Y'all Magazine – April 2006 by Yall Magazine

JOSH LUCAS | KEVIN GARNETT | ANDY ANDREWS | GAIL PITTMAN POTTERY | ELLIOTT SADLER

ʼall

APRIL 2006

MISS AMERICA 2006

JENNIFER BERRY

THE M AGA ZINE OF SOUTHERN PEOPLE

JAIME PRESSLY MY NAME IS EARL

HE’S BACK!

GARTH WHAT TOOK SO LONG?

MAMA’S BOY JEFF FOXWORTHY TREASURES HAPEVILLE

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MR. & MRS. GARTH BROOKS

MARCH/APRIL 2006

$3.95 U.S. / $5.95 CAN

www.yall.com

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ʼall

THE M AGA ZINE OF

SOUTHERN PEOPLE Volume 4 | Number 2

this-n-that Y’all? 9 Where Capturing hot Southern stars, from Dollywood to Hollywood.

On the Money

Cranky Yankee

Max’d Out

Money man Dave Ramsey gets you prepared for a Total Money Makeover. This ain’t New York City! Laurie Stieber shares her new life Down South. Kickoff for college football’s only a few months away...no kidding!

Grizzard -ALL NEW 67 Just Legendary Southern columnist Lewis Grizzard may be gone, but his words will live forever in his column for Y’all Magazine.

Ashley Jones

Wine Down South

Dixie sweetheart Ashley Jones stars as “Bridget Forrester” on The Bold and the Beautiful. This rising actress is turning heads in Tinseltown.

Blue Collar

What Southern Women Know

Doc Lawrence breaks out the good wines for Y’all. Jeff Foxworthy grew up in the small Atlanta suburb of Hapeville, Ga. Jeff shares his early years with Y’all, and his love of Momma.

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Jaime Pressly North Carolina’s Jaime Pressly is making headlines with her role on the hit NBC show My Name Is Earl. Jaime’s not afraid to admit that’s she a Southern girl, and dang proud of it!

JONES/CYNTHIA SNYDER PUBLIC RELATIONS , PRESSLY/MICHAEL BUCKNER/GETTY

Ronda Rich’s dose of Dixie wisdom.

Star Gazing

GRITS

In Memoriam

Joe LoCicero reports from Hollywood, with tips on making this spring inspiring. “Ms. Grits” Deborah Ford salutes Guys Raised In The South. Remembering Southerners who have passed to the Great Beyond.

South 78 Festive Springtime means festivals galore below the Mason-Dixon Line. From dogwoods, cherry blossoms and more, we’ve got the lineup of cool events to check out.

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GARTH

He’s back! Garth Brooks returned to the airwaves and the top of the sales chart with the release of his latest box set. The Southern superstar also has a new Southern belle as his bride – Monticello, Georgia’s Trisha Yearwood.

21 COVER PHOTOS: BERRY: PAUL HAWTHORNE/GETTY, BROOKS: PETER KRAMER/GETTY, PRESSLY: EVAN AGOSTINI/GETTY, FOXWORTHY: THOS ROBINSON/GETTY, YEARWOOD/BROOKS: STEPHEN SHUGERMAN/GETTY

features

Andy Andrews

BROOKS/KEVIN WINTER/GETTY, ANDREWS/PR DEPT, LUCAS/FRANK CONNOR

This “life coach” is from L.A., Lower Alabama that is! Read about how Andrews rose from poverty to become one of the nation’s best-selling authors and highly sought after speakers.

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Josh Lucas Growing up in Arkansas and South Carolina, Josh Lucas dreamed of making it to the big screen. Today, the handsome actor is one of Hollywood’s top stars. His role in the film Glory Road had Lucas back in the South, bringing this inspiring story to the big screen.

Georgia author Julie Cannon is back with her third installment of the Homegrown series, Those Pearly Gates. Imogene Lavender, the central character, lives in a small town in Georgia, with her husband, Reverend Lemuel Peddigrew. This book is full of funny stories about life in the small-town South.

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inside POLITICS Gov. Phil Bredesen

inner VIEW

NASCAR veteran Elliott Sadler is fueled up and ready for a big year in 2006. The M&M’s Racing team driver is as sweet as chocolate on the high turns of Daytona, Talladega and Darlington. Read more about the Virginian’s high-octane life.

THE ARTS Gail Pittman

Mississippi craftsman sculpts an impressive array of pottery .

Morris Museum of Art

An impressive collection of Southern art, on display in Augusta, Ga.

BOOKS Inman Majors

This up-and-coming Tennessee novelist has a great new book, Wonderdog.

SADLER: CHAD MILLS/YALL, SENATE: JOE RAEDLE/GETTY, GARNETT: JIM MCISAAC/GETTY, PERRY: PAUL HAWTHORNE/GETTY IMAGES

Elliott Sadler

Okay, he couldn’t help where he was born (Shortsville, N.Y.), but Phil Bredesen got to Tennessee as fast as he could. As the Volunteer State’s chief, Bredesen is tackling tough issues, and tasting great barbecue ribs too.

SPORTS Kevin Garnett 59 NBA star Kevin Garnett has conquered the hard court with his talent. This humble South Carolinian is a true Southerner, even if he plays in Minnesota.

Hub City Writers 62

The Senate’s Southern Sixpack

Six freshman senators have traveled north to serve in Washington, D.C. Louisiana’s David Vitter sits down with Y’all to discuss his plan for 2006, plus we get a snapshot of Vitter’s fellow Southern newcomers: Tom Coburn (R-OK), Mel Martinez (R-FL), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Richard Burr (R-NC) and Jim DeMint (R-SC).

Iraq-Afghanistan KIAs 64 Miss America 2006 66

Y’ALL OF FAME

Hernando de Soto

The first European to blaze a trail in the South was Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto. His 15401542 journey would introduce the world to this region’s rivers, animals and native tribes.

MARCH/APRIL 2006 • Y’ALL

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yʼall

Yʼall On The Move

®™

THE M AGA ZINE OF SOUTHERN PEOPLE ™

President & Publisher Jon Rawl jon@yall.com Managing Editor Tabatha Hunter tabatha@yall.com

VP & Associate Publisher Keith Sisson keith@yall.com

Art Director Carroll Moore carroll@yall.com

Photographer Chad Mills Circulation Director Rachel Thompson Twiford rachel@yall.com New Media Andy Young andy@yall.com Art Assistant Maria Augustine Account Executives Brian Ferguson Margaux Germann Interns Bethany Daws Hadley Hickman Laura Leigh Shull Renee Wells Illustrators Don Maters Contributing Writers Lewis Grizzard Deborah Ford Ronda Rich Kristin Gravatt Tommy Joe Breaux Jeff Foxworthy Doc Lawrence Laurie Stieber Dave Ramsey Bethany Daws Joe LoCicero Max Howell Kristin Frost Alan Blinder Dianne Smith Fergusson Alabama Bureau Paula Sullivan Dabbs alabama@yall.com

Sr. Account Executive Meredith Dabbs

meredith@yall.com

(662)236-1928 Arkansas Bureau Jason Nall arkansas@yall.com Florida Bureau Mark Cook florida@yall.com Georgia Bureau Laurie Stieber georgia@yall.com Kentucky Bureau Colleen Cassity kentucky@yall.com Louisiana Bureau Clay Reynolds louisiana@yall.com Missouri Bureau Matthew Bandermann missouri@yall.com North Carolina Bureau Jason “Pig” Thompson northcarolina@yall.com Oklahoma Bureau Lee Cartwright oklahoma@yall.com Tennessee Bureau Joshua Wilkins tennessee@yall.com Texas Bureau Matthew Heermans texas@yall.com Virginia Bureau Sally Summerson virginia@yall.com Publishing Consultant Samir Husni Circulation

Curtis Circulation Company Phone (201) 634-7416

Y’ALL (ISSN 1557-2331), March/April 2006, Volume 4, Number 2. Published bimonthly by General Rawl Media, LLC. Editorial and advertising offices at 7 County Road 305, Oxford, MS 38655-9302. Mailing address: P.O. Box 1217, Oxford, MS 38655. Telephone: 662-236-1928. Basic subscription rate: 6 issues, U.S. $19.95; Canada $32.69. 12 issues, U.S. $34.95; Canada $45.80. Entire contents copyright 2006, General Rawl Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. Products named in these pages are tradenames or trademarks of their respective companies. Opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect that of the publisher. For subscriptions, queries, and customer service, please visit www. yall.com Y’all Magazine Business phone: 662-236-1928. E-mail us at: mail@yall.com Subscriptions: Toll-Free 1-800-935-5185 Application to mail at Periodical Postage Rates is Pending at Oxford, Mississippi and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Y’all, c/o Magazine Processing Center, P.O. Box 0567, Selmer, TN 38375-9908. Printed in the USA.

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One of the funny little things about living in the 21st Century is that youʼre always on the move. In the old days, you were often born, reared and ultimately met your maker on the same plot of land. With this latest issue of Yʼall, weʼve moved office locations, into a nice “double-wide” on the outskirts of Oxford, Miss., the Southʼs literary capital. Although this move entailed a move of no more than two miles the way the crow flies, itʼs still been a big pain in the backside. Things youʼd forgotten about, things you want to forget about, all come screaming back to reality under the dust and cobwebs. Luckily, weʼve got everything unpacked now and back on track for the long haul. Now we can trade in our moverʼs hat for the hat weʼd prefer to wear, our regular job of being the Magazine of Southern People. We think this latest issue of Yʼall will move on the newsstands. Garth Brooks is back on the country chart, and heʼs got a new bride in tow. I covered Garth throughout the 1990ʼs when I was an entertainment writer in Nashville. On behalf of the country music business, thank goodness Garth has come off the Oklahoma ranch for a bit – to help jumpstart a format thatʼs quite mundane without him. Our Yʼall exclusive showcases Garthʼs latest music, Trisha and whatʼs next for the Southern sensation. Enjoy!

Southernly yours,

Jon Rawl President and Publisher

Y’ALL • THE MAGAZINE OF SOUTHERN PEOPLE

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where y’all?

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Sound & Speed Country music and NASCAR stars came together at the inaugural “Sound & Speed” weekend in Nashville, Jan. 13-14. Designed to kickoff the upcoming NASCAR season, as well as provide Music City with a winter boost, the two-day event allowed the shared faithful of country music and NASCAR a chance to get up-close to some of their favorite stars from both. Compiled by Dave Molesworth photos by Chad Mills

Chely Wright and Jamie McMurray

Carl Edwards

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“The King,” Richard Petty, signs autographs. Sound & Speed” benefitted Victory Junction Gang – a camp for children suffering from serious illnesses – founded in honor of Petty’s late grandson, Adam. More than $180,000 was raised for the cause.

Greg Biffle and Andy Griggs

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where y’all?

The Winner Is… LEFT: Hook ‘em Horns! Texas alum Matthew McConaughey (R) and Lance Armstrong celebrate after the Texas Longhorns defeated the USC Trojans 41-38 to win the BCS National Championship at the Rose Bowl on Jan. 4. (Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

Georgia Peach Julia Roberts presents the Freedom Award onstage during the 11th Annual Critics’ Choice Awards in Santa Monica, Calif. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Lone Star Lady Jessica Simpson accepts the “Favorite Song from a Movie” award for “These Boots Are Made For Walkin,’” at the 32nd Annual People’s Choice Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, Calif. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

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Nashville and Y’all Nov.-Dec. ‘05 covergirl Reese Witherspoon promotes the Johnny Cash biopic Walk The Line at the Oxo Tower in London, England. (Dave Hogan/Getty Images)

Carpenter Faber Dewar of TLC’s Trading Spaces works to rebuild a home in Biloxi, Miss., for a special upcoming Katrina episode.

An advertising class from the University of Alabama sport their new “I Love Y’all” shirts while working on a project for the Tuscaloosa Convention and Visitors Bureau. Roll Tide! MARCH/APRIL 2006 • Y’ALL To get your own Y’all Shirts go to page 37.

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where y’all?

Kentuckian Johnny Depp arrives at the 63rd Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

ABOVE: Georgia actor Josh Holloway arrives at the 12th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

RIGHT: Singer/actress Beyonce Knowles, of Houston, Texas, appears onstage during MTV’s Total Request Live at the MTV Times Square Studios in New York City. (Scott Gries/Getty Images)

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ABOVE: San Antonio Spurs star Tony Parker and girlfriend/fellow Texan Eva Longoria at the 12th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

RIGHT: Louisiana man Tim McGraw and Mississippi woman Faith Hill at the Golden Globe Awards. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

TOP RIGHT: Kentwood, Louisiana’s Britney Spears arrives to a Hollywood party for the 2006 Grammy Nominees. (Photo by Matthew Simmons/Getty Images for Rolling Stone)

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reviews THOSE PEARLY GATES: A HOMEGROWN NOVEL “The hardest lessons of my life always seemed to sneak up on me like the nests the dirt daubers built out in the barn. I’d figured on some smooth sailing, at least for a while, after Aunt Imogene married the Reverend Lemuel Peddigrew, and Jeanette turned her life over to Jesus.” Thus begins the third installment of the Homegrown series by Knoxville, Tenn., native Julie Cannon. Her two previous books in the series, Truelove & Homegrown Tomatoes and ‘Mater Biscuit, quickly became Southern best-sellers. “The Homegrown series has become for me a celebration of the gifts of my rural Southern heritage. I grew up literally crossing off the days till summer when we’d head to my Mee-Maw’s farm in Armuchee, Ga. All of us cousins would ride horses bareback through the fields and across the pond, bale hay, shuck sweet corn, pluck blackberries, and hunt arrowheads along the banks of the Oostenaula River. In the evenings I’d sit very still and listen to the kinfolk indulging in that wonderful Southern tradition of oral storytelling.” She didn’t realize it at the time, but she was preserving all of these memories in her mind, just like Mee-Maw preserved the fruits of the harvest—putting them back for use at a later time. Cannon began telling stories in grammar school and writing them down on books she had made from pieces of construction paper that were stapled together. In high school (Cedar Shoals High in Athens, Ga., Class of ’80) she became a contributor to a school sponsored literary magazine. She had plenty of time for writing since her social life included raising chickens, sheep and showing 4-H beef steers, not very conducive to turning heads and being asked out on dates. She entered the University of Georgia’s journalism school to earn a degree in advertising. Upon graduation Cannon landed a string of torturous sales jobs while still being a closet writer. She had notebooks full of stories written in long hand stuffed in Rubbermaid boxes under the bed. Marriage and three children followed. After many rejections by publishers, her husband noticed an ad in a local entertainment magazine for a short story contest that was co-sponsored by a small publishing house and had a cash prize. Julie entered and won over 60-something other contestants. This followed with the publication of her first novel, Truelove & Homegrown Tomatoes, and the second novel, ‘Mater Biscuit. She has become a competent public speaker and entertainer, a member of the Dixie Divas, a group of Southern writers who tour together, and recently received the ultimate honor of a red feather boa and sparkling tiara when she was crowned “Tomato Queen” at Georgia’s Stone Mountain Park. She currently lives in Bishop, Ga. Each of her books in the Homegrown series follows the lives of three women. Imogene (Imo) Lavender,

