Vol. 14, No. 2
October 2016
TIMES OLLI@UGA AND LILLIAN SMITH: TWO SPECIAL EVENTS On September 18, a special OLLI@Large (open to the public) event at the Meeting House of Piedmont College’s Athens campus featured noted actress Brenda Bynum as Georgia author Lillian Smith (born 1897). Reading from Smith’s writings, Bynum presented the story of Smith’s childhood as a member of a prosperous family in Florida; their relocation to their property (over 130 acres) on Screamer Mountain near Clayton, Georgia, when Smith was eighteen; her experiences as an undergraduate at Piedmont College, a music student at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, a music teacher in China; and finally her taking over the family business—the Laurel Falls camp for girls. Forming a lifelong relationship with Paula Snelling, a counselor at the camp, Smith learned that her true artistic talent lay in writing. The two women founded a literary magazine, and Smith authored four books, including the best-selling novel Strange Fruit and the memoir Killers of the Dream, which detailed the American segregation and subjugation of African-Americans. Bynum’s presentation was electrifying; you could hear a pin drop as she spoke.
Brenda Bynum as an older Lillian Smith telling her story (from Brenda Bynum)
Piedmont College now owns the site of the girls’ camp and has transformed it into the Lillian Smith Center, an artists’ retreat and educational facility. On September 13 a group of twenty OLLI members travelled to the Piedmont College campus in Demorest, where they had lunch, and then on to the Center. The trip was organized by Joan ZItzelman and led by Jane Kidd, assistant to the President of Piedmont College, and Craig Amason, Director of the Lillian Smith Center. The beauty of the site fascinated the participants (one said it satisfied the “nature deficit disorder” she had developed during the hot summer). Equally fascinating was seeing the place where Smith lived, wrote, and was buried. We understood how this retreat would offer inspiration for the artists from all over the country (and beyond) who spend time there. More pictures on page 6. Angela Villegas examines Lillian Smith’s writing desk in the Common Room/Craft Hall of the Lillian Smith Center as Jane Kidd looks on.
Inside . . . Pictures of Bash. . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 3 OLLI Pets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pp. 4-5 Special Interest Groups . . . . . . . pp. 8-9 Carol A. White and Flood Relief. . pp. 8-9 OLLI Briefs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pp. 10-11 OLLI members by the fireplace at the Lillian Smith Center. Jane Kidd is on far left, Craig Amason on the far right. (photos by Pat McAlexander)
Travel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 12
And more!