I discovered America in Charlotte, North Carolina in the heart of the Great depression, early on the spring morning of the 17th of April 1931. Fortunately, my happy family discovered me at the same time.

The International Harvester Company, which employed my dad, saw fit to transfer him to Jacksonville in February 1934. Therefore, I grew up in the Best of All Worlds. The Big City, Jacksonville, where I attended Robert E Lee High School and the University of Florida at a time it was not unfashionable to be proud of one's Confederate heritage. Summers were spent with kinfolks in West Union (village), Walhalla (small town), and Bearswamp (country) It was truly the best of all worlds.

Following a stint as a USFS Smokejumper and, later, a hitch in the 82nd Airborne I went back to school and graduated T-t-L (Thank the Lordy) with a BSc in Forest Management, prepared to restore America to its once pristine beauty, while growing raw material for the paper, lumber, and furniture industries. The effort consumed the next thirty-seven years of my life.

Also, along the way I married, had two children, a boy, Forrest, and a girl, Erin, the mother of my twin grandsons, Adam and Ryan, age 11 going on 30.

While struggling through a tome by James Mischner one day, I thought, "Heck! I can do better than this." So saying, I went upstairs and started writing. The result was The Kudzu Chronicles, which satisfied me, although it was a well kept secret from the reading public. My publisher had a lousy PR system.

The Sugar Valley Saga followed, but met the same fate. The Glory Days and Blazing Parachutes are still looking for a publisher, and I am working on Calhoun and the Colonel, a novel which is a sure best seller.

Shortly after returning to Oconee from Alabama, after many years of wandering, I negotiated a deal with the local astonisher, and the Kudzu Corner was born. Jennifer Adams, Managing Editor of The Seneca Journal at the time, held me to a limit of 750 words max, which I have never equaled, nor exceeded. Kudzu Corner has appeared every week since 1993, and am several columns ahead right now. Mostly intended to be humor, I do hit a nerve once in awhile. Case in point the ACLU article, and that bru-ha-ha is not over yet.

MY EPITAPH