By Larry Walker

February 11, 2013

lwalker@whgmlaw.com

I’ve been writing this column, weekly, for eleven plus years, and have enjoyed doing it very much. I think it can be improved. Look for shorter columns with paragraphs of less length. Here goes with several subjects.

* College football fans know that National Signing Day was last week. Georgia signed about thirty, and had lots of threes and fours, but were short on fives. Those who are interested understand this system.

Ray Goff, in commenting on signing day, told me of his once having one scholarship left so Georgia gave it to Robert Edwards out of Washington County.He was their last choice. Later, Edwards was drafted by the NFL in the first round. So much for knowing who was going to be great.

Alabama, of course, Auburn, Florida and Mississippi were rated higher than Georgia. But, when you sign thirty great athletes, like Georgia did, there’s probably a ‘Robert Edwards’, or two, in the bunch.

* Politics is always interesting for the interested. Of late, at least in Georgia, U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss’ announcement that he would not run, again, has caused great surprise and interest. Already, Congressman Paul Broun has declared his candidacy. I’ve heard from Congressman Jack Kingston, who also expressed interest. Our own Ross Tolleson is being touted by some.

There could be eight or ten legitimate candidates to qualify for this race.

I quail hunted with Senator Chambliss, in South Georgia, along with Dink NeSmith and Rusty Griffin, about a week before Chambliss made his ‘won’t run again announcement’. I thought the Senator was rather somber and somewhat pensive that day. Now I know why.

We will miss Senator Chambliss. He was trying to solve problems and is, in my view, a statesman. Georgia will miss him. RAFB will miss him. I will miss him.

* Want a good Sunday School lesson or a civic club program? Invite Robert Jones to talk about the Middle East and what is going on over there. He was at our Sunday School class, The Pathfinders, recently, and did a superb job. Robert is the son of Bobby and Laurie Jones, and is the Youth Director at Grace Church.

* Two relatively recent departures by death need to be mentioned. Alice Gilbert died at age 101. She would have been 102 in May. What a kind, positive, uplifting person she was. It would be a great world if all had Alice Gilbert’s spirit. By the way, Mrs. Gilbert was still driving until the end of her life. Her great friend, Ginny Mason, said this about her: “Alice was loyal, kind and unselfish. She was also fun. I miss her every day!”

Wayne Ragin, a 1972 graduate of Perry High School, died on November 29, 2012. Wayne was living in Atlanta when he died, but for a few years he and his wife, Patrice, lived in Perry. Wayne was President of the Senior Class at PHS. Like his Mom and Dad, Herman and Gloria Ragin, he was uncommonly handsome. Wayne, an African-American, and from Perry, ran for Houston County Commission as a young man and against a credible Warner Robins candidate. Although Wayne did not win, he got over 10,000 votes. Remarkable. But, then again, Wayne was a remarkable man. And, he would have made a very good commissioner.

* Much rain the last two weeks. Hallelujah! I wonder about those who never want it to rain. Rain is life. Without rain, all living things perish.

* Cyberwar. Years ago, when Russia was our main concern, I told Janice that “one day the Russians will over-fly us, erase all of our computers, and we will be dead in the water.” Well, it’s now the Chinese with an increasingly aggressive Cyberwar. It’s scary.

* Jere Morehead will be the next President of the University of Georgia. Morehead is popular with UGA students and UGA faculty, and most of all of those who know him. I believe that he will be a very effective and respected President. I certainly hope so.

That’s it for this week. I still need to work on length. I’ll try to do better next week. Selah.

*For other information, see our website and blog: www.galawyersonline.com

PerryGALawyersOnline

By Larry Walker

January 28, 2013

lwalker@whgmlaw.com

I hate and abhor lying . . .
Psalms 119:163
The Holy Bible

Recently, I was channel surfing when I saw an ad for a television program on CBS to be called The Truth About Lying. I found this to be pretty interesting, but the more I thought about it, I concluded that a more interesting program might be Lying About The Truth. If I understand the word correctly, that’s what lying is, misrepresenting the truth. Or, as The American Heritage Dictionary simply defines lying as being, Untruthful.

I had a great friend who used to say, “I never tell a lie unless it’s absolutely necessary.” We’d have a hearty laugh at his clever humor, but that’s probably the way most people used to be. They abhorred lying, “unless it was absolutely necessary.” There might have been a very few folks who never lied (almost impossible), and a few who were constant liars (not many), but most people didn’t make it a habit to be untruthful, unless it was “absolutely necessary.”

Let’s look at a few who had great reputations for being almost totally honest. The first that comes to mind, of course, is George Washington, a politician, no less. Of course, Washington was a public figure when communications were limited, and when a General or President could pretty well control his image. It’s hard to believe that a man dealing with the problems that Washington encountered was totally honest. Nonetheless, Washington has an impeccable reputation for integrity, and that’s what we want from the man who’s “first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.”