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now Imogene Peddigrew, wife of the Reverend Lemuel Peddigrew, Loutishie (Lou) Imo’s niece, who she raised as her own, and Jeanette, Imo’s rebellious daughter, who has finally married a reverend of her own. Those Pearly Gates finds Lou and Imo moving happily along with their life on the farm after Imo’s marriage to the Reverend. Life was good. Nothing could be better than the wide-open spaces, milking the cows, canning and tending the quarter acre vegetable garden. It was in that garden that Imo and Lou could do their best thinking. Jeanette, however, considered the farm dull and was ecstatic to move away to Cartersville. She got a job as a beautician at the Kountry Kut ‘n’ Kurl and finally found her true love, the Rev. Montgomery Pike. Everyone hoped she would settle down

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PHOTO BY LIBBY WILLIS

and become the ideal wife and mother. After all, she was married to a preacher. Imo’s marriage had begun to change their lives. No longer was she able to spend all of her days on the farm and working the soil she loved, as she was now the minister’s wife and was expected to go along with him to comfort the sick and tend to Calvary Baptist. Lou missed the days they spent together, but comforted herself by helping out and doing Imo’s chores when she couldn’t get around to it. There was nothing Lou loved better than the land she had grown up on. Imo said it was the connection humans needed to the earth. Lou had worshipped the ground her Uncle Silas had walked on AUTHOR until his death and had JULIE CANNON promised herself that she would always keep the land and cherish it as he had. Any extra hours in the day were filled with helping Dr. Livesay, the local veterinarian, with whom she hoped to have the honor of becoming his summer intern. This would certainly help her reach her goal of going to vet school at the University of Georgia. Jeanette always had a dark, rebellious side that Imo had refused to acknowledge until she became pregnant with Little Silas. Everyone was amazed that the Reverend Pike had taken in Little Silas as his own, even though he had dark brown skin, like a walnut, on account of Jeanette’s fling with the married India-Indian who used to run the Dairy Queen. Jeanette was obsessed with being beautiful and having a good time. She had no intention of becoming a “church lady” and looking frumpy, so she secretly entered an erotic bull-riding contest at the Honky Tonk Tavern. When Lou found out about it, she feared the slippery slope Jeanette was treading on. Lou could just hear Lavonia Fullard’s quivery voice at the Wednesday night prayer meeting saying, “You give old Slewfoot a ride and he’ll always want to drive!” The devastating events that follow force Jeanette to realize that beauty is not just skin deep.

Lou’s perfect world was shattered when an aging Reverend Peddigrew insisted that they move back to town to the parsonage he had shared with his first wife, Martha, who was also Imo’s best friend. Imo could feel Martha’s presence everywhere in that house. Martha had been the perfect pastor’s wife. She had been such a saint, and Imo felt so inadequate that she had thought of changing the WWJD bracelets that people wore and making one that said WWMD, What Would Martha Do? Martha had made Imo and Lemuel promise her on her deathbed to take care of each other. When the sheriff took away the Reverend’s license to drive, there seemed no choice but to leave the land that Imo and Lou loved. This left Lou feeling resentful and stretching her faith to find a way back to her beloved farm. It scared her to think of the things she was willing to do to keep the land. “I will stay right here. I will fight that man. Even if he is a man of God. I will fight him tooth and nail if he tries to make Imo sell this place.” The only comfort she could find was in Hank Dollar and long walks around the farm, working the vegetable garden and remembering better days. When Imo’s neighbors suffer tragedy, she learns what it really means to be a reverend’s wife by helping to restore their faith. Her own faith is tested and strengthened by the deep divide caused between Lou and Lemuel over the land. Through the tragedy they are brought together again and little by little a healing peace begins to wash over them. The awful time they had all been through made them realize “that there is always a light waiting around the bend.” They learned the true meaning of the sign at the Calvary Baptist church that read, “Prayer is Asking for Rain, Faith is Carrying an Umbrella.” Through their faith in God and love for each other, this Homegrown family finds happiness inside Those Pearly Gates. review by Paula Dabbs

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Monster Trucks? No. Hog Callin’? No. Tractor Pulls? No. World-Class Entertainers? Yes! Brandy

Gerald McRaney

Faith Hill

Jim Henson

James Earl Jones

Jimmie Rodgers

Leontyne Price

Elvis Presley

LeAnn Rimes

Morgan Freeman

Sela Ward

Oprah Winfrey

What’s our idea of fun in Mississippi? It’s not what you think. We actually enjoy watching movies and television, or listening to the radio to see how many Mississippians we can spot. We usually spot quite a few, as you can see. Mississippi. You could say our leading export is world-class talent.

www.mississippibelieveit.com

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ashley jones

daytime’s southern sweetheart by Tabatha Hunter

MARCH/APRIL 2006 • Y’ALL

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When viewers tune into the CBS soap The Bold and the Beautiful each weekday, they are pleasantly surprised with one of the South’s own. The new “Bridget” on the show is none other than Memphis, Tenn.-born, Texas-raised Ashley Jones. For the last year, Jones has been winning over the hearts of Americans with her acting. Naturally, Jones is talented, something that goes without question when you consider the star-packed cast she works with daily. But she’s as smart and beautiful as she is talented, and who could forget her megawatt smile that helps to keep The Bold and the Beautiful one of the top daytime television shows in the world. There is one thing for sure—with Jones’ character getting involved with the characters played by soap studs Antonio Sabato, Jr. and Jack Wagner, the 29-year-old starlet is showing daytime television what it means to be an American sweetheart. 18

Husband, Noah Nelson and Jones.

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Y’ALL: How is it working on The Bold and The Beautiful? JONES: It is going really well. I have been on the show a little over a year now and I took over a role that had been a very loved character. It should have been really daunting to take over a character like that, but for whatever reason I just felt really at peace about it. It has worked out really well. I have worked a ton and it’s been a great year as far as being able to play such a complex character that has changed so much. Y’ALL: Are there any similarities between you and your character, “Bridget?” JONES: I think there are a lot of similarities. She’s outgoing and ambitious and tries to be very generous and loving and all that kind of stuff. There are probably a few more things that we do not have in common. For instance, I think she kind of tends to bury her head in the sand a little bit. She has had such a stressful life and she would rather not acknowledge a lot of the heartaches that are going on right now. Y’ALL: When you were in college at Pepperdine, you were able to study in Italy. How was that? JONES: They have those programs abroad so I was able to go over there and study art. It was mainly art history and I lived in Florence and was able to travel around on the weekends. So I really took full advantage of that and went to Spain and tons of weekends in Paris and Greece. It was really quite the education, just traveling. I ended up staying in London for a month before I came back to the States. I enjoyed that. I don’t know how much art history I remember per se. I would really love to never forget it because it’s so fascinating. Y’ALL: Do you plan on doing any more traveling? JONES: I would love to see different parts of the world. That’s definitely a goal of mine. My husband has never been to Italy so I would love to take him back to where I spent a lot of time when I was in school. It’s really interesting and totally different. The only sad thing about the world right now is that you don’t really know where it is safe to travel.

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY CYNTHIA SNYDER PUBLIC RELATIONS

Y’ALL: You met your husband, Noah Nelson, when you were 15. Did you know you were going to marry him at the time? JONES: I wrote it down in my journal actually, and they read my journal at my wedding saying this is the entry describing the first time we met. He did not know he wanted to marry me, but I knew I wanted to marry him. We met on a film. His dad is an actor, Craig T. Nelson [Coach], who was starring in a mini-series, and I played his daughter. So he was spending the summer on location with his father. He

was a production assistant on the project and that’s how I met Noah. We just tried to keep in touch over the years and we would date on and off. And then, finally ten years after we met we got married. I was 25. He’s a writer for CSI: New York, which to me is just amazing. I could not possibly be more proud of him. He’s so talented. One of my other goals professionally would be to be in one of his projects someday. Y’ALL: Any plans for children? JONES: We talk about it a lot but we’re just kind of waiting until we feel it’s just the perfect time, which I know it probably is never the perfect time, but we’ll probably start having them in the next year or so. Y’ALL: What are your hobbies? JONES: I love to read. For whatever reason I have this desire lately to read as much as I can. I go through phases where I read magazines and I don’t want to read a novel, and I think I should be more educated on history. Right now I love historical fiction. Y’ALL: What is your favorite book? JONES: One of my recent favorites is Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine Bonaparte. There are three books to the series and it’s all about the life of Napoleon Bonaparte’s wife and it’s incredibly fascinating. If anyone out there loves historical fiction and you haven’t read that, you’ll read this book so fast.

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g by Tabatha Hunter

ne simply cannot talk about country music today without talking about the impact Garth Brooks has made on the business. Exploding onto the scene in 1989, Brooks forever left his mark by fusing country music together with a little bit of Rock. Garth’s been at the top of the music charts with singles like “Friends In Low Places” and “The Dance.” He has won all the awards, from The People’s Choice to The Grammy, and the CMA’s. MARCH/APRIL 2006 • Y’ALL

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1995

2002

TOP: VINCE BUCCI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES, BELOW: LUCY NICHOLSON/AFP/GETTY, FRONT PAGE: POOL PHOTO/GETTY IMAGES, THIS PAGE: GARY C. KNAPP/GETTY

By the late 1990’s, Brooks was a force to be reckoned with, a country music superstar with seemingly endless possibilities. So, it came as a bit of a shock when Brooks announced his retirement in late 2000. But now, thanks to his new box set, The Lost Sessions, Garth is back and he is better than ever. The Lost Sessions brings with it a new single, “Good Ride Cowboy,” a surefire hit, “That Girl Is A Cowboy,” and some previously recorded but never released tracks. For Brooks, “Good Ride Cowboy” was the coming out point of his retirement. As he recounts it, some guys came in to a meeting and they said they wanted to do a tribute to his late pal Chris LeDoux. He looked around the table and decided that even though it would break his word not to record anything new after retirement, Garth decided to go ahead and record the song. “I gotta tell you, it was the best move I ever made. It’s the only new recording we have on the record and it is something that I am proud of,” says Brooks. “This is about a man that all of us in country radio, all of us out here, love to pieces.” Garth learned many lessons from the versatile LeDoux, and may have even stolen the rodeo-singer’s live show. “Yeah,” admits Garth, “Now that he cannot sue me anymore, I stole his show. This was the guy. …That guy was all over the place and what I loved best, the crowd went with him everywhere he went.” “That Girl Is A Cowboy” is one of the better sentimental songs that listeners are likely to hear this year, and it is probably one of Garth’s favorite songs on The Lost Sessions. The song, inspired by a cowgirl friend of Brooks’, is a tribute to the cowgirls of the nation. “It’s just a wonderful story about a wonderful gal that goes on to talk about all cowgirls,” says Brooks. “Sometimes the best cowboys ain’t cowboys at all. Some of the best things I have ever had done for me and some of the most manly things I have ever had done for me, as far as you know favors and people doing stuff for me, have been done by cowgirls. My hat’s off to them,” says Brooks. Brooks continually proves to be an upstanding and just an all around good ole cowboy. He negotiates with companies like Wal-Mart to ensure that his fans can buy his new box set without it hurting their wallets too bad (this collection goes for around $25 versus previous sets which have sold for closer to $40).

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BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/GETTY, THIS PAGE: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/GETTY

But perhaps the most notable and heart warming thing the country music crooner has done recently was to ask everyone for permission to marry long-time love and fellow country music star, Trisha

Yearwood. Brooks asked his three daughters, Taylor, August and Allie, for permission to marry Yearwood after asking for his father’s permission and before asking Trisha’s parents and his own ex-wife, Sandy, for the same. “Her (Trisha’s) mom and dad were very sweet to me but they were very parental too. They expressed joy but they also expressed my duty to make sure that their daughter is taken care of and stuff. It was a good, old fashioned talking to. I feel very loved by her mom and her father,” says Brooks.

The hardest person to ask, admits Brooks, was ex-wife Sandy. “Sandy was very sweet in saying it was about time. It was one of the first things she said which made me kind of laugh, and then what made me immediately turn around and start crying was she said this is a good move for you Garth.” “It’s neat,” he says. “How these two women interact with each other and to tell you, if the shoe was on the other foot I am not so sure that I could be that cool.” Brooks married Yearwood at their home in Oklahoma on Dec. 10, 2005. MARCH/APRIL 2006 • Y’ALL

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2/16/06 8:49:42 PM

CHRISTIA OUTLAW by Bethany Daws

Perhaps you know Christian Kane as the sexy ex-boyfriend from the hit comedy, Just Married, or as Angelina Jolie’s big league fiancé in the 2002 movie, Life or Something Like It. These days you can find him on CBS’ No. 1 Friday night show, Close to Home. Y’all recently caught up with the 31-year-old rising Southerner to find out exactly what he has been working on and what we can expect to see from him in the future.

