The flat land, sharp humor and slow rhythm stood in contrast to anywhere he had lived before, but the contrast sparked creativity rather than limiting it.
“Greenwood’s a very social society,” Cameron says. “Whether it’s a social life centered through church or through work, through different organizations, we socialize a lot and we have a lot of fun together.”
What some see as a lack of distractions, Cameron sees as an invitation. “There’s a reason why so much great art comes out of the Delta, and why you find a lot of artists here,” he says. “It’s cultural. It’s a wonderful existence being in and amongst that creative environment.”
Writing has always anchored his life. Early Stephen King novels ignited his imagination. Journalism sharpened his instincts. Teaching Frankenstein, Dracula and Lord of the Flies to public school students taught him how to communicate at its most basic level. Explain one idea three ways until it clicks. Even now, he wakes up before dawn with words already forming, ideas that refuse to stay quiet.
Building Community Where Creativity Thrives
On paper, Cameron’s career looks scattered. To him, it follows a single thread: research, writing, service and the belief that community changes lives. After years in the courtroom and more than a decade teaching transactional law at Ole Miss, he found his way to the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Mississippi Delta, where he now serves as Chief Operating Officer.
“I absolutely love what I do,” Cameron says. “I sleep soundly knowing that I did anything I can that day to help a child reach his or her potential. That’s what we’re all about.”
Greenwood remains one of his great loves, a place he describes as a Goldilocks town. “It’s just the right size. It’s just the right people,” he says. “We’re big enough to have culture and history, interesting people and a thriving art scene, but we’re small enough that people still know your name at the grocery store.”
That balance matters. “In a big city, you live in anonymity, and in a smaller town you can feel isolated,” Cameron explains. “Greenwood hits that perfect middle place where you’re surrounded and connected, lifted up. It’s the right size, the right rhythm.”
Beyond work, Cameron invests deeply in community life through the Greenwood Chamber of Commerce, Mississippi Valley State University Foundation, his Episcopal parish, Mission Mississippi and community theater. Greenwood, he says, finds joy in gathering. “We’ll find any excuse to shut down a street, drag out a beer truck, crank up live music and dance. Faith, music, anything. We’re always looking for reasons to come together.”
If asked to sum up Greenwood in one word, Cameron chooses “comforting.” “Everything balances beautifully here,” he says, “People keep showing up, trying to make it better.”
The same could be said of Cameron Abel himself. In every role he has taken on, he remains a steady and hopeful presence in a town that continues to inspire him as much as he inspires it.
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