Then, there is Honest Abe Lincoln – a man who walked miles to return a penny (his image now adorns the coin) that he had shorted a man in making change. Have you seen Steven Spielberg’s great movie, Lincoln? Do you still think Lincoln always told the truth? And, should he always have been totally honest? Even if it had caused the failure of the Emancipation Proclamation or the loss by the North in the Civil War?

Then, there is Harry Truman. Truman was very plain-spoken and blunt. Largely, I think he was honest, but he cursed so much (many of my friends would say “cussed”), that he never had the reputation for honesty that his predecessors George and Abe enjoyed.

Now let’s look at the other side – some with reputations, duly earned, for lying. This could be a very long list. Let’s limit to a few superstar liars. What about John Edwards? Better (or worse) is Bernie Madoff. Then there is Barry Bonds and the current lying champion, Lance Armstrong. O.J. Casey Anthony. Tiger Woods. And, we’ve had Presidents who got caught pretty big, shall we say, in misrepresentations: Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton come to mind. Truth to tell, probably all of our Presidents from Washington to Obama stretched the truth from time to time. You remember the movie about Vietnam called The Killing Fields? Well, we now have The Lying Fields and it’s the internet. I believe that a very high percentage of what is on the internet is untrue or only partially true. Unfortunately, no one seems to be too concerned about it – unless, of course, it’s a lie about them and they find out it’s being distributed (or can be) across the known world.

Back to Truman. For some reason, writing about President Truman reminded me of the time when, during the trial of a case and after my successfully cross examining the opposite party, I said to him, “The fact is, you just lied, didn’t you?”, only to be admonished by the Judge: “Mr. Walker, we don’t use the word ‘lied’ in my court.” I apologized and re-worded with, “The fact is, you told an untruth, didn’t you?” This was acceptable to His Honor.

I guess all of us tell an untruth occasionally. But, I’m working on mine, and I vow to never tell an untruth in the future, unless, of course, it’s absolutely necessary.
And, by the way, maybe a better name for this article would have been, The Truth About Lying.

*For other information, see our website and blog: www.galawyersonline.com

PerryGALawyersOnline

By Larry Walker

January 22, 2013

lwalker@whgmlaw.com

There are lessons to be learned from what I write here. No lesson is more certain than the one about change and how it is inevitable. It has always been, but it is now more certain and faster.

Today, it’s Walmart. For years, it was Sears, Roebuck & Co. It was founded in 1893 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck as a mail order catalog company. It began operating physical stores in 1925. Perry, and most towns its size and larger, had a Sears. No more. Today, it’s Walmart.

The Talmadges were the political kings in Georgia for many, many years. Herman Talmadge told me, while we were quail hunting a few years back, that “Papa (Eugene Talmadge) and I ran a total of eleven state-wide races and won all but two.” It used to be that a Talmadge endorsement was tantamount to election. Eugene and Herman are gone. Many Georgians have no idea as to who they were or what they did.

Xerox was a synonym for copying, as in “I’m going to make some Xerox copies”. Textile plants employed the southern masses. Tobacco employed and addicted. Cadillac was synonymous with wealth and prestige. It was what Elvis drove. Service stations (lots of Gulf) had gas and oil and whisk broomed your car out and gave service. R. C. Cola was the soft drink of choice – with a Moon Pie.

Attic fans were cool and cooled. Vitalis was probably worn by Gable and Reagan. ‘Fessor’s boys, and they were good, wore Converse All-Stars. Girdles held it together. Burma Shave signs broke the monotony and entertained. Other signs advertised a ‘must visit’ – Florida’s alligator farms. Many did.

One car families and one bathroom houses were the norm. Then, the elite moved up to two car garages and two bathrooms in ‘ranch-style’ houses and home delivered laundry and milk. No more.

There must have been a thousand pay telephones between here and Atlanta to be replaced by bag phones – telephones as big as a small toaster in a small suitcase. Schools, like old Perry High, in what is now the E. P. Staples Houston Board Administration Building, had radiator heaters. And by the way, how many present Houston Countians would ask, “who was Eric Staples?”

Pantyhose are in sharp decline. And what about hair rollers and home permanents? Anybody sew at home anymore? Remember pants with hiney-binders? They are subject to come back. But, I doubt barbershop shaves will ever return. Safety razors and electric razors robbed us of this luxury. And, it was the death of razor strops.

D.D.T. killed lots of insects – and birds and maybe even some people; but, kerosene as a fuel and a medicine was good. You can still buy kerosene in big tins cans at Ace Hardware. I’m going to get me some next time I’m there. Never can tell when you might chop your toe with an axe or step on a rusty nail.

Recapped tires. It was probably good that this was stopped. Church revivals. It was probably bad that this was stopped. Book salesmen. I’m glad they don’t come by our office like they used to. Polaroid cameras. And, by the way, what has become of Kodak? Like, you know, “I’m going to take my Kodak and get a ‘picture’ of you in that ‘purdy’ dress.”

I used to have a Briggs and Stratton lawnmower. It was the dickens to keep running, but it was self-propelled with “Little Larry” being the “self”.