CENTER: FRAZER HARRISON/GETTY IMAGES FOR AFI BELOW CENTER: KATHERINE BOMBOY/ALUNACY UNLIMITED PRODUCTION, FAR RIGHT: ALUNACY UNLIMITED PRODUCTION

Born in Dallas, Kane and his family moved throughout the time to collect my thoughts. I reflect back on the year during South; until they finally settled in the small town of Norman, my drive to Tennessee and on my trip back to California. I Okla. Christian spent his summers just as any Southern boy plan what I would like to accomplish in the future. It also would: hunting, fishing and wasting the day away on the Red allows me to get away from the hectic day-to-day schedule River. But as with anything, time passed and life moved him and just ride on the open road.” into a different direction. Christian found himself packing Christian’s latest acting appearances include playing up and moving to the University of Oklahoma. “I pretty opposite Queen Latifah and Jimmy Fallon in Taxi, and the much spent my whole time at Oklahoma entertaining,” he Peter Berg-directed football film, Friday Night Lights. Christian says. Christian reached a point where he felt there was more also played alongside Ashton Kutcher and Brittany Murphy to his life; he gathered his belongings, took his life savings in the hit movie, Just Married. The movie was a complete – which totaled $300 – and headed west to Los Angeles. success, grossing over $60 million at the box office. The aspiring actor knew the road ahead would be tough, In 2005, Kentucky filmmaker, Stu Pollard produced and but with any luck, he would succeed. As fate would have directed the suspenseful movie, Keep Your Distance, starring it, Christian was hired as an assistant at a productionGil Bellows, Jennifer Westfedlt, Kim Raver, and featuring management company. Soon Christian was picked to play Christian Kane as the mysterious “Sean Voight.” It was the part of “Ryan ‘Flyboy’ Legget,” an actor and singer in Pollard’s second independent film, and already the film has MGM’s T.V. series Fame L.A. After 22 episodes the show was received great hype. “Everybody worked so hard on this cancelled. movie, especially Stu. He put his Music was also in the cards. In 1998, sweat and blood into this film and Christian met future bandmate Steve it shows. I was honored to work Carlson. Together they formed the band, under him and if the opportunity Kane. Industry magazine Music Connection arises to work with him again, I voted Kane as one of L.A.’s 100 hottest would without hesitation,” Kane unsigned bands. Inspiration for the band’s says. “I was very proud to be able music comes from country classics like to say I worked with Stu and was Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Kenny apart of such a wonderful film”. Rogers, and even Dolly Parton. When asked Keep Your Distance was filmed in to describe Kane’s music, Christian had two Louisville, Ky., Pollard’s hometown. simple words, “Outlaw country.” What is “Stu was brilliant about using the outlaw country? With a simple response, town as an actor. The people of Christian explains, “It is music that the Louisville really embraced us, and men can drink a beer to, and the women made us feel welcome,” adds Kane. can dance to.” The band has performed Keep Your Distance is now available worldwide and most recently played a gig on home video. with Shooter Jennings, Waylon’s boy, at The Currently you can find Christian Viper Room in Los Angeles. Kane has also on the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced opened for Pat Green in Texas. “It wasn’t show Close To Home, a compelling easy going and opening for a guy like Pat and suspenseful look at suburbia Green, especially in his home state. He has through the eyes of an aggressive amazing fans, and of course everybody was prosecutor. On the show Christian there to see him. But by the end of our plays “Jack,” the husband of the opening, we had a huge crowd singing our main character. He proves to be songs back to us,” Kane says. the loyal and loving husband and (top) Kane (above photo, left to right) co-stars, “The feeling you get from entertaining Stacy Keach, Jennifer Westfeldt and Kane father to his wife and their new is a feeling like no other. The energy of baby. But will the challenges of the crowd is what gives you the energy to her job pose infringement on their perform,” he says. Having such a busy schedule being a home life? Stay tuned, Kane says. musician doesn’t leave him with much spare time. Somehow, As for Christian and his band Kane, check out his website Christian regularly manages to drive across 10 states, from at www.kanemusic.com for upcoming performances and a California to Nashville, Tenn., juggling the two careers of sampling of his “outlaw country” sound, which has already being an actor and a musician. “Being on the road gives me garnered the attention of big label execs in Nashville.

Y’ALL • THE MAGAZINE OF SOUTHERN PEOPLE

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2/16/06 8:36:44 PM

AN KANE

review: Keep Your Distance

MARCH/APRIL 2006 • Y’ALL

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ABOVE: PHOTO BY RAFAEL WINER/ALUNACY UNLIMITED PRODUCTION

by Keith Sisson Kentucky filmmaker Stu Pollard has just released his latest film, Keep Your Distance, to the home entertainment market. Starring Gil Bellows, Jennifer Westfeldt, Kim Raver, and Christian Kane. This movie is a story about people who appear happy on the outside, but are far from it underneath. The main character in Keep Your Distance, talk show host David Dailey (Gil Bellows), has parlayed his radio career into a position of unrivaled popularity. As what appears to be the perfect marriage to wife Susan (Kim Raver) falls apart due to radically different ideas on the direction of the couple’s intimate relationship, Dailey meets Melody Carpenter (Jennifer Westfeldt). Melody is the love interest of aspiring musician Sean Voight, (Christian Kane) who will stop at nothing to win her love. The tone of Keep Your Distance is inherently and boldly ambiguous—an organic extension of the moods that permeate the film’s complex characters as they struggle to sequester their inner demons. Up one moment, down the next, the film breaks free of conventional genre boundaries and takes its viewers on an unpredictable human journey. The performances, music, and sound design all conspire to subtly support this ambiguous tone—an undercurrent you can’t see or hear as much as feel. This is Pollard’s second film to write, produce, and direct. His first film, Nice Guys Sleep Alone, can be described as a romantic comedy. He says this latest release bares little resemblance to his first. “I set out to make Keep Your Distance an interactive experience –to engage viewers from the start, to grab them and say, ‘Your participation is required. Pay attention to everything and everyone.’ I want to keep them guessing—not just about what happens next, but also about what story lines matter the most, what the right choices are, and perhaps most importantly, which characters they can trust.” One way that Keep Your Distance does resemble his first film is the backdrop of Louisville, Ky. David Dailey’s character is based on a real Louisville radio talk show host. According to Pollard, the city is a perfect filmmaking environment, “The people are supportive and Louisville is underutilized in the film industry, so our audience gets to visit a place rarely seen in movies.” Keep Your Distance has enjoyed recent success on the film festival circuit. The film was released to video and DVD in February and is available for rent at all video store chains and netflix.com. 25

2/16/06 8:37:15 PM

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2/16/06 8:53:18 PM

Jaime My Name is Pressly by Jonathan Craig

MARCH/APRIL 2006 • Y’ALL

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2/16/06 8:56:20 PM

Y’ALL • THE MAGAZINE OF SOUTHERN PEOPLE

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2/16/06 8:56:32 PM

PREVIOUS PAGE: MICHAEL BUCKNER-STRINGER, LEFT:PAUL HAWTHORNE/GETTY, ABOVE: /MICHAEL BUCKNER/GETTY

The Southern accent comes natural to blonde beauty Jaime Pressly. But the 28year-old actress says “Joy,” her breakout character on NBC’s My Name Is Earl, is an amalgam of more than a dozen characters from Dixie.

Pressly says she uniquely modeled the way “Joy” talks from three states: a nasally tone she’s heard from women in Virginia, the way she’s seen some Arkansas women talk out of the side of their mouths, and her own fast-talking North Carolina accent (she’s from Kinston). Her feisty character, Earl’s ex-wife, has become a hero for women who approach Pressly and tell her that “Joy” says exactly what they would like to say. “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed playing her from the day I set foot on that set,” says Pressly. Before her hit role on Earl, Pressly starred in a variety of roles, including Joe Dirt, Ringmaster and Death to the Supermodels. Her Southern accent followed her with most of these roles. But Jaime isn’t acting when she makes it back home to Kinston. Her favorite place to chew down on some Carolina barbecue is Buddy’s; and a trip to the beach is just perfect. “Everybody has known me since I was born.

Nobody looks at me any different. When I step outside of Kinston, I’m like a museum; everybody’s staring at me like a painting,” she says. “I know where I came from and I’m glad I came from there, because if I came from California I can’t say that I would have the same level head on my shoulders,” says Pressly. And she’s not afraid to tell it like it really is: Southern women have something a lot of other women don’t have – the ability to do it all: “We can cook and clean. We can be a therapist and give you some of the best advice in the world. We have the biggest ears in the world to hear everything that you want to talk about. We all give a damn about everything that you have to say. We all make really good marriage material because we all make really good faithful, loving mothers and wives. The way I was raised is something that makes me really proud to be Southern.”

MARCH/APRIL 2006 • Y’ALL

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2/16/06 8:57:12 PM

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM Y’ALL

best hamburger…best musician…best boutique…best spa…best vacation spot…best actor…best museum…best capitol…best barbecue…best trailer park…best soul food…best pecan pie…best hamburger…best musician…best boutique…best spa…best vacation spot…best actor…best museum… best capitol…best barbecue…best trailer park…best soul food…best pecan pie…best hamburger…best musician…best boutique…best spa…best vacation spot…best actor…best museum…best capitol…best barbecue…best trailer park…best soul food…best pecan pie…best hamburger…best musician…best boutique…best spa…best vacation spot…best actor…best museum…best capitol…best barbecue… best trailer park…best soul food…best pecan pie…best hamburger…best musician…best boutique… best spa…best vacation spot…best actor…best museum…best capitol…best barbecue…best trailer park…best soul food…best pecan pie…best hamburger…best musician…best boutique…best spa… best vacation spot…best actor…best museum…best capitol…best barbecue…best trailer park…best soul food…best pecan pie…best hamburger…best musician…best boutique…best spa…best vacation spot…best actor…best museum…best capitol…best barbecue…best trailer park…best soul food… best pecan pie…best hamburger…best musician…best boutique…best spa…best vacation spot…best actor…best museum…best capitol…best barbecue…best trailer park…best soul food…best pecan pie…best hamburger…best musician…best boutique…best spa…best vacation spot…best actor…best museum…best capitol…best barbecue…best trailer park…best soul food…best pecan pie…best hamburger…best musician…best boutique…best spa…best vacation spot…best actor…best museum… best capitol…best barbecue…best trailer park…best soul food…best pecan pie…best hamburger…best musician…best boutique…best spa…best vacation spot…best actor…best museum…best capitol…best barbecue…best trailer park…best soul food…best pecan pie…best hamburger…best musician…best boutique…best spa…best vacation spot…best actor…best museum…best capitol…best barbecue… best trailer park…best soul food…best pecan pie…best hamburger…best musician…best boutique… best spa…best vacation spot…best actor…best museum…best capitol…best barbecue…best trailer park…best soul food…best pecan pie…best hamburger…best musician…best boutique…best spa… best vacation spot…best actor…best museum…best capitol…best barbecue…best trailer park…best soul food…best pecan pie…best hamburger…best musician…best boutique…best spa…best vacation spot…best actor…best museum…best capitol…best barbecue…best trailer park…best soul food… best pecan pie…best hamburger…best musician…best boutique…best spa…best vacation spot…best Y’all Magazine capitol…best barbecue…best trailer park…best soul food…best pecan actor…best museum…best P.O. Box 1217musician…best boutique…best spa…best vacation T H Espot…best M A G A Z I Nactor…best E OF pie…best hamburger…best Oxford, MS 38655 S O U T H E pecan R N P E O pie…best PLE museum…best capitol…best barbecue…best trailer park…best soul food…best hamburger…best musician…best boutique…best spa…best vacation spot…best actor…best museum… E best capitol…bestRbarbecue…best park…best soul food…best pecan pie…best hamburger…best L RECEIVtrailer IL W S E N . R WIN boutique…best A E G L musician…best spa…best vacation spot…best actor…best museum…best capitol…best L FREE Y’A barbecue…best trailer park…best soul food…best pecan pie…best hamburger…best musician…best boutique…best spa…best vacation spot…best actor…best museum…best capitol…best barbecue… I nominate_____________________________________________________________________________ best trailer park…best soul food…best pecan pie…best hamburger…best musician…best boutique… best spa…best vacation spot…best actor…best museum…best capitol…best barbecue…best trailer as a Best of Dixie Winner. Location________________________________________________________ park…best soul food…best pecan pie…best hamburger…best musician…best boutique…best spa…

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Please send your entries to:

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WHO OR WHAT IS THE SOUTH’S BEST?

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2/16/06 8:59:58 PM

S T?

on the money The best credit card myths

by Dave Ramsey Dave Ramsey is a financial counselor, host of the popular syndicated radio show “The Dave Ramsey Show,” and author of the New York Times bestseller The Total Money Makeover. His columns appear regularly in Y’all.

Every year credit card companies mail out billions of pre-approved credit offers to everyone including dogs and dead people. Before you sign up for American Excess or Discovering bondage, take a closer look at these common credit card myths. Myth: You should get a credit card to build your credit. Truth: You won’t use credit with your Total Money Makeover, except maybe for a mortgage, and you don’t need a credit card for that. The best myth is the “build your credit” myth. Bankers, car dealers, and unknowledgeable mortgage lenders have told America for years to “build your credit.” This myth means we have to get debt so we can get more debt because debt is how we get stuff. Those of us who have had a Total Money Makeover have found that cash buys stuff better than debt. But if I were selling debt, as the banker is, I too would tell you to get debt to get more debt. This is, however, a myth. Yes, you will need to “build your credit” by borrowing and repaying debt in a timely fashion if you want to live a life of credit cards, student loans, and car payments. Not me. The one question we must answer is, “How do I get a home mortgage?” But if you want that 15-year fixed rate (which I recommend) with a payment that is no more than 25 percent of your take-home pay, don’t you need credit? No. You will need to find a mortgage company that does manual underwriting. That means they are professional enough to process the details of your life instead of using only a Beacon score (lending for dummies). You can get a mortgage if you have lived right. Let me define “lived right.” You can qualify for a Conventional fifteen-year fixed-rate loan if: • You have paid your landlord early or on time for two years. • You have been in the same career field for two years. • You have a good down payment, which is more than “nothing down.” • You have no other credit, good or bad.

• You are not trying to take too big a loan. A payment that totals 25 percent of take-home is conservative and will help you qualify. Don’t let anyone tell you to go into debt to make way for a mortgage; that is a LIE. A quality mortgage professional can get you into a home if he or she knows how to do underwriting. As for building credit for the other stuff, leave that to the losers. With your Total Money Makeover, you won’t be taking on that kind of debt anyway. Myth: If you pay off your credit card every month, you get the free use of someone else’s money. Truth: CardTrak says 60 percent don’t pay off their credit cards every month. When you play with snakes, you get bitten. I have heard all the bait out there to lure the unsuspecting into the pit. A free hat, airline miles, brownie points back, free use of someone else’s money, a discount at the register – the list goes on to get you to sign up for a credit card. Have you ever asked why they work so hard to get you involved? The answer is that you lose and they win. You won’t wear the hat, and Consumer Reports says 75 percent of the airline miles are never redeemed. Next time you are in the store that gave you a discount for signing up for a card, you will have forgotten your cash, you’ll use the card, and the cycle begins. Maybe you think, I pay mine off, so I’m using their money. I’m winning. Wrong again. A study by Dunn and Bradstreet showed that the credit card user spends 12 to 18 percent more when using credit instead of cash. It hurts when you spend cash, and, therefore, you spend less. The big question is, what do millionaires do? They don’t get rich with free hats, brownie points, air miles, and use of someone else’s money. What do broke people do? They use credit cards. An American Bankruptcy Institute study of bankruptcy filers reveals that 69 percent of filers say credit-card debt caused the bankruptcy. Broke people use credit cards; rich people don’t. I rest my case.

