In the days that I was a young girl working in the upper reaches of stock car racing, I had the joyous pleasure of knowing a true, courtly Southern gentleman named Junie Donlavey.

The apocalypse is truly upon us. Somebody has made the decision — I don’t know who, but I know it wasn’t me — that the Georgia-Georgia Tech football game will not be played this year for the first time since 1924. This hallowed event, which dates to 1893, is commonly referred to as “Clean Ol…

Monday marked another first day of school for Pierce County students that was both business as usual and one for the history books.

In these days of discontent and destruction, hate and harangue, we could really use Roy Rogers. And Trigger, his Golden Palomino. Or Dale Evans and Bullet the Wonder Dog, not to mention the Sons of the Pioneers. I believe if we could get this group back, we could find our kinder and gentler selves.

The other day I made cornbread and as I did, I spent time with Mama. She was there by my side as clearly as the times that, as a child, I watched her make it.

If you’re wary of Congress pulling out its credit card one more time, the news this past week was mostly bad. Not all bad, but mostly.

(Excerpt from Jaeden Lincoln’s 2020 Graduation Speech)

For several months, at least six, that inner voice had bugged me on occasion, nudging me to write bestselling Southern author Anne Rivers Siddons.

My ol’ friend Regis Philbin has passed away. 

Perhaps it is because I was raised as a storyteller then trained, through both education and career as a journalist, that I have a deep-seated belief a person is built through generations of kinfolks then painted and decorated through personal experiences.

I could tell by the way the phone jumped straight up when it rang who was on the line. It could be none other than Skeeter Skates, owner of Skeeter Skates Tree Stump Removal and Plow Repair, located in Ryo, Georgia. Yes, phones jump where Skeeter is involved. I do, too.

Somewhere out there on the field Friday evening, there was a little sense of normalcy in a world that is chaotic, at times upside down and often doesn’t make any sense. The Pierce County High School Class of 2020 officially graduated in July — some two months after the originally scheduled date. 

“You know what people don’t talk enough about? MASKS. I wish I knew everyone’s opinions about them.”

Has it really been 24 years since the Atlanta Centennial Olympic Games? Sunday will mark 8,766 days since that dramatic night when Muhammed Ali, hands shaking with palsy, lit the cauldron signifying the beginning of 17 days of Olympic competition and the culmination of years of hard work.

Are there new rock formations we do not know about?

For 25 years, I have had the same doctor. I like her so well that when she moved her practice several years ago about 45 miles south, I followed.

The uncertainties and changes brought on by COVID-19 have created anxiety for many and intensified the anxiety of others.  However, we don’t have to let this anxiety rule over us. By definition, anxiety is the feeling of worry about an eminent event or over something with an uncertain outcom…

The scene: A grocery store aisle, one-way, 6 feet from another human being, masked and looking for any available paper products since toilet tissue seems to be as rare as a singing frog these days. And then, suddenly:

It comes up in conversation ever so often, though not a lot because no one seems to care much anymore.

Retail business as we know it has all but disappeared from large and small cities across America. 

Most summers I aspire to read a work of classic literature. A novel. This is easier said than done since my tastes pull toward memoirs, biographies and historical recounting.

Mitch Bowen was my friend. 

If you’re like me, you’re probably feeling COVID-19 fatigue these days. I liken it to how I feel after training and running an event like the Sidney Lanier Bridge 5K  — I don’t want to look at a treadmill or stair climber for at least a week!

By the time I was five, I could read on a third grade level. That’s how I was able to first learn the fascinating story of the Depression Era’s Bonnie and Clyde.

Go fly a kite.

When I came into the stateroom, the first person I saw was a lovely, elderly woman sitting alone. “Hello, how are you?” – the way that Southerners do to be courteous.

The task was simple. 

He’s the man for the job … She’s got the skills for this position.

These thoughts on the current upheaval in our country come courtesy of an unusual array of sources: The late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy; Larry Savage, a candidate for chairman of the Cobb County Commission; and Hayden, Cayden and Jamaya (more on them later).

Before I focus on America and the recent demonstrations that mostly have turned violent, please know America is not the only country in the world that has had their share of violent protests. Other countries have had protests including Belgium, France, Hungary, Germany, Nigeria, Taiwan, Indi…

Mama was real good at money. She could get as much out of a dollar bill as a lot of people could get out of five dollars. 

Recently, Tink and I were visiting with friends in Virginia when I asked if I could go upstairs to their library and borrow a couple of books.

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “Letter from Birmingham (AL)Jail”, April 16, 1963.

We’ve reached the halfway mark for 2020. Is it just me or does it feel like we’ve lived a whole year already? We’ve already had our share of natural disasters, social unrest and violence  — not to mention the unprecedented pandemic that has swept the nation and our world.

I have long been an admirer of the words and works of the late Paul Harvey and his radio commentaries known as the “The Rest of the Story.” I had the privilege of meeting him in New York at the Peabody Awards ceremonies, sponsored by the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communications at…

The Satilla River is worth reading about. Most citizens are aware it marks Pierce County’s boundaries with Ware and Brantley County. Most are likely unaware the river fixes a maze of legal rights and restrictions beyond consideration, here. Irrespective, fishermen, hunters, boaters, kayakers…

For much of my adult life, I have tried to return to my alma mater, the University of Georgia, a portion of what the institution has given me. I say “a portion” because I can never totally repay the debt I owe UGA for the honor of being a Georgia Bulldog. But that doesn’t mean I can’t try. A…

The annual Graduation edition for the Pierce County Class of 2020 is here. Due to ongoing precautions as a result of COVID-19 the seniors from Pierce County High School will not receive their high school diplomas in the typical manner until July. However, this Friday, May 22, was the origina…

Among the debates about the pandemic, and our response to it, is how soon we can return to “normal,” or whether we’re bound for a “new normal.” The answer is clear: There’s no going back to “normal,” because we were in the midst of destroying it when the new coronavirus arrived.

A flag-waving salute to the United States Air Force’s Thunderbirds and the Navy’s Blue Angels who roared across Georgia’s skies in tandem last week, paying tribute to our state’s heroic first responders. The event was an example of everything that is good about this great country. Hopefully,…

Emmett Forrest, for all of his life, would be known as one of the most beloved, most thoughtful men in Mt. Airy, NC. He happily shared whatever he had with others.

Andy Griffith was born in Mt. Airy, NC, a town near the Virginia line. For much of his life, he denied that Mayberry was based on the place where he grew up. However, near the end of his years, he relented in his denial.

It’s springtime y’all!  Time for cleaning and organizing and setting your house in order.

A moment of truth is upon us. Georgia is taking its first, tentative steps toward reopening after a month of shuttering businesses and sheltering in place.

This heart-filling adventure of discovery and joy began in the simplest way: I was looking for a television show to play in the background as I worked.

There is a really cute chick living at my house. 

Right on cue, proponents of Medicaid expansion are touting the program as a way for Georgia to fight the pandemic. When all you have in the way of solutions is more government spending, then every crisis, challenge or blip on the radar looks like a reason for more government spending.

To: Bill Gaither

Among the many down-home philosophies of Mama’s was her proclamation that “Somethin’ good always comes out of somethin’ bad. Always. You just watch and see.”