Papa had a family milk cow – in fact, he had two. He milked and strained the milk. Grandma made the butter. She also made wonderful hand-size peach and apple pies (peach tarts?). Wish I had two, now.

Lots of folks had yard chickens which begat biddies and made eggs and, of course, you had to be careful where you stepped. Now, some rich folks are ‘puttin in’ some exotic yard chickens with coops for them to stay in at night. But, it’s just not like common folk’s chickens used to be. The new crowd is interested in looks. The old crowd wanted eggs and fried chicken.

Mix Masters. S&H Green Stamps. Allis-Chalmers tractors. Nash Ramblers. Candy cigarettes. Mimeographing. Movie news. Movie serials. Men’s shoes and suits “Made In The U.S.A.”. Pound parties. Small-town picture shows. Independent drug stores. Dixie. Drummers. Rolling stores. Home delivered ice and coal. Walking to school. Unsupervised pick-up baseball games. Ball shells. Egg beaters. Clothes lines. Bamboo fishing poles. Family meals. Independent Motels. Along the classroom walls spelling contest. Daily classroom devotionals, Bible reading and prayer. Peace of mind.

Lots of changes. More to come. Some of it will be good. Lots of it won’t. But, little you can do about it, except get your best ‘hold’ and hang on. Try to roll with the tide. Otherwise, you might end up writing articles about olden times and how things used to be.

*For other information, see our website and blog: www.galawyersonline.com

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By Larry Walker

January 14, 2013

Hugh Gillis, Georgia’s longest serving legislator (55 plus years), died on January 1, 2013 at 94 years of age. Impressive though this is, his years of service and longevity of life is not what made him a Georgia icon. It was the quality of his life, his love of and devotion to his fellow man, his common but effective ‘touch’ and his many great accomplishments that made Hugh M. Gillis, Sr., a “man among men”.

Perhaps George Hooks, former state legislator who served with Hugh Gillis for thirty two years, says it best:

“Hugh Gillis was a southern gentleman of the finest order. Despite his family’s wealth and great political capital, he never lost his focus on the citizens of his home area.”

How true! I know this from observations and personal contact and experience having, like George, served with Senator Gillis for 32 years, with both of us retiring from the legislature at the end of 2004.

Let’s look at a few of the many things that Hugh, Mr. Hugh, Senator Hugh and Senator Gillis accomplished:

• One of the longest serving legislators in the history of the United States.
• Gillis first served in the Georgia House beginning in 1941, was elected to a two-year term in the Georgia Senate for 1957-58 and was then re-elected to the Senate in 1962, winning this seat which he would hold for the next 42 years.
• He chaired the Natural Resources Committee in the Senate for 20 years.
• After his 2004 retirement, he served five years on the Georgia Ports Authority.
• He was so popular among his fellow senators that he was the only Democrat to retain his chairmanship of a major committee when the Republicans took over the Senate.
• Gillis worked with thirteen different Georgia Governors.
• He was a major force behind the creation of the Dental School at the Medical College of Georgia and the creation of the Mercer Medical School.

Here are some other things about this great Georgian’s life and accomplishments you might find to be of interest:

• Truetlen County was formed (from Laurens County) in 1917 with the bill being introduced by Neil Lee Gillis, grandfather of Hugh Gillis.
• Hugh Gillis was born in 1918 on land that his family farmed for generations.
• Gillis graduated from the University of Georgia and was first elected to the Georgia House in 1940 (term to begin in 1941).
• According to George Hooks, Gillis was the last living Georgia House member to have voted for Herman Talmadge (in the legislature and at night) during the infamous “three Governor controversy”.
• He was a staunch supporter of the Georgia Forestry Commission.
• Gillis is buried in the Gillis family cemetery (five generations of Gillis kin are buried there) and on a small part of the more than 20,000 acres owned by the Gillis family.

Very impressive. Still, it does not capture the breadth and depth of the influence Senator Gillis wielded. When Senator Gillis spoke, everyone listened – and, almost always did when he was encouraging them to do. Perhaps the best single word to describe High Gillis is “wise”. He had wisdom, and his colleagues and associates well understood this and almost always followed his lead.

Let me tell of a personal experience when we were working on the AgCenter, and I was trying to get it located to Perry. Senator Hugh Gillis was one of the first and most vocal supporters of the center and its being located here. This was a tremendous advantage, because it essentially put the Georgia Senate in “Perry’s corner”. For this, I will always be grateful. Thanks, Senator Hugh.

I started this column with a quote from Senator George Hooks. Let me end with a quote from Senator Hugh Gillis as told to me by George. Here it is:

“Look out for the man behind the plow. What Senator Gillis meant was: Take care of the working man.”

Perhaps this philosophy, which he lived, is why Senator High Gillis was so popular in his native area and with his fellow legislators from all over Georgia – and, truly he was.

I close with one last quote from George Hooks:

“Georgia is a better state, and I am a better person because of Hugh Gillis’ life.”