MARCH/APRIL 2006 • Y’ALL

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2/16/06 9:01:43 PM

cranky yankee Cabin Glen Part II

by Laurie Stieber

Laurie Stieber is an Atlanta-based entertainment attorney and freelance columnist. The New York City native can be reached at yankee@yall.com 32

If suffering is relative, then it stands to reason that so is one’s perception of comfortable sleeping accommodations. Doc and I are having an immediate opportunity to test this theory of relativity because we are pulling right up to it, in the form of Cabin Glen’s cabin. There is a five star rating glistening in Doc’s eyes. Tears of misery are blinding mine; I have already mistaken the cabin for a souvenir shack. How am I supposed to know that panicky bugs trapped in hanging, glass lanterns are for fishing and not for sale as “Show & Tell” projects? Doc keeps insisting that I will reclaim my sense of adventure and romance during this rustic, weekend get-away- to the great outdoors of East Dublin, Ga. I do not trust the word “rustic.” Just as “vegetarian” is the Native American Indian word for “lousy hunter,” “rustic” is the Yankee word for “lousy sleeping accommodations.” “Oh, darn,’ I suddenly remember, ‘I have to go home. It’s an emergency.” “What emergency?” Doc pushes. “Asthma. (wheezing sound effects) I didn’t want to alarm you, honey, but I am deathly allergic to fresh air. It comes from years of ecstatic living in Manhattan.” “I’m sure we can find a drug store in the area that sells smog inhalers.” He is laughing heartily, directly in the face of human misfortune. Hmm… rifles, machetes, bows and arrows, 1200 acres of heavily, wooded property and a very ticked off wife … extremely dangerous combination for a Romanian Jay Leno in the Godforsaken wasteland of East Dublin. Doc was right; I feel my sense of adventure racing back. If it comes with a sturdy shovel, he had best start running. Doc carries me across the cabin threshold into the bedroom. He had no other choice; I was trying to tie myself, with a Gucci scarf, to the imitation leather steering wheel of the monster Avalanche. Worried that the beautiful scarf would tear, I staged a sitin. It worked for about 10 seconds, until a rattlesnake – which turned out to be a piece of inner tube – tried to bite my tush and I leapt into Doc’s arms. It was his punishment for insisting I would reclaim my sense of romance. Nighttime has jumped from the plane without a parachute and is freefalling. Darkness hits fast when forest creatures and creepy crawlers are conspiring to spook innocent asthmatics. What if Cabin Glen’s brother, Phillip, leaves us the same surprise he left Glen for his birthday last year? A buffalo. And it wasn’t a bison burger at Ted Turner’s restaurant, Montana Grill, either. Phillip just turned the buffalo loose on Glen’s property without telling his brother,

and left. A woman riding by was so shocked to see an escapee buffalo meandering on the road, she drove into a ditch, causing the sheriff to pay Cabin Glen a little visit. “Gotta keep yur boofaloo in ‘er from now on,” the sheriff warned. An understandably defensive Glen snapped, “What buffalo?! I don’t have a buffalo!” Yeah, he did. Now, the buffalo may be at Ted’s place. The cabin has indoor plumbing, but I am afraid to use it for an excellent reason; the owl may see me in the bathroom. Doc says something ridiculous. “The owl won’t see you. It was facing the opposite direction a minute ago when we were on the porch swing.” “Well, well, well, nature boy, it just so happens that an owl’s head can spin completely around in the socket like Linda Blair’s did in The Exorcist.” Doc’s mouth is agape, resembling the entrance to the Holland Tunnel. “Why are you shocked? Everyone knows that if you attach a camcorder to the side of an owl’s rotating head, it becomes an instant surveillance camera. Please stand guard at the door and shoot the peeping Tom if it makes a move.”

“

…“rustic” is the Yankee word for “lousy sleeping accommodations.”

”

It’s dawn and I swear Doc was laughing in his sleep because he couldn’t turn it off while I was in the bathroom afraid of the exorcist owl. Oh no … Doc, that macho, Romanian Bredneck* I married, is going outside first thing in the morning. Why do men like to pee in the great outdoors? They can, that’s why. Even Shakespeare commemorated the ability. It’s a little known historic fact, but when Shakespeare wrote: “All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players,” it was not his first draft. A far cry from it. The original copy was dedicated to men and it read, “All the world’s an outhouse, and all the women merely ‘Ma’am, would you happen to have a tissue?’ players.’” Ah, I hear the sounds of nature calling from the woods and they are sweet music to my ears: “Honey, would you happen to have any tissues?” The chickens are clucking and the pigs are snorting this fine, “rustic” morning. I can’t hear a thing. Shalom Y’all *Bredneck: A well-bred redneck

Y’ALL • THE MAGAZINE OF SOUTHERN PEOPLE

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2/16/06 9:01:59 PM

Join us for the inaugural Y’all Magazine

SWEET TEA CHALLENGE presented by Luzianne®

Starkville, Mississippi | April 22, 2006 10th Annual Cotton District Arts Festival WE ARE LOOKING FOR PARTICIPANTS ALL ACROSS THE SOUTH TO COMPETE IN THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES:

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Best Individual Sweet Tea (Yourself, your Mama or your Maw-Maw)

The 10-Minute Sweet Tea Drinking Competition (open to everyone)

WINNERS RECEIVE PRIZES, AWARDS AND THEIR PICTURE IN Y’ALL MAGAZINE For information on how to enter email

sweettea@yall.com or call 1-888-679-7289 Sponsored by

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2/16/06 9:13:44 PM

max’d out Springtime in the South, and College Football (Just Around the Corner!)

by Max Howell

MAX’d OUT can be heard on many radio stations across the South. www. maxhowell.com, HookedonDestin. com, and Kickoffzone.com, the show is streamed live daily M-F, 9-12 Noon CT

2006 is well under way, and we in sports have already begun to count the days until college football season. Now less than 200 days to kickoff, spring training’s under way at most schools, college basketball’s almost over and college baseball is the topic. So, who will be No. 1 this fall? With Texas, Southern California, Florida, Georgia, LSU, and Notre Dame dominating the recruiting talk, is there a national champion in this group? According to some of the early polls, Texas, Southern California, Notre Dame, Florida, FSU and Oklahoma are the early favorites. Teams like Ohio State, Va. Tech, LSU, Miami and West Virginia, also have been mentioned. With spring training, injuries, academic casualties and unknown playing quality of the recruiting class, all any of us have is speculation. The Southern teams get my vote. Texas, Florida, FSU, Auburn, Georgia and Alabama (I include Miami–though not really Southern). The BCS committee, headed by SEC Commissioner Mike Slive, has promised some change in the way we select teams to participate in the hunt for a National Champion. After the 2006 season, a “plus one” game will be played to decide between the Top 10 teams who the champion will be. It is still a little unclear to most how the top two teams will be selected. Will it be the winner of No. 1 vs. No. 4 and No. 2 vs. No. 3, or will it be the winner of No. 1 vs. No. 3 playing No. 2 vs. No. 4, or will the committee predetermine the teams before the four major bowl games are played. Whatever the final decision is, count on it being changed next year (i.e. BCS tweaking every year for the first six years). All of the conversations, debates, arguments and heated discussions surely make the spring go by quickly.

Things we do know about our favorite college teams are that they provided us with the best bowl season in many years in 2005. In spite of the coaching changes, a better product will be expected on the field in September; new assistants at Ole Miss, Tennessee, South Carolina, Miami, Arkansas and Troy will bring fresh ideas, excitement and anticipated success. Change is inevitable for programs to get to the top and remain there. With the amount of passion and interest in college sports in the South, we all have grown too familiar with the process. Big dollars from contributions, TV contracts and ticket sales will not allow for complacency. Solid organizations with winning programs are a must. Schools are willing to pay big salaries to their coach, and in return expect great returns. I personally wouldn’t have it any other way. So now as the warmer days of spring turn into the hotter days of summer and we all grow more excited that another year of college football will be here before we can count the next 150 days, I would like to add a note of thanks to the fans in helping Multi-Max Media and SportzMax, Inc. Radio Network in our growth this past year. Beginning in the spring of 2005, MAX’d OUT was carried on 12 radio stations throughout the South. By January 2006, we are now heard in over 36 markets on radio, eight different websites and are in the process of buying and leasing radio stations. Only in the South can the regional radio concept be popular and successful. I am proud to have been one of the pioneers of this concept. Thanks to people like Y’all Magazine’s Jon Rawl and Keith Sisson for allowing me to put in print what I say on the air every day. Have a great spring…and check out www. maxhowell.com for MAX’d OUT, daily 9-12 CT.

Y’ALL • THE MAGAZINE OF SOUTHERN PEOPLE

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2/16/06 9:14:01 PM

inner VIEW

ELLIOTT SADLER VIRGINIAN BORN TO R RACE ACE

by Tabatha Hunter

MARCH/APRIL 2006 • Y’ALL

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2/16/06 9:14:19 PM

So how interesting can driving around in circles all day actually be? The answer to this question all depends on who is driving. If the No. 38, M&M’s driver Elliot Sadler is there; then it’s guaranteed to be an unforgettable experience. Sadler brings with him to the racetrack intense drama. Starting the 2006 racing season off with a brand new type of car (Ford Fusion), the Virginia racer and his great attitude is sure to have all of NASCAR’s fans seeing him in victory lane in the future. Y’all caught up with the up-and-coming Southerner at Daytona: How do you like the new Ford Fusion you will be driving this year? I think the Ford Fusion is great. I really like the way it looks, the way it’s turned out. I like the new Fusion body. I like the nose on it, the front tires on the ground, but I can’t wait to get it some drafting practice to see the full effects of it. But so far, so good. I am real happy with everything.

How were you able to put last year to bed? We had just not had the success last year that we thought we were going to have, that we thought we needed to have, and missing the top 10 was tough and hard to swallow. There are no pointing fingers – that it is this person’s fault or that person’s fault – we just did not get the job done. And we are at a point in time in our life, or in our career, or as a team that we need to try to do something. We need to try to get back in the ballgame and win races. …This off-season has been a breath of fresh air for me to get away and get home and kind of clear my mind. How did you spend your off season? I had seven great weeks of spending time in Emporia, Va., with my family. Did a lot of deer hunting. Just had a good time. So would you say hunting is your

way to stay down to earth? To be honest with you, when I am in the woods hunting I do not know much about racing. I am hunting. That is time away. I think if we carried racing with us all the time we would be high strung and wound up more than we already are. When I go to Emporia, Va., I am in Emporia and we do not talk about racing, we do not recollect each track what we did right or what we did wrong. It is just time that I can spend with my family and my friends. How do you think racing has changed since your rookie season? When I first started racing in it, there were five teams that could win a race, 15 teams that could be very, very competitive, and for a 500-mile race, you ran around for 300 miles, saving your equipment for the end. Now, you got 30 teams that can show every week that I think can win a race at any given time. A lot of times there’s people that win a race that you never really expect, they get hot, and then you got to run every lap like it’s a qualifying lap. If not, you’re going to get lapped. What kind of things are you doing to improve in 2006? I have got to be more knowledgeable as far as the aerodynamic part of the racecar. I was not as good last year with that as I needed to be. I was always worried about the chassis part of it, when our sport is really making a swing and using more of the aero part of it. That is something my crew chief is helping me with.

PREVIOUS PAGE: DOUG PENSINGER /GETTY, ABOVE: NICK LAHAM/GETTY

How do you feel about driving a brand new car body type this year? Anytime you bring a new body type to a race track or open a season with it, you are going to have different things that you have got to do to massage on it and get it right, get it close. But from a team standpoint, we have been lucky how much testing Ford has done in wind tunnel time and time again and massaged on it for us, and really got it great. …Anytime you bring something new, there is a possibility that you might struggle here or there, but I think that Ford as a company did such a good job of making it ready before they gave it to the race teams, I do not think we are going to have any problems with it.

The 2005 season did not end the way we all hoped for you. How do you think 2006 will be? Last year, to me, seems like 10 years ago. I am not really thinking about it because so many things have changed this winter at Robert Yates Racing. We are excited, just like every other team because we are all tight at the moment. I have been very impressed with my team, how hard they have worked this winter, and going to the shop and seeing all the cars we have lined up and the organization.

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Andy Andrews: by Tabatha Hunter

The Man with the Plan

When Andy Andrews walks into a room, he does so with his head held high. He walks in knowing that no matter what curve balls life manages to throw, he will get through. He walks into rooms filled with high powered executives from companies like General Motors, Eastman Kodak and Disney World and speaks to them about his Seven Decisions for Success.

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One thing that is important for you to know about Andrews is that he is not a motivational speaker. “I’m a conversationalist. I really do have conversations with audiences. I am a life coach,” he says. “I know people. I am a professional noticer. I notice things that people can use to make a difference in their lives and allow them to control their every day. And I do it in story form because my books are stories. They make the smart authors write text books. People like me have to write stories.” Andrews, 46, has spoken about his seven decisions around the world to people from all walks of life, including Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush and Gerald Ford. “The politicians, I do not ever charge anything. I do that for free because I do not want anybody telling me what to do. I always feel kind of weird about that. Never take any money from a politician,” laughs Andrews. The Orange Beach, Ala., native was not always a picture of success. At the age of 19, Andrews fell on immensely difficult times when he lost his mother to cancer and his father in an automobile accident. “I have always had the ability to take a bad situation and make it infinitely worse,” says Andrews of these events. He quickly found himself alone and homeless. It was while Andrews was sleeping under piers on the Gulf Coast or in open garages that he began to turn his life around. “My big question at the time was, ‘Is life just a lottery ticket–or is there something that we can do?” says

Andrews, who started reading biographies to figure out what people did to become who they were. From there, Andrews came up with seven decisions that those people had done to become successful. With these

Andy Andrews’ Seven Decisions for Success: 1.The Responsible Decision Harry S. Truman: The buck stops here. 2. The Guided Decision King Solomon: I will seek wisdom. 3. The Active Decision Joshua Chamberlain: I am a person of action. 4. The Certain Decision Christopher Columbus: I have a decided heart. 5. The Joyful Decision Anne Frank: Today I choose to be happy. 6. The Compassionate Decision Abraham Lincoln: I will greet this day with a forgiving spirit. 7. The Persistent Decision Gabriel: I will persist without exception.

seven things and the wisdom of Harry S. Truman, Anne Frank, Gabriel, etc., in mind, Andrews set out to pull himself up from the very bottom. Based on these decisions and the lessons of his own life, Andrews wrote The Traveler’s Gift, an international bestseller that found itself as a Good Morning America “Book-of-the-Month” selection. The novel has been on all of the top best-seller lists, including those of the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today. So, just how popular is Andrews’ novel, The Traveler’s Gift? So popular that Andy has spoken to the U.S. Army’s Special Operations about it. The novel has taken him overseas with the troops on several occasions; but perhaps the best story of the book’s success comes from Ohio. “A town in Ohio used The Travelers Gift as their book for the city. The Traveler was up on billboards. There were table tents in all the restaurants that had little questions to help people engage in conversations about the book. And then at the end of this like two or three month period, they brought me in and I spoke to the town. It was neat,” he says. Andrews now seems thankful for his life’s experiences – from the death of his parents to his homelessness – even through losing his home in Hurricane Ivan. He’s rebuilt a home in Orange Beach, where he lives with his wife of 17 years, Polly, and their two sons. “My belief has always been that things are happening for a reason. We just do not always know the reason. I know now that the challenges that I went through earlier was an integral part of me finding those seven things,” he says. Andrews has now published a number of books; including The Traveler’s Gift, The Lost Choice and Island of Saints. He can also be seen on the hit T.V. program Andy Andrews: The Seven Decisions, airing throughout March on PBS.