Amen, George, all of us Georgians are.

*For other information, see our website and blog: www.galawyersonline.com

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By Larry Walker

January 7, 2013

This was hard work. Not only hard, but hot and stinky. Eighty, fifty pound sacks of chicken feed delivered south of Perry and stored in Mr. G. W. Hicks’ chicken house, full of laying hens. And, perhaps another twenty, one hundred pound sacks added to the eighty. That’s a total of three tons loaded, unload and toted into a chicken house full of chickens and chicken manure in that hot July sun. And, this was just one customer on one day. There were several others south of Perry every week.

Then, on another day of the week, it was to the north end of Houston County and several customers (again, loading, unloading and toting), including Mr. Henry Cullen Talton, Sr.’s store at Bonaire, where we always got a “cold drink” which helped to make our efforts more bearable and worthwhile.

It all started, every time, when my friend, mentor and co-worker, Joe Hodges, would say to me: “Larry, it’s time to get a wheel a turning”. And we would get a wheel a turning, and would make things happen. Big time. At least for us.

I often think of Joe Hodges, Mr. G. W. Hicks, Mr. Henry Cullen Talton, Sr., that big, green Chevrolet truck loaded with Purina animal feed (layena, hogena, fatena and pellets with and without molasses, etc.) with the words “Walker Thompson Supply Company, Perry, Georgia” emblazoned in white on both doors. But, mostly, I think of Joe Hodges and his wise, sage admonition: “It’s time to get a wheel a turning”. And we did. And, America was better for our efforts.

So, let me say to America, today: “It’s time to get a wheel a turning”. This is not spoken to the President or the Congress of the United States. Probably, they’ve gotten too many wheels a turning. It’s easy to do that when you’re spending someone else’s money. I’ve often said: “Nothing is too good for the taxpayers,” which, as I think of it, isn’t really all that funny – such thinking and acting is part of what’s gotten us into such a huge mess.

Who I am talking to, just like Joe Hodges was talking to little Larry, years ago, are the folks in Houston County and Warner Robins, Perry and Centerville. I’m talking to Tommy, Chuck, John and Jimmy. But, mostly I’m talking to people in business, and my law partners and my other business partners – Charles, Ed, Foster, Larry, etc. It’s time to get a wheel a turning. If it doesn’t start here and with us, it might not start at all.

When you haul feed all over the county, naturally you talk a lot. Actually, I did lots of listening, and I learned some things I didn’t know, and things that a boy my age needed to know. I also realized that although it was my Daddy’s name on the doors of the truck, Joe Hodges was the boss of our two man crew. He liked it that way, but not as much as I did.

I also remember how good food tasted back in those days. And, by the way food tasted better, Mama’s cooking, when we had a wheel a turning. And, we slept better at night. Hard work and accomplishment will do that to you – make food taste good and sleep be deep and hard. And, the times we’ve been through for the past five or six years will do the opposite.

We can’t wait for the big, bloated government to get us out of this big ditch – some call it “over the financial cliff”. We’ve got to do it ourselves. We’ve got to start back to building, buying, bargaining, and betting (on our future and our country’s future). Or, as Joe Hodges would say: “America, we’ve got to get a wheel a turning.”
So, load up the truck. Make the deliveries. Collect the money. Buy bigger trucks. Start making your own feed. Put in some chicken houses. Buy a tractor. Close a loan. Build some houses. Lease some property. Build a farm pond. Let your wife have that new sofa and maybe she will let you buy that Citori grade Browning o/u you’ve always wanted. Form an LLC. Get a wheel a turning.

*For other information, see our website and blog: www.galawyersonline.com

PerryGALawyersOnline

By Larry Walker

December 31, 2012

This is an article I wrote for the November/December issue of James magazine. I wrote it shortly after 2012 SEC Championship football game between Georgia and Alabama. I like the article and got good responses from it. Consequently, I decided to share it with the Houston Home Journal readers. Here it is.

James has asked me to write of events of 2012 as if they expect some enlightenment, and which I expect they expect to be of politics, the economy or business and what I see around the corner. I will do my best, but must back up, for some inexplicable reason, to a football game to start.

It was 2008, four years ago, and Georgia, the football team, had been administered serious corporeal punishment by its neighbor to the west – they being, by whatever name called, Red Elephants, Crimson Tide, or Ivan The Terrible. It was bad. And so I have the feeling, again, the ultimate feeling born of the 2012 certain results, but with some pride retained even with the latest defeat of just a few days ago. Even now, I remember 2008 more clearly than the 2012 event. A lettered psychiatrist may be able to explain and with possible emphasis on the great disparity of the scoring in ‘08.

We got updates as we winged even during the 2008 game, eastward to Spain on a huge Delta airplane and in the company of our Governor Perdue, eventually losing interest, not in the altitude, but in the developing score, perhaps becoming weary with the inevitable. And then we landed in a far country, and football seemed as far away as the USA and of only slight importance, at least temporarily.

And so it is, the events of 2012, culminating in a domed ball shell in Atlanta, have caused memories of 2008 in a distant, though sophisticated land and a metaphor for how I view 2012. Let’s see.

In 2008, we spent forty eight hours, or so, in Barcelona, Spain, and then the Governor’s entourage, of which I was a member, boarded a bullet train to travel half-way across that country to Madrid, and so fast that you could look backward with no more enlightenment than you could look around the next rushing curve in a land previously unseen and unknown.

First, as to the immediate past, I don’t understand what has happened, and just like on Spain’s trains, I can’t see around the corner. I know this: We had an election, indecent amounts of money were spent, there were polls sworn to under oath that both candidates were going to win, robo phone calls disturbed and aggravated (it being equal irritation and aggravation), one of the candidates won, and now we are rushing towards a ‘financial cliff’. It’s been that way (the cliff part) with my law firm and me since September, 2007, and we are not the only ones. I’m tired of it. That’s it. Now, let me tell you what I do remember about 2012 and what I will try to remember into the future.

The quail hunting was good – all of it: the dogs, the guides, the food, the scenery and even the shooters. Bass fishing was rewarding, including how we did in the Perry Rotary Bass Tournament. Oxford, Mississippi and the campus were beautiful in the spring, and Fairhope, Alabama was a great place to visit in the summer. An All-State grandson basketball player with a school record of 69 three-pointers is something to be savored and not forgotten. The mountains at Caesar’s Head, South Carolina are neat. Time with the Kuhlkes in Augusta and catching an eight-pound gar on the Savannah River won’t be forgotten. Neither will names like NeSmith, Goff, Wilheit, Bowen, Stalvey, Cole, Rhodes, Hopkins, Tarbutton, Griffin, Deal, Byrd, Wrigley, Huckaby, Ralston, Fain, Stafford, Minter and many more.

I mentioned Caesar’s Head, South Carolina where we visited the Stalvey’s and while there watched the Georgia-South Carolina football game with ten other couples – twenty Gamecocks. It was brutal. One day, I hope to forget. But, what I won’t forget is the unlikelihood of the Dawgs even being in the 2012 SEC Championship game in Atlanta a few days ago, which reminds me of the whipping we took at the hands of the red pachyderms in 2008, which reminds me of Spain and how hard it is when everything is moving so fast and your not being able to see anything in front and very little behind, which lets me know the futility and failure of my being able to even attempt to write a column like this, it being what it is.

*For other information, see our website and blog: www.galawyersonline.com

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By Larry Walker

December 18, 2012

Storytelling, even if just a stolen skill, gave me currency to trade for . . . skinny blacktop roads in the Deep South.

Rick Bragg
Somebody Told Me

This is my 2012 book report. It’s about the twenty-four books I read – every word of every book – in 2012, and the wonderful use of the English language as above and like Bragg uses in his 2000 book, Somebody Told Me.

This article doesn’t include some good books, partially read, that I do intend to finish like The Greatest Champion (the life of W. L. “Young” Stripling) that my great friend, Bobby Jones, gave me. It only includes the twenty-four, fully read.

I will not name all twenty-four. I’m going to select my top six and write about them. These are books that I recommend your getting and reading or your getting and giving. Some, the ones I really liked, are long-ago out of print, but you can find them if you try. And, yes, I will select and talk about my favorite 2012 read.

Let’s talk about six books and start with:

Number Six: Must Win by Drew Jubera. This is a 2012 published book about small-town high school football (Valdosta High Wildcats), but is more about the power of sports and how it gives meaning to our lives.

Number Five: Somebody Told Me by Rick Bragg. This is the book mentioned above. This book is a compilation of Bragg’s favorite articles – at least those he liked best as of 2000. I bought this book at Page and Palette Book Store, Fairhope, Alabama on Friday, August 24, 2012. If you like southern writers, in my opinion, Bragg is currently the best. Buy and read this one (mine is paperback). You’ll be glad you did.

Number Four: Georgia Planter by E. Merton Coulter. This book, given to me by my friend, Dink NeSmith, would get my prize as “Surprise Of The Year”. It was copyrighted in 1961 and published by the University of Georgia Press. It’s about James Monroe Smith, Georgia planter, and as the book says, “Before Death and After”. It’s farming on a massive scale (16,000 acres or more, thousands of farm employees or ‘hands’, a railroad built through the property, etc.). It’s about the legal wrangling after Col. Smith’s death. I was enthralled by my surprise of the year. Incidentally, Pam and Dink NeSmith have bought 200 acres, or so, and this property in Oglethorpe County (15 miles from Athens) which used to be owned by Kenny Rogers.

Number Three: The Passage of Power by Robert A. Caro. This had to be a good ‘reading year’ for this to be just my third pick. Caro’s book four in the Years of Lyndon Johnson is an astounding, fascinating and gripping book. I’ve read all of Caro’s books, a total of 2,825 pages, and I still don’t know what to think of Johnson. There is so much in this book, but just the relationship between Johnson and Georgia’s Senator Richard Brevard Russell is, by itself, enough incentive to tackle this to me.