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Our one-on-one approach to banking hasn’t changed much since we star ted back in 1872. Perhaps that’s because we’ve maintained the belief that you are an individual, not an account number. And that when it comes to your banking, you should be able to feel as comfor table talking to us as you would any of your other neighbors.

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JOSH LUCAS IS ON GLORY ROAD

by Jonathan Craig

“It’s not about talent, it’s about heart. It’s about who can go out there and play the hardest. They’re not going to give us anything, so you’ve got to go out there and you’ve got to take it!” Texas Western Coach Don Haskins The film Glory Road, which chronicles the improbable and groundbreaking journey of Texas Western College’s 1966 NCAA basketball championship, was nothing but net at the box office, and it’s now on a fastbreak to DVD. Southern boy Josh Lucas plays the role of Coach Don Haskins, the Enid, Okla., native that was the first coach to start five black players.“I don’t think a

lot of people realize that basketball was so segregated until this point. There were basically all-black leagues and all-white leagues,” Lucas says. “If it was an integrated team, the couple of black players sat on the bench most of the time. In this atmosphere, Texas Western beating Kentucky was more than just a game–it was a turning point in society and an exciting moment in

history most people know very little about.” Lucas, who was born in Little Rock and also lived near Charleston, S.C., brings Haskins and the Miners’ 40-year-old feat to life. “Lucas was the right man to play Don Haskins. There is an intensity to him and, most importantly, he knows how to motivate other actors and he threw himself into MARCH/APRIL 2006 • Y’ALL

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to do a broad American accent. He spent two years working to dilute his y’alls. In Glory Road, Kentucky Wildcat fans can enjoy seeing their team compete against Texas Western, now known as UTEP, in the Louisiana and Texas-shot film. The legendary Jon Voight plays the role of Kentucky Coach Adolph Rupp. “When I realized that Voight was going to be Rupp at all times, I decided I would look right back at him as Haskins. That really set the tone of true tension that existed between these two world-class coaches,” Lucas says. “I felt a responsibility to represent Adolph Rupp as he was in that moment,” Voight says. “He was one of the greatest coaches of our lifetime, and many admired his skills despite what was thought about his social views.” Miami Heat coach Pat Riley was a star

on the 1966 Kentucky Wildcats team. “It was clear from the moment they walked on the court the Miners had presence. More presence than us Wildcats,” Riley recalls. “This is what won them the game. Coming to the set of Glory Road was the first time I had met Don Haskins. It was strange and wonderful exchanging stories about the game almost 40 years later. It was like it had happened yesterday.” What’s next for Lucas? He stars as “John Dylan” in Poseidon, a remake of the 1972 disaster classic The Poseidon Adventure, which hits theaters May 12. He was injured while filming the Wolfgang Petersen-directed thriller. “A blast of water caught me on the second-to-last day of filming, and I fell 30 feet off a wall and tore some tendons.” Sometimes, Josh, you’ve got to take it!

PHOTOS BY FRANK CONNOR

the role with complete devotion,” says producer Jerry Bruckheimer. “I loved playing Don because there’s so much duality to him. He was complex, intimidating, rip-roaringly funny and honest to a fault,” Lucas says. “He could spew rattlesnake venom but at the same time he was this totally generous bear of a personality who was gracious with everybody. Don Haskins is a figure of mythic status, not just in El Paso, but around the world, and I feel really proud and honored to have had this chance to play him.” With the role, the 34-year-old actor got to slip back into his native tongue. After choosing to skip college to pursue acting full-time, Josh hired a coach to get rid of his Southern accent. He admits that Southern actors often have a hard time getting work if they don’t have the ability

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LIFE AFTER THE ‘66 SEASON Willie Cager started a charitable foundation in El Paso to help underprivileged students graduate from high school. David Lattin was a first round draft choice of the San Francisco Warriors. He played professional basketball for eight years. Nevil Shed was drafted by the Boston Celtics. He later became an assistant coach of Don Haskins. Jerry Armstrong became a high school principal and basketball coach in Missouri amassing over 300 victories. Harry Flournoy became a teacher and a basketball coach at an elementary school in El Paso. Orsten Artis moved back to Gary, Indiana and became a police detective. Willie Horsley played in the ABA before becoming the Dean of Students for the Boys Choir of Harlem.

Bobby Joe Hill chose not to pursue a career in professional basketball. He remained a hero in El Paso until his death in 2002. Thousands of people attended his funeral. Don Haskins led the Miners to 14 NCAA tournaments and 719 wins. In 1977 he was elected to the basketball Hall of Fame. Adolph Rupp recruited the first black player in Kentucky’s history before stepping down in 1972 with 876 wins, the second most in NCAA history. In 1997 the University of Kentucky hired Tubby Smith, the school’s first black head coach. He lead the Wildcats to a National Title his first season. The Texas Western victory over Kentucky has been called one of the greatest sports upsets of all times, and the most important game in the history of college basketball.

Coach Don Haskins and Josh Lucas

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The Senate’s Fresh S Y’all Magazine’s 15-year-old political writer, Alan Blinder, recently sat down with Senator David Vitter of Louisiana (pictured above second from left) and asked him about the freshman Southern senators, his family life, and a few policy issues. The interview is followed by a brief profile of the other Southern newcomers.

enator David Vitter, Republican of Louisiana, grew up in New Orleans and his favorite childhood memories are rooted in the annual Mardi Gras celebration. Since those early days, Vitter has graduated from Harvard University magna cum laude, Tulane Law School where he was the editor of the Law Review, and from Oxford University where he 44

studied as a Rhodes Scholar. His heart was always in Louisiana and he was elected to serve is the state legislature. In 1998, he was elected as the United States Representative for the 4th District of Louisiana. He served three terms in the House, making a name for himself fighting for tax cuts and other economic policy initiatives.

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Southern Faces In 2004, Vitter won a seat in the United States Senate after earning endorsements from the likes of both Bush presidents, Vice President Dick Cheney, and Rudy Giuliani. Since his swearing-in in January 2005, Vitter has taken seats on three Senate committees: Commerce, Science, and Transportation; Environment and Public Works; and Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Vitter is married and lives in Metarie, La., with his wife, Wendy, and their four children, all under the age of 12. Senator Vitter was eager to answer the following questions involving three hot button issues. Hurricane Katrina and Louisiana’s Response: “There were huge mistakes at all levels of government and

by Alan Blinder

they were more obvious at the local level. Louisiana will be different, but difference can be good. This can be an opportunity to change some significant things for the better such as the Orleans Parish School System...and the Charity Hospital System. We are hoping we’ll come back even better than before.” On Iran: “I absolutely support economic sanctions if Iran continues to defy the international community. On Republicans in the Senate: “These have been some of the most productive couple of years in Senate history, particularly with regard to confirming conservative judicial nominees.” MARCH/APRIL 2006 • Y’ALL

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Age: 54 Occupation: Businessman Fast Fact: DeMint was president of the Republican freshman class in the House after his election to that body in 1998 Committees: Commerce, Science, and Transportation; Environment and Public Works; Joint Economic Committee; Special Committee on Aging

Sen. Richard Burr, (R-NC) Age: 50

Occupation:Businessman Fast Fact: Burr earned the Golden Gavel Award for presiding over the Senate for more than 100 hours of the year Committees: Energy and Natural Resources; Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions; Indian Affairs; Veterans Affairs

Senator Mel Martinez, (R-FL) Age: 59

Occupation: Attorney (he also served as U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development)

PREVIOUS PAGE: JOE RAEDLE/GETTY IMAGES, DEMINT: ALEX WONG/GETTY, BURR: MARK WILSON/GETTY, MARTINEZ: ALEX WONG/GETTY, COBURN: JOE RAEDLE/GETTY, ISAKSON: MARK WILSON/GETTY

Senator Jim DeMint, (R-SC)

Fast Fact: Martinez is an immigrant from Cuba, having arrived in the United States at age 15. Committees: Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; Energy and Natural Resources; Foreign Relations; Special Committee on Aging

Senator Tom Coburn, (R-OK) Age: 57

Occupation: Physician Fast Fact: Dr. Coburn is a two-time cancer survivor Committees: Judiciary; Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs; Indian Affairs

Senator Johnny Isakson, (R-GA) Age: 61

Occupation: Realtor Fast Fact: Isakson has taught sixth-grade Sunday School since 1978. Committees: Environment and Public Works; Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions; Small Business and Entrepreneurship; Veterans Affairs 46

Y’ALL • THE MAGAZINE OF SOUTHERN PEOPLE

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TENNESSEE’S

TOP TACTICIAN b y J o n a t h a n C r a i g

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF TN GOVERNOR’S COMMUNICATION OFFICE

“When anyone questions me or criticizes me for not being a native Tennessean, I tell them my mother didn’t ask me where I wanted to be born, but I got here as soon as I could,” Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen quips. By definition, Bredesen is a “Damn Yankee”–meaning he moved Down South and stayed. But Tennesseans are quick to point out their governor is a “Good Ole Damn Yankee,” having served the Volunteer State well as Nashville’s mayor from 1991-1999, and now as chief executive. Bredesen, 62, grew up in Shortsville, N.Y., a tiny town in the far western part of the state. “When I was growing up in the 50s, my Uncle Ozzie had a huge collection of Outdoor Life and Field and

Stream magazines,” Bredesen recalls. “I used to pour over them in the evening and copy things down, and one little nugget I have always remembered was the Hunter’s Prayer. “The wisest words / Of woods and glen / Shoot where they’re going / Not where they’ve been.” The Harvard graduate leaned on his rural roots when he moved to Nashville in 1975, and quickly took up hunting and fishing in the nearby countryside. “It was very easy [moving to Nashville], and in fact, I felt right at home here in the South from the first day I moved here. It’s been a great experience. The people were very accepting and open and welcoming. It’s so much like the rural part of New York State where I grew up. It’s amazingly similar in terms of the people and their attitudes and their character,” he explains. The small town guy would become a successful healthcare entrepreneur, founding HealthAmerica Corp. He sold the Nashville-based company in 1986. His first try at mayor failed in 1987, thanks in part to his opponent stressing that Bredesen was the “Yankee” word. Four years later, he got revenge, and his term as mayor brought much change to Music City U.S.A. He spent nearly $500 million to build new schools

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and hire new teachers, recruited top corporations to the city, and he helped land the state’s first professional franchises, the NFL’s Tennessee Titans and the NHL’s Nashville Predators. Democratic politicos felt this moderate had a real chance to be elected governor, in a state that had seen a Republican lead it for eight years. They were right. Bredesen garnered 51 percent of the vote in the 2002 race, just enough to put he and First Lady Andrea Conte in the Governor’s Mansion. With three years now under his belt, the governor has taken on some tough issues and dealt with economic shortcomings, in a state that has no income tax. TennCare, the most expansive public health insurance program in the

country, has been a real humdinger. Bredesen believes the unchecked growth of TennCare is the clear and present danger to the state’s fiscal stability. Bredesen has three thoughts for some strengthening of the fundamentals of Medicaid: Everybody pays something, pay first for what is most important, pay for what works. In 2005, the governor also dealt with a large bribery sting by state legislators, and subsequently called a special session to fix the damage. “Our state was shaken last spring; we need to respond clearly and convincingly. We need a more arms-length relationship with lobbyists; we need campaign finance reform.” Being the top dog of Tennessee does have its perks, including good food and Gov. Bredesen and First Lady Andrea Conte

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Will he lead for four more years? He hopes so. Tennessee’s been real hospitable to this good ole boy, via Shortsville.

music. “I have to admit I’m partial to ribs, which does not do my waistline or health any good, I’m sure, but I do love ribs. And I love country music,” Bredesen declares. “ Part of the pleasure of living in Nashville and being Mayor was the chance to hear a lot of it and get to know the folks who write, publish and perform it. I also like bluegrass. (The Governor’s extensive Ipod play list includes Lyle Lovett, Alan Jackson, Alison Kraus and Union Station and “a lot of Johnny Cash.”) This fall, Phil Bredesen will be up for re-election in the Volunteer State. He’ll face tough competition from challengers eager to go after his record. Will he lead for four more years? He hopes so. Tennessee’s been real hospitable to this good ole boy, via Shortsville. Of course, he could consider moving to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, D.C., in a few years. The humble governor carefully dances around talk of a 2008 presidential run. “It’s very flattering and it makes my mother very proud, but I’m focused on being the best governor I can be and keeping the [governor] job for another four years,” he says.