Number Two: The Racketeer by John Grisham. Yes, I know ‘number two’ is pretty high for a Grisham book. But, I think this is the best Grisham book since his first (the first written, but not the first published), A Time To Kill. This one will hold your attention. Just Grisham’s description of the federal government’s ‘Witness Protection Program’, alone, is worth the cost of the book.

And now, my favorite book of 2012, and a surprise even to me at that.

Number One: The Fish That Ate The Whale with the subtitle, The Life And Times of America’s Banana King by Rich Cohen. This is from Cohen’s obituary carried on the AP wire: “Samuel Zemurray, a former President of the United Fruit Company, who came to the United States as a penniless Russian immigrant and accumulated a $30,000,000 fortune selling bananas, died here last night (November 30, 1961) of Parkinson’s disease. In the banana belt of the Caribbean, Sam Zemurray was known as “the fish that swallowed the whale”.

On the jacket of the book, Alexander Hemon, author of The Lazarus Project, writes this: What a story, and what a storyteller! You’ll never see a banana – and for that matter, America – the same way again.

Incidentally, like my Number Five selection, above, this winner, Number One, was also bought at Page and Palette Book Store in Fairhope, Alabama.

So, there you have it for 2012. Like I say, “so much to read and so little time.” I hope I’m back at the end of next year for another report. In the meantime, “happy reading”!

*For other information, see our website and blog: www.galawyersonline.com

PerryGALawyersOnline

By Larry Walker

September 19, 2011

Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.

Atticus Finch talking to his son, Jem

It came out in 1960, this novel by Harper Lee that was named the best novel of the 20th century by librarians across the country. I have quoted it, used excerpts in speeches from it and extolled the virtues of Atticus Finch (“all of us lawyers ought to pattern our behavior after Atticus”). But, I had never read it until just last week.

I don’t guess Mrs. Lee (I’ll bet some over in Monroeville, Alabama call her ‘Miss Harper’) missed my not buying, sooner, or having my friend to buy sooner for me. For, after all, she’s sold 40 million copies (I erroneously said 35 million last week). But, I’m sorry that I didn’t read it around 1960, when it was first published. If so, I could be refreshing my memory by reading it, again. Maybe I’ll do that twenty years, or so, from now.

I want to talk some about the book. My impressions, if you will. I’ve been there. I know the people. I’ve heard ‘em talk. I knew what they were going to do, and why they did it. I knew what you couldn’t get ‘em to do. I knew ‘em better in 1960 than I do, today, but I still remember ‘em and occasionally have the privilege of visiting with some of them.

Folks used to sit on their porches and “holler” (call out) to their neighbors as they passed, walking. In a place like Maycomb, Alabama (Perry?), most everybody knew everybody, or if they didn’t, their momma and daddy, did. They tended to your business, but they also gave you a helping hand when you needed it. In the balance, it was pretty good. Better than now? Well, definitely not for everybody.

Television and air conditioning cut down, substantially, on the visiting and getting to know each other. And, the automobile. Another thing, one bathroom in houses accommodating a family of six or more made families closer. New and advanced is not always necessarily better for strong relationships.

But, back to the book – this wonderful book. It’s a book about the South, the small town south and the people in it in the 1930′s – 1936 to be exact. It could have been the 40′s or 50′s. Things didn’t change much or fast. And, it’s about race, class, violence, compassion and courage. As it says on the back cover of the book: “The conscience of a town steeped in prejudice, violence, and hypocrisy . . .”. Yes, I understand what Harper Lee writes about, and just how well she knows her subject and subjects.

The people in To Kill A Mockingbird are just like the folks around here. There are some mighty good people (Atticus Finch), and some good folks with quirky ways (Aunt Alexandra), and some bad people (Bob Ewell) and lots of sad ones (Boo Radley, Tom Robinson and Mayella Ewell). And then there are those who I’d call interesting (Calpurnia, Scout, Jem and Dill). And, just like the folks around here, there was some bad in the best of ‘em and some good in most of the bad – excepting Bob Ewell. It was hard to find good in him. I could identify by name some of our people with Harper Lee’s, but I won’t.

There is one character in the book who is ‘head and shoulders’ above the rest. Yes, it’s Atticus Finch, who was portrayed so well by Gregory Peck in the 1962 movie. As I read the book, each time Atticus’ name was mentioned, I saw Gregory Peck. That’s good acting! Good enough that Gregory Peck received an Oscar that year as Best Actor.

Do yourself a big favor and read this great book – or, re-read it if you read it many years ago. And I’m going to do myself a favor and try to act more like Atticus Finch. I won’t make it, but I’m going to try. That’s how powerful ‘Miss Harper’s’ book is. Thanks to her for writing it.