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gail pittman POTTERY PERFECTION

Starting out, Gail Pittman did not know that she would become a household name. In fact, Gail did not know what she wanted to do. So she did what was expected and went to college. From there it was her dislike for college algebra that led her to major in elementary education at the University of Mississippi. As far as her start into the world of dishes, that was a bit of a twist of fate. All of Gail’s friends had been telling her about their pottery classes and urging her to join. She did not because as she says, “I thought they were making the worst looking awful stuff I have ever seen in my life.” What made the Ridgeland, Miss., resident change her mind? It was the moment she saw a bowl in a store. To her it was the bowl; it was colorful, hand painted, smooth and different. “It just sort of hit me,” she says. “I thought this is the coolest piece and it can be functional and decorative too.” So, she took a trip to the local ceramics store and bought the supplies needed to make bowls all her own. “I sat down at my kitchen table and tried to replicate this bowl and I realized that I needed to be able to turn it on something,” says Pittman. “So I went and got my Rubbermaid spice rack.” Spices removed and spice rack spinning, she was finally able to create the first ever Gail Pittman pottery piece. “I thought it was beautiful; and really it’s the ugliest thing you ever saw.” Ugly it may have been, but Gail was nevertheless hooked on pottery. She fell in love with the craft and would wake up each morning before her two kids (Natalie Gail and Sunny) left for school to return to the kitchen table and paint another masterpiece. “I was able to commit the time to it and pursue what I loved and then have time with my children. I pretty much learned how to teach myself how to have it all— except for tennis. I could not play tennis because I was no good at it,” says Pittman.

by Tabatha Hunter

Today, 24 years later, Pittman is selling her pottery around the world. She is an ambassador for the State of Mississippi everywhere she goes and a spokesperson for Southern Living at Home. Gail is also a notable force in charity work. Charity work for Pittman began long before she was a ceramic goddess. For her, it all started in 1979 when her house was filled with over six feet of water during the flood of Jackson, Miss. “We lost everything we owned except our Christmas decorations and the Red Cross and the Salvation Army were the first people we saw. They were there every day feeding you and saying here is a bucket, you are supposed to do this next,” remembers Pittman. “I just never forgot how that felt when you are just overwhelmed with loss. I realized that God gives you life experiences and gifts so you can help other people when the time comes.” To date, Pittman’s projects for Habitat for Humanity, including Christmas ornaments and Easter Egg sales, have raised over $650,000. “We have built over ten houses that are directly related to that fundraising effort and this year we are going to expand that with Habitat for Humanity to build houses in Hancock County (one of the Mississippi Gulf Coast communities devastated MARCH/APRIL 2006 • Y’ALL

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gail pittman

by Hurricane Katrina),” says Pittman. Another charitable project of Pittman’s, appropriately called Hope and Future, stems from Hurricane Katrina. It is the sale of these bowls, platters and dishes that Pittman created to show people that Mississippi is open for business. “I do not really care about personal notoriety. I really do not. I enjoy the fundraising. I enjoy seeing the work of our hands help other people,” says Pittman. “I might not have said that at the beginning of my career. But when your work is already showing up in antique stores you kind of look at time. I am here today. I am going to be forgotten tomorrow. If you give a legacy of helping others, then that is what it is really all about.” Pittman’s canvas of plates and mugs has allowed her to see the world as a self-described ambassador for Mississippi and for the South, and it shows in her work. She is very proud of her Southern roots and for the grace, charm and character that being Southern grants her. “I just love the persona of being Southern. We have things we are not proud of but we have a lot we are proud of. I love everything about it. I am Southern and I love it and I will defend it.”

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Southern Art’s Ace Gallery by Kristin Frost

When most people think of Augusta, Georgia, they think of golf, naturally. But this distinctively Southern city has much more to offer off the green, including a “Master” of an art museum for art lovers, or any admirers of the South. The Morris Museum of Art, located on The Riverwalk in downtown Augusta, inside the Augusta Riverfront Center, is home to a broad-based survey collection of Southern art. As a museum dedicated to exhibiting and exploring the art and artists of the South, The Morris is preserving and enhancing a cultural legacy. MARCH/APRIL 2006 • Y’ALL

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This eclectic museum offers an extensive collection dating back to the Antebellum period. Other exhibitions include Civil War art, the Black presence in Southern Art, Southern Impressionism, early 20th century painting and contemporary works, as well as many works of Southern landscapes. The museum also features changing exhibitions, special exhibitions and traveling shows throughout the year. The Morris Museum was established by William S. Morris III, chairman and CEO of Morris Communications Corp., headquartered in Augusta. Dedicated to the memory of his parents, Morris opened the museum to the public in September 1992. The museum has some 2,500 artworks in its collections, encompassing a history of painting in the South. The Morris has a unique quality not found in your ordinary art museum. The museum’s Center for the Study of Southern Art, formerly the Center for the Study of Southern Painting, is a reference and research library that includes files on more than 1,000 artists who have worked in the South. The Morris has a museum store featuring exhibition catalogues, art books, handcrafted jewelry and other unique gift items. The museum has published over a dozen exhibition catalogues in the past five years. One of the main goals of the Morris Museum is to be accessible to families. It prides itself at creating activities for the whole family, including Artrageous Sunday!, celebrated on the first Sunday of each month. This event offers free handson art activities for the entire family. Other programs include Open Mic Nights sponsored by the museum’s Teen Advisory Council, which is mainly geared toward teenagers, and YAA, or Young at Art Association, geared toward the young adult crowd. YAA members celebrate, cultivate and appreciate the art and culture of the American South. Members enjoy free admission, a discount at the museum store, use of the museum’s reference library, a quarterly newsletter and invitations to special members exhibition openings and events. The Morris Museum of Art offers these programs for children and families in an effort to help them feel comfortable in a museum setting and lead them to recognize the constructive role art can play in their everyday lives. After having a positive experience at the museum, families will hopefully be inspired to return to the museum and to other cultural institutions. A “Master-piece” in Augusta, that’s The Morris.

CHRIS GRAYTHEN/GETTY

Artwork: (at left) Martin Johnson Heade, Two Magnolia Blossoms in a Glass Vase, Circa 1890, Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, Georgia; Shirley Rabe Masinter, Azalea Café, 1994, Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, Georgia (above, left to right)Lamar Dodd, Bargain Basement, 1938, Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, Georgia; Ida Kohlmeyer, Synthesis 90-A, 1990-1994, Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, Georgia (far left) Anthony Thieme, Charleston Doorway, 1946-47, Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, Georgia For more information, log on to www.themorris.org

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“HEY, CALL ME INMAN MAJORS NOT JOHNNY MAJORS’ NEPHEW!” by Keith Sisson

Would watching a wiener dog jump through a flamed hoop get your attention? That is just what Knoxville, Tenn., native Inman Majors hopes with the cover of his latest novel, Wonderdog. Partially set amidst the youth-oriented charm of the Tuscaloosa, Ala., night scene, Majors’ latest novel is a hilarious portrayal of 30-something single life in a college town. The narrator, the son of the governor of Alabama, is a dissatisfied lawyer with a strong distaste for the expectations cast upon him by family, friends and society as the son of a powerful politician. Though the protagonist of Wonderdog, “Dev DeGraw,” is a fictional creation, Majors admits that a great deal of DeGraw’s behavior and observation comes from his own experiences. After graduating from Vanderbilt University, Majors was unclear on his career ambitions. “I traveled after college, bartended in Colorado, worked in a Memphis honkytonk, waited tables in Indianapolis and spent some time Australia. I said I wanted to be a writer, but I wasn’t writing. I applied to law school, but decided against it, then moved to Tuscaloosa to get a Masters in Fine Arts from the University of Alabama,” he says. It wasn’t until Majors graduated from Alabama and could not find employment that he decided to finish the novel that he had been slowly crafting. “My first book, Swimming in the Sky, took eight years from first sentence to publication. Teaching jobs were hard to come by so I moved back in with my dad to finish the book,” he says. “It was then I started working in a tavern where local politicos frequented. Being around the political scene gave me some ideas when it came time to write my second novel.” After taking a job teaching at a community college in Tennessee, Majors took a one-year sabbatical to teach at a four-year university. Following that year he found himself zero-for-120 on job searches and interested book publishers. After so many rejections the tide turned, and turned fast. It was within a two-month period that his second book, Wonderdog, was picked up by an agent, sold to a publishing house and he got his first full-time university teaching job. “I’m either hot or cold. Either you want me to go to Vegas with you or you don’t want me on the plane,” Majors laughs. The first line in Wonderdog humorously reads, “Like everyone else in the world, I am a lawyer.” Majors had many

friends in law school when he first began writing. All of them encouraged him to write a lawyer story like The Firm. Majors didn’t want to be like John Grisham, but to appease (or perhaps poke-fun) at his friends, Majors made his main character a lawyer, a lawyer that hates being a lawyer. The character also has the minor notoriety thrust upon him of being the governor’s son. That struggle was something that Majors dealt with first-hand growing up in Knoxville as the nephew of legendary Tennessee football coach Johnny Majors. “This is my light-hearted revenge on everybody that has every said to me, ‘Hey, Johnny Majors’ nephew.” The main character in the novel is also a former child star from a famously bad television show. Thinking this was enough drama to cast upon one character, Majors removed one extra side note from his main character’s bio. “I originally had ‘Dev DeGraw’ as a former football player at Alabama who blocked a field goal to beat Auburn in the Iron Bowl. Then I thought, former child star on horrible show, son of the governor, recently divorced, burnt-out lawyer. That’s probably enough for one character.” Majors compares his writing style to watching a movie. “I watch a few pages play out in my mind, press pause, then go and write down what I just saw in my head. When I finish that small bit, I press pause again and go teach a class or change a diaper. When it’s time to write again, I just hit play again and the movie starts back up. I don’t know what my characters are going to do. I let them tell me and I observe.” Inman Majors grew up in the South, went to school in the South, and his novels are set in the South, but he will MARCH/APRIL 2006 • Y’ALL

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Come join us for the 1st Annual Arts Heritage Festival of South Mississippi held on March 25, 2006 in Downtown Hattiesburg! This festival will celebrate South Mississippi’s arts heritage - great entertainment, great food, great arts and crafts and much more, including events for the kids! V.I.P. tickets available*.

9:00 a.m. - 4:00pm Arts, crafts, local entertainment and activities for children 7:30 p.m. Ricky Skaggs and the Southern Mississippi Symphony Orchestra @ the Saenger Theater

25 . march . 2006 downtown hattiesburg art • music • food • fun www.theADP.com Presented by: The ADP • City of Hattiesburg • Historic Hattiesburg Downtown Association

*For more information contact:

The Area Development Partnership Phone: 601.296.7500 Fax: 601.296.7505 www.theadp.com

be quick to tell you that this is not traditional S o u t h e r n literature. “It kills me what percentage of writers are writing about the same South that Faulkner and Welty described 50 years ago. In my opinion they are not writing about the South they see with their own eyes. There are Southerners who are educated and sophisticated. Some of them are even hip,” Majors says. “The idea of everybody in the South sitting on the front porch spinning yarns and sipping tea is absurd. There may be some reminiscence of that in my writing, but I want to write a modern fiction set in today’s South. Unfortunately, most publishers don’t want that. They seem much more comfortable with the old Southern stereotype. I mean God forbid you have a main character that doesn’t burn crosses, marry his cousin or eat fried green tomatoes all day long.” In choosing to write his second book, Majors wanted it to be a comedy. “I wrote my first book and was really having a hard time getting it published,” he reveals. “I knew I could not have two unpublished serious books, so I went the comedy route. I wasn’t confident it would get published either, but I thought at least this way I can laugh at my own jokes. And I thought I could make my brother laugh—so I knew I had at least one reader.” Majors admits that he never thought Wonderdog would be published, else he might have toned down some of the more risqué parts. “Once I knew it was going to get published, I started thinking, uh-oh, my parents are going to read this, my father-in-law (a Church of Christ minister) is going to read this, my grandmother is going to read this. It was pretty scary for a while. But so far, knock on wood, I’m still invited

to Thanksgiving dinners,” he laughs. Wonderdog has been on the bookshelves for a few months now, and it’s hard to judge its success. “My ideal reader is probably a guy from 22-45, and that group doesn’t read a lot of fiction. I have been surprised, however, by the number of women that like the novel. But there are some good female characters in the book, if I do say so myself,” he says. Without the publicity of a major book tour, Majors’ success is heavily reliant on word of mouth, which on a novel like this could lead to a cult following of sort. “I would love to hear stories about people betting each other to eat a stick of butter at the bar,” says Majors, referring to a comedic scene from the book. “I have personally seen a lot of people try to eat a butter stick, but only one has successfully met the challenge.” As for now, Majors is enjoying the successes of being a teacher, family man and writer. Presently teaching at James Madison University and raising a family in Waynesboro, Va., Majors enjoys a lifestyle that lends itself to his writing. “I wish I could write all the time, but I like teaching, I get summers off, and it’s not a nine-to-five job, so I have time to write. As a teacher who is constantly evaluating students’ writing I am forced to explain and understand the craft better, which helps me as a writer.” For someone who has a novel named Wonderdog, a complete chapter on the tormenting of dachshunds and a cover that features a wiener dog jumping through a hoop, there is only one more question to ask Majors. “No,” he declares, “I don’t like wiener dogs. They always want to gnaw on my ankles.”

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Mr. Basketball by Tabatha Hunter

When it comes to the NBA, there are few other players who are as versatile with the ball as the one and only Kevin Garnett. The 6-11, 220-pound Minnesota Timberwolves star never ceases to amaze each and every time he steps onto the court. Garnett can shoot free throws with the beauty and grace of Michael Jordan, he rebounds, assists and blocks better than some of the greatest players to have ever played the game. Face it, when the basketball hits Kevin Garnett’s hands, magic is about to happen and the opposing team is about to be served a good Southern-bred can of whoop. This 28-year-old Mauldin, S.C., native can play every position on the basketball court. He was drafted straight out of high school, back before LeBron James, when such an act was almost unheard of. Now said to be one of the best team players and one of the greatest players of all time, Garnett continually proves to be the genuine article and an all around great Southern guy. “I get enjoyment out of just being here (in the NBA) and having the opportunity to come in every night and play. I have never been a personal stat guy. I have accomplished a couple of things, but I don’t think I am above anybody. I overlook all those things and focus on team accomplishments,” says Garnett.

Speaking of stats though, Garnett has had some pretty remarkable seasons recently. The man rarely misses a basketball practice, unlike some of his younger counterparts, and he manages to bring his “A” game each night he steps out onto the hardwood. Garnett averages career bests in points (24.2 ppg), rebounding (13.9 rpg) and blocked shots (2.15 bpg); and the best is still to come. Garnett (affectionately called “KG” by all of Minnesota) has shattered a few records over his 10-year career, but he is still looking towards the sky and hopes to help bring the world championship home to the Timberwolves soon. He says that winning a title would be “…super special and totally incredible.

You go to war with 14-15 guys every night; that’s rewarding to me. Knowing that you bonded and grew – not only as teammates– but as friends. That’s what I enjoy more than anything” Humility is one more thing to admire about “KG.” Throughout his decadelong career, the Wolves are still searching for their first title. “At the end of the year, when they start pointing fingers, it’s always going to be pointed at me first. I don’t have a problem with that,” Garnett reveals. “I’ve heard all those things before. At the end of the year, things go bad and they say, ‘Kevin Garnett ain’t doing blah, blah, blah.’ It’s very unfair. But like I’ve said, you control the things you can and not the stuff you can’t.”

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PREVIOUS PAGE: EZRA SHAW/GETTY, THESE PAGES: JIM MCISAAC/GETTY, DRAFT PHOTO: CARLO ALLEGRI/AFP/GETTY

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Garnett from 1995 NBA Draft.

Rest assured though, this Minnesota poster-boy grew up in the South, so not only can he take anything critics can dish out, but he will be back in the next season to make sure those critics eat their own words. Garnett is a man who has somehow managed to stay grounded. He is also one of the few men who can manage to remain as humble and thankful as the day he was drafted even as he is making his millions. “The rubber band (the one worn on his left wrist) is just a symbol of hard work,” he says. “You might catch me popping myself every now and then just to get me going.” It is things like this that make Garnett loveable to even those of us who are not necessarily into basketball, or even sports.