*For other information, see our website and blog: www.galawyersonline.com

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By Larry Walker

December 10, 2012

lwalker@whgmlaw.com

Over the past three weeks, I’ve written about the living former Mayors of Perry, to-wit: James O. McKinley (May 6, 1974 to March 31, 1980); Barbara C. Calhoun (June 4, 1980 to December 31, 1984); and, Lewis M. Meeks (January 1, 1985 to December 31, 1988). After Mayor Meeks, we had Mayor Jim Worrall who served for twenty-one years (January 1, 1989 to December 31, 2008).

Today, I write about our current Mayor, Jimmy Faircloth, and despite his now three year record, and a good one at that, it’s the man that I want to tell you about. Let me do this in a question and answer format.

Jimmy, where were you born? I was born on February 8, 1961 in Dawson, Georgia. My uncle, a radiologist, William D. Bridges, delivered me at the Dawson Hospital.

Where did you go to school? I attended the first and second grades in Cochran, Georgia. I moved to Americus in 1969, and in 1979 I graduated from Southland Academy. I then attended Georgia Southwestern University where I received a BBA in Business Systems with a minor in Accounting.

What brought you to Perry? Banking. I have previously worked at a bank in Americus starting at age 18. Then I came, after college, to the Trust Company Bank in Perry. It got sold, and I went into partnership with Skip McDannald. We closed this business, and in 2004. I went to work at Parrish Construction as its Human Resources Director.

Tell me something about your civic and church involvements. Among other things, I’ve been active in the Perry Rotary Club, the Perry Area Chamber of Commerce, having served as its President, have been on the Convention and Visitors Bureau Authority and was a member of the Houston County Hospital Authority. I am an active member of The Perry United Methodist Church, and have served as Chair of the Administrative Board of our church.

What got you interested in politics and led you to run for Mayor? Well, I think as a result of service on so many boards, my interest in public service was heightened. Consequently, I thought if there was a vacancy on the council, that I might run. Then, when Mayor Jim Worrall announced he would not run again, I decided I would run for Mayor. Note: Faircloth was elected without opposition.

What do you like least about being Mayor? Being in the spotlight.

What do you like most about being Mayor? Being able to accomplish things on behalf of the citizens of Perry.

What is your number one goal as Mayor for the City of Perry? To insure that the City of Perry is a desirous place for young people to return finding meaningful work and helping to see to it that Perry is a good place to raise a family.

Now to some more trivial (I would call them ‘human type’) questions.

What is your favorite car of all times? The 1976 Pontiac Trans Am – the car that was featured in Smokey and The Bandit. I liked the movie, and I liked the car. It was fast – it even looked fast sitting still!

Given a choice among strawberry shortcake, banana pudding, homemade ice cream and pecan pie, what would your choice be? Strawberry shortcake – It’s my favorite dessert. (Note: This was the Mayor’s quickest and most emphatic answer! If you’re trying to curry favor with Perry’s Mayor, you now have the key to success!)

What is your favorite music, other than ‘church music’ and your favorite song? Country and country rock. Jim Croce. And, ‘It Is Well With My Soul’.

What is your favorite book that you’ve ever read and why? The Bible. I have several versions. I enjoy reading and studying it. I enjoy teaching Sunday School. Teaching makes me learn about the Bible. I also enjoy murder mysteries.

What is your favorite movie of all time? Rain Man with Dustin Hoffman. It is very insightful and it showed me a side of life I had never known before.

Now, back to the more serious.

What do you think is the biggest challenge facing the City of Perry? Declining revenues. Property devaluations, because of the recession, are causing us to take a closer look at a fee based system – the users of the service to pay for the service. Preserving and maintaining our downtown area, with the commercial and industrial area that rings it. Maintaining an active and vibrant church community centered on families. Some type of a recreation center in our downtown – perhaps an ampitheater or an aquatic center. And, keeping our young people at home without whom Perry will not grow.

So there you have it. Despite what you have known about our Mayor in the past, I hope you now know more. And, I hope you are like me: I feel that Perry is in good hands with Jimmy Faircloth and our council. Let me list the capable members of council: Phyllis Bynum-Grace, Riley Hunt, Willie King, Joe Posey, Randall Walker, and William Jackson.

I started this ‘Mayor Series’ with A. M. Anderson in 1934 and ended with Jimmy Faircloth in 2012 – 78 years in all. And, not a weak Mayor in the crowd! Remarkable. No wonder Perry has been a ‘winner-town’ for all these years and is a great place to live and raise a family. Truly, we are standing on the shoulders of so many fine people as we have stood on the shoulders of these fourteen stalwart men and our one ‘Iron Lady’.

*For other information, see our website and blog: www.galawyersonline.com

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LEWIS M. MEEKS (JANUARY 1, 1985 – DECEMBER 31, 1988)

By Larry Walker

December 3, 2012

lwalker@whgmlaw.com

This is what two had to say about their good friend, Lewis Meeks. Billy Bledsoe: “Generous to a fault, sharp as a tack, very family oriented, and one of the finest people I have ever known.” Jeanne Bledsoe: “Thoughtful, trustworthy and also very modest.”

This is what I say: “If by meticulous you mean extremely careful and precise, and this is what I mean, Lewis Meekis is the most meticulous person with whom I have ever dealt. His being careful and precise, and very ordered, served the City of Perry very well during his time as Mayor.”

Lewis Meeks was born in Atlanta in 1933 and graduated from West Fulton High School in 1951. He attended Georgia Tech as a co-op student, after which he joined the U.S. Air Force, where he served from March, 1953 through December, 1956. Later, he attended Middle Tennessee State University, where he earned a B.S. degree in 1958. As a result of his military service, Meeks received G. I. benefits which enabled him to attend Georgia State University, where he earned a B.S. in Math and Economics and a Masters of Business Administration.

While in Tennessee, Meeks worked at a bank in Memphis, and after he received his undergraduate degree, he was employed at the The Citizens and Southern Bank in Greenville, South Carolina. After he received his Masters, he worked in the Trust Department at The National Bank of Georgia in Atlanta. Meeks left The National Bank of Georgia to work with The Tennessee Corporation (agriculture chemicals) in Atlanta. But, Meeks missed the “banking business”. So, when a friend of his who knew Ogden Persons told him about a job in Perry at Perry Loan and Savings Bank (now the Bank of Perry), Lewis and June made a trip to Perry, had lunch with Vernon and Mildred Tuggle at The New Perry Hotel, toured Perry with this fine Perry couple, and made the decision to relocate to Perry (despite, as Lewis says, “June’s crying all the way back to Atlanta” not wanting to move).

Thanks to Ogden Persons, Vernon and Mildred Tuggle and, I’m sure others, including one of the first people Lewis and June met, W. G. Mullins, Lewis and June became Perryans. Little did anyone know, at that time, the tremendous contributions both were to make to our community – but especially Lewis Meeks in his role as President and Chair of the Board at The Bank of Perry, his service as Mayor of Perry and many, many other civic involvements.

Much can be written about Meek’s vast community service through the Perry Area Chamber of Commerce, civic clubs, government authorities, councils and church involvement. But, this is about Meeks’ role as Perry’s Mayor. However, it should be noted that much of his involvement in these areas prepared him well to be the outstanding Mayor he was.

Here was a man with vast banking experience and almost unprecedented Perry and Houston County civic involvement. He was ready to be a Mayor, but still there had to be a reason that made him want to be Mayor. When asked, “why,” this was his answer: “Perry truly came to be my home. I fell in love with Perry. All of my civic involvement made me want to contribute even more. I was particularly interested in economic development.” Certainly, as you will see, Meeks had great success in this area, which made Perry very successful during his tenure.

Let me give it to you in his own words – my questions and Meek’s answers:

What is the most interesting thing(s) that happened during your terms as Mayor? The development of downtown Perry. Initially, I worked through my involvement with the Downtown Development Authority. We had people from other towns to find out what we were doing and what we had done. We had a ‘dog and pony show’ where Wendell Whipple, Don Parkinson, Billy Bledsoe and I went to other towns to tell our story – we even went to communities in Florida. Also, we got our first two African American council members, Hervia Ingram, first, and Bobby Glover, shortly thereafter, and all of this in our newly created council districts went very smoothly. I am proud of this.

What did you like least about being Mayor? Council meetings!

What did you like most about being Mayor? Planning.

What do you consider your most significant achievement during your tenure as Mayor? My role in helping to bring the leadership in our community together – both public and private. I think the secret to success in running a city is to work, daily, constantly, to bring all of the various interests in the community, together, to work in a united manner – if you do this with success, you can accomplish most anything.

Did Meeks have success? Let’s look at some of the things that happened during his two terms, four years, with his acknowledging that much of this started at earlier times, and that “we are always standing on someone else’s shoulders”: Frito-Lay, 1985, Ag-Center – Announced, 1985, Ag-Center – Groundbreaking, 1987, Northrop, 1987, and PPG – Announced, 1988.

Quite a record, I’d say, Mr. Meeks. Thanks for four years of good service to our community, which continues today with your work at Christ Sanctified Holiness Church.

I told you he was meticulous. Notice that when he was Mayor, he liked the ‘the council meetings’ the least and the ‘planning’ best. I’d say: spoken like a meticulous banker. And, I’d say this trait served the city very well and will continue to do so for years to come. Now, and in the future, Lewis, so many are standing and will stand on your shoulders.

No Mayor can accomplish much without a good council. Those who served with Mayor Meeks were: C. Ralph Gentry, Bobby E. Glover, James B. Hendrix, Hervia B. Ingram, Thomas R. Mayo, George F. Nunn, Jr., Frank H. Roper, H. E. Smith, and Edmond H. Wilson.

NEXT WEEK: JIMMY FAIRCLOTH CONTINUES AS EFFECTIVE MAYOR

*For other information, see our website and blog: www.galawyersonline.com

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