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Written on Garnett’s shoes during his first season (1995-96) of playing for the Wolves were the words “Mauldin,” “Basswood Drive,” “Springfield Park.” They are his hometown. his old street address and the park where he practiced ball. Garnett is the man for the Timberwolves. You simply cannot find a nicer, harder working, or more talented basketball player in the NBA today. Just be sure keep watching because 2003-04’s Most Valuable Player still has some tricks up his sleeve and he is still bringing the magic to the game. Who knows, maybe this year will bring the player who has made so many of us fall in love with the sport of basketball the coveted world championship ring.

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Preserving the Past…Preparing the Future by Dianne Smith Fergusson

When you think of a Southern textile town that formerly served as a railroad hub, you don’t usually think of a thriving center of book publishing, poetry, and creative arts, do you? Well, you should think again, because Spartanburg, S.C., is all of those things— thanks to its award-wining Hub City Writers Project. Chronicling the history of Spartanburg County through the 200 writers and 26 books published since 1997, Hub City Writers is helping to preserve Spartanburg’s past and define its future as a cultural center for creative art. Begun in 1995 by three friends— Betsy Teter, a former newspaper business writer who is now Executive Director of the project; John Lane, a poet and English professor at Wofford College; and Gary Henderson, a journalist, Hub City has grown from “the trunk of a car” operation to a nationally known literary co-op and nonprofit publishing house. It is seen by many as a “driving force in Spartanburg’s future.” As a testament to their role in Spartanburg’s future, Hub City Writers Project recently received $50,000 from the city to begin efforts to mold Spartanburg’s image. Mayor Bill Barnet describes Hub City Writers as a group that understands the community. “They have the passion,” he says. Passion has been a characteristic of Hub City Writers since it began 10 years ago. The three friends who began the project felt strongly that something needed to be done to stop—or at least slow—the disappearance of Spartanburg’s culture and history. The city was “under assault from homogination of place,” says Teter. It was in danger of “losing its sense of place, was in danger of being buried under a gaudy mix of strip malls, chain

stores, industrial parks and asphalt.” Hub City Writers Project is modeled loosely on Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal Federal Writers Project of the 1930’s. Hub City focuses on publishing “placebased” literature that chronicles the story of the city and county of Spartanburg. From its first book, Hub City Anthology, a collection of essays by local writers about their experiences in Spartanburg, to its current titles, Hub City produces quality books that reflect the unique perspective of a vital Southern town that is celebrating its 175th anniversary in 2006. The group’s efforts have not gone unnoticed. In 2002, the group received the state’s most prestigious art award, the Governor’s Elizabeth O’Neil Verner Award, the first institution ever to be so honored. The publication of New Southern Harmonies was named the best book of non-fiction produced by an independent publisher in North America for 1999 – not bad for a book that was sold out of a car trunk at conferences, Teter notes. In 2006, Hub City Writers Project was named “Distinguished Citizen of the Year” by the Wofford College National Alumni Association.

As with other Southern towns, Spartanburg continues to grow and to lose some of its past, but Hub City Writers has proven that it’s possible to also retain the past through its various books. The most recent example of this is South of Main, a book of photographs and reminiscences that chronicles the existence of a community that’s no longer there. This part of town was once a thriving center of commerce and society for Spartanburg’s black community. The book “tracks the neighborhood’s history back to the days when it was founded by ex-slaves and details the century-long expansion of the area. It is the story of urban renewal’s impact on the people who called the Southside home.” The whole area was replaced in the 1970’s in the largest urban renewal project ever attempted in South Carolina. The area now houses a number of civic buildings. The new book, like the majority of Hub City’s publications, captures the vitality and life that once is a major part of the city’s heritage. Focusing on another aspect of the community is the 2005 publication, Hidden Voices: Reflections from an Affected Community. Edited by a Hub City writer-

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in-residence, Kristofer Neely, the book consists of poems, stories, and artwork about the struggles of those in the county who have HIV/AIDS and the people who care for them. Other books have included collections of essays and poems, non-fiction books on historical events and places, and collections of photographs and essays about the area. Plans for future publications include books on the Greek settlers in the county, the Cottonwood Trail and Nature Preserve, other aspects of the community, and more poetry. Teter says that Hub City’s goal is to publish at least five books a year. Hub City is justly proud of its publishing efforts in Spartanburg, but is also pleased that groups in various areas of the country have found inspiration in its efforts. Spin-off groups in other parts of South Carolina, Florida, Washington, and Arizona owe their inspiration to Hub City. “We are pioneering in Spartanburg a model for a small press with an extremely localized focus,” Teter says. “It seems to be working.” She is

especially pleased that the “hub city” image seems to be growing as some local businesses that have opened downtown recently have taken “hub city” as part of their identity. The newest indication of the Hub City Writers Project’s influence on the city’s future can be seen in the downtown Gilbert Building renovation project and in the recently created Hub-bub.com, “a new internet initiative targeted at the emerging creative class in Spartanburg,” as Teter describes it. When the renovation is completed in the spring of 2006, the Gilbert Building will house the offices of Hub City Writers Project as well as Hubbub.com. It will provide a multipurpose entertainment and alternative arts can offer music, cinema, poetry, dance, theatre, and gallery exhibits. One of the most exciting aspects of this center will be the artists-in-residency program that will be housed in the building. Four young artists in their twenties will be recruited nationally and locally for oneyear residency fellowships. They will

do community outreach, open their studios for public viewing, and staff the downstairs venue for nightly events. This leading-edge program has been fully funded through 2009 by four generous Spartanburg families, an indication of the esteem in which the Hub City Writers Project is held in the community. In addition to publishing writers, Hub City also encourages Spartanburg County writers through its annual writing contests for poetry and fiction. In its eighth year, the Hub City Prizes offer a scholarship to Wildacres Writers Workshop in Little Switzerland, N.C., to the first place winner and a scholarship to the “Writing in Place” workshop at Wofford College to the second place winner in each category. By supporting local writers, Hub City Writers Project wants to make sure that William Faulkner’s observation about the past -- “The past is not dead. In fact, it’s not even past” – remains true for Spartanburg. www.hubcity.org | www.Hubbub.com

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YʼALL MAGAZINE REMEMBERS OUR FALLEN AMERICAN HEROES IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN Roberto Abad • Joseph Acevedo • Ramon Antonio Acevedoaponte • Michael Dewayne Acklin II • Genaro Acosta • Steven Acosta • Ja James Francis Adamouski • Algernon Adams • Brandon Edwin Adams • Brent Allen Adams • Clarence Iii Adams • Leonard Wade Adams • Mark Phillip Adams • Michael Robert Adams • Michael Scott Adams • Thomas Mullen Adams • Jamaal Rashard Addison n • Patrick Ryan Adle • Christopher Scott Adlesperger • Jeramy Alan Ailes • Tristan Neil Aitken • Spencer Clark Akers • Segun Frederick Akintade • Paul Christopher Alaniz • Ivan Vargas Alarcon • Phillip Robert Albert • Christopher Michael Alcozer • Nickalous Neil • George Thomas Alexander Jr • Leroy Edward Alexander • Azhar Ali • Ronald Dean Allen Jr • Howard Paul Allen • eil Aldrich A Louis Edwin Allen • William Alvin Allers III • Glenn Richard Allison • Thomas Ferrell Allison • Jeremy Olin Allmon • Michael Jacob Allred d • Eric Lewis Allton • Nicanor 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• David Paul Mahlenbrock • Mark Allen Maida • Dan Malcom Mallet • M D Thomas m M m Jr • Toby Wayne W John William Maloney • Adam Michael M Malson • M Michael H Harry M Maltz • Curtis Mancini • Ian Desmond Manuel • William Francis Manuel • Pablo Manzano • Myla Lumayag Maravillosa • Joshua Samuel M Marcum Marcus Jr • Paul Charles Mardis mM m • Lyndon Anson M Jr • Douglas Jose Marencoreyes • G Giovanny M Maria • Jude C Cruz M Mariano • Robbie Matthew Mariano • Javier Jr Marin • Keith Randall Mariotti • Gentian Marku • James Edward Marshall • John Winston Marshall • Robert N Nathaniel Martens • David Jeffrey Martin M D • Ryan Abern Martin • Stephen G Glen M Martin • Francisco G Gregorio Martinez • Francisco Martinez • Jesse Jack Martinez • Joseph Larry Martinez • Michael Anthony Martinez • Michael Ray Martinez • Oscar Amilcar M Martinez • Robert A Martinez • Victor Alejandro M Martinez • Francisco Abraham Martinezflores • Trinidad Rodrigo Martinez-Luis • Michael David Martino • Jacob David 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Y’ALL • THE MAGAZINE OF SOUTHERN PEOPLE

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• Jason Michael Meyer • Barry Kenneth Meza • Seth Robert Michaud • Eliu A Miersandoval • Michael George Mihalakis • Matthew Gregory Milczark • Jason David Mileo • Sean Henry Miles • Lowell Thomas Miller II • James Hoyt Miller IV • Dennis James Miller Jr • Frederick Louis Miller Jr • Anthony Scott Miller • Bruce Jr Miller • Harley D R Miller • John Wayne Miller • Marvin Lee Miller • William Lewis Miller • Jerry Wayne Mills Jr • Timmy James Millsap • Robert Thomas Mininger • Joseph Ii Minucci • Troy Leon Miranda • George Arthur Mitchell Jr • Curtis Anthony Mitchell • Keman Lavor Mitchell • Michael William Mitchell • Sean Robert Mitchell • David Anthony Mitts • Jesse Douglas Mizener • Scott T Modeen • Timothy Wayne Moehling • Robert Joseph Mogensen • Jorge Alberto Molinabautista • Anthony William Monroe • Christopher Taylor Monroe • Jason Wayne Montefering • Brian P Montgomery • Ryan Jay Montgomery • Milton Manuel Monzon Jr • Adam Garber Mooney • Horst Gerhard Moore • James Lee Moore • 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Roger Dale Rowe • Jonathan David Rozier • Charles Robert Rubado • Isela Rubalcava • David Alan Ruhren • Jose Luis Ruiz • Gregory Paul Rund • Bruce Alan Rushforth Jr • Aaron James Rusin • John Wayne Russell • Michael Lynn Russell • Andrew David Russoli

stand with the families who grieve, and we share in their great sorrow and great pride.

There will be no homecoming on this earth for those lost in battle, but we know this reunion will one day come.

President George W. Bush

• Monta Shevauz Ruth • Marc Tyler Ryan • Timothy Louis Ryan • Lyle Wyman Rymer II • Scott Arlo Saboe • Dominic Joseph Sacco • Lance Sharreef Sage • Rasheed Sahib • Gael Saintvil • Rudy Salas • William Isac Salazar • Adriana Nicole Salem • David James Salie • Richard Matthew Salter • Edward Matthew Saltz • Jesse Monroe Samek • Benjamin Wilson Sammis • Sonny Gene Sampler • Efrain Jr Sanchez • Oscar Sanchez • Charles Ray Sanders Jr • Gregory Paul Sanders • Leroy Jr Sandoval • Matthew Joseph Sandri • Barry Sr Sanford • Neil Anthony Santoriello • Isaias Enrique Santos • Jonathan Jose Santos • Brandon Robert Sapp • Cameron Bryan Sarno • Scott Douglas Sather • Jeremiah Edward Savage • Stephen Patrick Saxton • Phillip Nicholas Sayles • Paul Anthony Saylor • Michael Philip Scarborough • Michael Wayne Schafer • Kenneth John Schall • Kurt Daniel Schamberg • Robert Charles Scheetz Jr • Daniel Ronald Scheile • Jens Eduard Schelbert • Chris Jon Scherkenbach • Jason Drew Scheuerman • Nickolas D Schiavoni • Richard Lee Schild • John Taylor Schmidt III • Justin Bryan Schmidt • Jeremiah Wesley Schmunk • Sean Michael Schneider • Richard Phillip Schoener • Brian James Schoff • Dustin Howard Schrage • Mathew Earl Schram • Brian Keith Schramm • Edward August Schroeder II • Nathan Alan Schubert • Christian Christopher Schulz • Darrell James Schumann • David Allen Scott • Joshua Adam Scott • Joshua Michael Scott • Justin Andrew Scott • Kerry David Scott • Rickey Scott • Stephen Michael Scott • Timothy James Seamans • Aaron N Seesan • Juan Estevan Segura • Marc Scott Seiden • Christopher Scott Seifert • Danton Kyle Seitsinger • Dustin Michael Sekula • Bernard Leon Sembly II • Matthew Kenneth Serio • Juan Manuel Serrano • Nazario Serrano • Devon P Seymour • Michael Bear Shackelford • Wentz Jerome Henry Shanaberger III • Jeffrey Ross Shaver • Kevin Michael Shea • Timothy Magnus Shea • Casey Sheehan • Kevin Francis Sheehan • Ronnie Lee Shelley Sr • Jimmy Lee Shelton • Steven Earl Shephard • Adam Roger Shepherd • Daniel Michael Shepherd • Kristopher Linwood Shepherd • Alan David Sherman • Anthony Lee Sherman • Stephen Richard Sherman • Anissa Ann Shero • James Alexander Sherrill • Andrew Carl Shields • Jonathan Bernard Shields • Harry Nelson Shondee Jr • Brad Sangjin Shuder • James Allen Shull • Dustin Michael Shumney • Kenneth Lee Sickels • Dustin Lee Sides • Thomas Christian Siekert • Alfred Barton Siler • Alfredo Barajas Silva • Erik Hernandez Silva • Sean Anthony Silva • Leonard Dale Simmons • Chad Jerome Simon • Abraham Simpson • Jacob Mark Simpson • John Thomas Sims Jr • Charles Marques Sims • Sean Patrick Sims • Isiah Joseph Sinclair • Uday Singh • Steven Frederick Sirko • Aaron James Sissel • Christopher Aaron Sisson • David Leonard Sisung • Nicholas Maloy Skinner • Brian Donatus Slavenas • Russell L Slay • Eric Wentworth Slebodnik • Antonio James Sledd • Brandon Ulysses Sloan • Richard Patrick Slocum • Thomas Jonathan Slocum • Corey Lee Small • Albert Eugene Smart • Keith Lee Smette • Michael James Smith Jr • Antoine Demetrius Smith • Benedict Joseph Smith • Benjamin Alexander Smith • Benjamin Kent Smith • Brandon Clinton Smith • Brian Drew Smith • Bruce Alan Smith • Darrell Lee Smith • Edward Smith • Eric Allen Smith • Jason Edward Smith • Jeremiah David Smith • John Daren Smith • John Mcclellan Smith • Jonathan L Smith • Justin Shawnsonte Smith • Kevin Joseph Smith • Kevin Scott Smith • Matthew R Smith • Matthew Robert Smith • Michael Antonio Smith • Michael James Smith • Orenthial Javon Smith • Paul Ray Smith • Raleigh Clinton Smith • Brandon Keith Sneed • Joshua David Snyder • Norman Kyle Snyder • Christopher Frank Soelzer • Roderic Antoine Solomon • Juan Manuel Solorio • Adrian Valentine Soltau • Charles Robert Soltes Jr • Mike Takeshi Sonoda Jr • Skipper Soram • Ryan James Sorensen • Armando Soriano • Tomas Jr Sotelo • Kenneth Clarence Souslin • John Charles Spahr • Philip Ian Spakosky • Jason Lee Sparks • Jonathan R Spears • 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William Russell Sturges Jr • Paul Joseph Sturino • Del Solar Jesus Alberto Suarez • Joseph Dewayne Suell • James Erik Suh • Christopher James Sullivan • John Robert Sullivan • Narson Bertil Sullivan • Vincent Michael Sullivan • Vincent Earl Summers • Stephen John Sutherland • Ernest Harold Sutphin • Michael John Sutter • Timothy James Sutton • Philip James Svitak • Daniel Freeman Swaim • Harry Raymond Swain IV • James Eric Swain • Shane Clanin Swanberg • Robert Adam Swaney • Brett Daniel Swank • Sharon Therese Swartworth • Robert Wesley Sweeney III • Paul Anthony Sweeney • Thomas John Sweet II • Franklin Alan Sweger • Nathaniel Troy Swindell • Christopher Wayne Swisher • Tyler B Swisher • Pendelton Lidell Sykes II • Paul Roland Syverson III • Adrian Basil Szwec • Steven Walter Szwydek • Joseph Merle Tackett • Ayman Abdelrahman Taha • Patrick Shannon Tainsh • Deforest Lee Talbert • Jeremy Paul Tamburello • Samuel Tapia • David Martin Tapper • Linda Ann Tarango-Griess • Michael Yury 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Paul Unger • Robert Oliver Unruh • Clinton Robert Upchurch • Wilfredo Fernando Urbina • Ernest Eugene Utt Jr • Michael Angelo Uvanni • Gary Alexander Vaillant • Ramona M Valdez • Ruben Jr Valdez • Steven Armando Valdez • Melissa Valles • Dusen Brian Keith Van • Gene Arden Vance Jr • Allen Jeffrey Vandayburg • Jacob Thomas Vanderbosch • Christopher Jon Vanderhorn • Josiah Hanan Vandertulip • John James Vangyzen IV • Darren Dale Vankomen • Gary Francis Vanleuven • Oscar Dario Vargas-Medina • Daniel Ryan Varnado • Justin Lee Vasquez • Mark Daniel Vasquez • Brian Alexander Vaughn • Frances M Vega • Michael Willard Vega • Paul Anthony Velazquez • Jose Alfredo Velez • Juan Carlos Venegas • Russell James Verdugo • David Marques Vicente • Javier Antonio Villanueva • Joselito Onas Villanueva • Ramon Aristides Villatoro Jr • Franklin Ruddys Vilorio • Scott Michael Vincent • Thomas Erik Vitagliano • Kimberly Ann Voelz • Kenneth Gerald Grimm Vonronn • Michael Scott Voss • Brent Thomas Vroman • 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Brett Wehrly • David Jamesrober Weisenburg • Douglas John Weismantle • Joseph Tyler Welke • Charles Gary Wells Jr • Larry Lloyd Wells • Lonny Dion Wells • Stephen Michael Wells • Wesley Robert Wells • Michael J Wendling • Brad Arnold Wentz • Cody Lee Wentz • Jeffrey Mattison Wershow • Christopher Jude Rivera Wesley • Kevin Scott Kana Wessel • James Gary West • Phillip Gordon West • Marshall Alan Westbrook • Theodore Scott Westhusing • Alexander Edmund Wetherbee • Donald Laverne Wheeler Jr • Mason Douglas Whetstone • Marquis Antoine Whitaker • Robert Charles White III • Aaron Dean White • Nathan Dennis White • Raymond Loya White • Robert Frank White • Russell Patrick White • Stephen Jerome White • Steven Wayne White • William Wayne White • Joey Dwight Whitener • Chase Ryan Whitham • Dion Mario Whitley • Travis Michael Wichlacz • Vernon Ralph Widner • Lee Allen Wiegand • Jeffrey Louis Wiener • Michael Joseph Wiesemann • William Brett Wightman • Joshua Shane Wilfong • Charles Thomas Wilkerson • Charles Langdon Wilkins III • Cheyenne Christopher Willey • Arthur Charles Williams IV • Andre L Williams • Eugene Williams • Jeffrey Alan Williams • Luke Christopher Williams • Michael Jason Williams • Michael Leon Williams • Ronnie David Williams • Taft Virgil Williams • Christopher Robert Willoughby • Bryan Scott Wilson • Dana Nathaniel Wilson • Jerry Lee Wilson • Joe Nathan Wilson • Lamont Noel Wilson • Nicholas Eugene Wilson • Nicholas David Wilt • David Neil Wimberg • Trevor Anthony Win`E • Christopher David Winchester • Ronald Dominick Winchester • Jordan Dale Winkler • Jeannette Lee Winters • William Joseph Wiscowiche • Clinton Lee Wisdom • Robert Allen Wise • James Witkowski • Philip Lawrence Witkowski • Michelle Marie Witmer • Owen David Witt • Zachary Ryan Wobler • James Richard Wolf • Jeremy Lee Wolfe • Elijah Tai Wah Wong • Brian Michael Wood • George Andrew Wood • Nathan Raymond Wood • Ronald Tanner Wood • Roy Alvin Wood • William Wesley Wood • Romanes Lee Woodard • Michael Richard Woodliff • Eric Paul Woods • Julian Augustus Woods • Curtis Lorenza Wooten III • Thomas Alvin Wren • Brian Albert Wright • James Christopher Wright • Jason Graham Wright • Jeremy Robert Wright • John Thomas Wroblewski • Luke Charles Wullenwaber • Daniel Richard Wyatt • Matthew Alan Wyatt • Stephen Eugene Wyatt • Benyahmin Ben Yahudah • Dustin Allan Yancey • Michael Emerson Yashinski • Clifton Jerrod Yazzie • Henry Iii Ybarra • Justin Ray Yoemans • Viktar Vladimirovich Yolkin • Anthony Ray Charles Yost • Rodricka Antwan Youmans • Ryan Clint Young • Travis Levy Youngblood • Andrew Jonathan Zabierek • Nicholas John Zangara • Mark Anthony Zapata • Thomas Jan Zapp • Mickey Edward Zaun • Kenneth Eugene Zeigler II • Dennis William Zilinski II • Nicholaus Eugene Zimmer • Christopher Edward Zimny • Nicholas Lee Ziolkowski • Ian Thomas Zook • Scott Alan Zubowski • Robert Paul Zurheide Jr • Michael Shane Zyla •

Names accurate as of January 28, 2006 MARCH/APRIL 2006 • Y’ALL

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Miss America 2006 Jennifer Berry AGE: 22 HOMETOWN: Tulsa, Oklahoma EDUCATION: University of Oklahoma—undergraduate, Elementary Education; Jenks High School PLATFORM ISSUE: Building intolerance to drunk driving and underage drinking SCHOLASTIC AMBITION: To obtain a Masters Degree in Education CAREER AMBITION: To become an elementary school teacher TALENT: Ballet en Pointe

ETHAN MILLER/GETTY

SCHOLASTIC HONORS: President’s Honor Roll— University of Oklahoma; Dean’s Honor Roll; DECA State Marketing Competition Award 66

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grizzard Put Some South in Yo’ Mouth

Just Walk On By That Gas Station

by Lewis Grizzard

Lewis Grizzard (1946-1994) penned thousands of columns during his journalism career. Y’all Magazine is proud to showcase the late legend’s work in each issue. For more on Grizzard, log on to www.LewisGrizzard.com

We could walk a lot more in this country. That’s what I said. We could actually walk more. If we walk more and drive our cars less, then maybe we could become less dependent on foreign oil so when some sheik of the burning sands decided to take over Lower Oilrichabia, we could ignore him. There wouldn’t be any need to send over our troops and planes, no reason to worry about chemical warfare, no reason to bug Henry Kissinger for interviews, no reason to bring up that nasty word “Armageddon,” no reason to have to pay $87.50 a gallon at the neighborhood Texaco, and no reason for Dan Quayle to say, “Please, George, don’t die on me now.” I used to walk all the time. Before I got a bicycle, I had to walk practically everywhere I couldn’t convince an adult to drive me. If I got thirsty and my mother said, “Walk, it’ll be good for you,” when I asked her to drive me to Cureton and Coal’s store for a big orange, I’d have to hoof it a half-mile to the store and back. I even walked all the way to Bobby Entrekin’s house one day. It was two miles both ways. He had invited me over to play cowboys and punk rockers. But it was a pleasant, enlightening experience. On the way, I saw a dead opossum in the road, I found a pointed rock that could have been an arrowhead, I kicked an empty pork and beans can at least a mile, and I had a lot of time to think about what I wanted to do

when I grew up. I decided the next time an adult asked me about it, I would say, “I want to star in porno films” and see the look that would bring. But after I got my bike and then got old enough to drive, I gave up walking, as have many of us. Two of the three times I got married, I drove down the aisle. The other time, I took a cab. I probably would drive between rooms in my house, but my car won’t fit through the front door. We are slaves to our automobiles and the juice that makes them run and that gets us into harm’s way and allows oil companies to make us all feel like a bunch of dipsticks for what we have to pay for gasoline. Let’s all start walking more and driving less. We could start with me. The convenience store where I buy pork and beans and copies of the Enquirer is less than a half-mile away. I could walk there. I could walk to the Waffle House for my weekly cholesterol I.V. I could walk to the video store to rent Naughty Female Attorneys and Debbie Does Fargo, North Dakota, neither of which I had a part in, incidentally. I could walk to a friend’s house to play cowboys and rap groups, and I could walk to my ex-girlfriend’s house when I forget I am an insensitive, arrogant, selfish jerk and need to be reminded. Join me, America. Let’s go for a walk and give Ahab the Arab and John D. Rockerperson a bad case of gas.

“

Let’s all start walking more and driving less.

”

MARCH/APRIL 2006 • Y’ALL

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wine

down south DIXIE WINE FESTIVALS

by Doc Lawrence

The “crack” when a baseball collides with a Louisville Slugger bat, fields of new green grass, air perfumed with blossoms, the return of serious outdoor grilling and the unveiling of those spectacular wine and food events signal the welcome return of spring. All worthy things here are spiritually connected. Changing effortlessly into a warmer season is a gentle introduction to the South’s great wine and food celebrations—and more appear annually—that showcase our unique and exceptional cuisine, providing flavor-filled examples of why the food from our shores and soil pairs so perfectly with the wines of the world. The Atlanta High Museum of Art Wine Auction is perhaps the most successful one in the region. This one-week celebration has raised millions of dollars for the internationally acclaimed fine art venue by taking the Dixie dining experience to new audiences who learn more about what we love to eat and drink down here. The Atlanta festival, like counterparts in other Southern cities, offers everything from catfish and shrimp to wild game like venison and elk paired with noble red, white and sparkling wines, taking the world’s best tasting dishes to an even higher level. This year, the Atlanta High Museum Festival was smack dab in the middle of acclaimed Atlantic Station, Midtown Atlanta’s new and expansive city within a city, and a heck of a place to browse around if you have a few days. With this impressive backdrop, the throngs enjoyed lectures, glasses of fine wine and cooking demonstrations, plus winemaker dinners at some of the country’s finest restaurants featuring Atlanta’s acclaimed chefs and other Southern masters. Last year’s Atlanta headliner was the effervescent best-selling author of French Women Don’t Get Fat, Mireille Guiliano, the CEO of the legendary Champagne house Clicquot, Inc. “I love the South,” Ms. Guiliano told me during a lunch, “and I admire Thomas Jefferson.” She acknowledged that since all those great wine feasts at Monticello, we have consumed our fair share of bubbly. This year, one of the High’s guests of honor was Maximillian Riedel, whose family has for centuries been producing the exquisite Austrian crystal stemware used today to serve wine in the White House, countless Southern homes

and most governors’ mansions. Led by the great Deep South chef and author Natalie Dupree, the Charleston Wine + Food Festival, a hot newcomer, recently held its inaugural event in this historic city that boasts its own distinctive culinary heritage. Charleston is the epicenter of Gullah/Lowcountry cooking and local restaurants long ago assembled the best from these noble eating traditions into styles and flavors that just fit perfectly with so many wines. Chris Hastings and Frank Stitt, both legendary Alabama chefs, combined forces with Atlanta’s Joel Antunne and others for unforgettable cooking demonstrations. The wine lectures, including an advanced seminar on organic wine making, made this a meaningful and memorable Southern affair. Humor columnist Lewis Grizzard wrote about places that served the finest fried green tomatoes, fried chicken, catfish and barbecue, knowing, I believe, that these would be on the menu in heaven. Many Southern cooks have told me that the angels must surely love a glass of something delicious with such divine food. You can travel to places like the Blue Willow Inn near Athens, Ga., to taste some of Lewis’ favorites for yourself, but it’s easier to attend nearby wine and food festivals which always offer such staples along with the added benefit of providing choices of so many wines that make even our culinary treasures taste even better. Atlanta, Miami Beach, Charleston and New Orleans, are different Southern cities with variations of wine and food festivals. With excellence as the standard, they also share hallowed common ground. While I can find many outstanding jazz brunches in these cities, only Charleston can claim a genuine ceremonial finale to their festival: “Breakfast of Champions: Oxtails and Grits.” Enjoying this soulful dish with music, delightful conversation and a few flutes of Champagne was renewing, almost like a baptism. On the road back to Atlanta, I was singing, “Nothing could be finer than to be in Carolina in the morning.” Doc Lawrence is the host of “Your Atlanta Gourmet” on Atlanta’s WMLB 1160-AM [www. am1160.net] and is the immediate past national chairman of the Food and Beverage Section, Public Relations Society of America.

Doc Lawrence writes about wine and Southern cuisine from his homes in Atlanta and Fort Lauderdale. Doc is 2005 Chairman, Food and Beverage Section, Public Relations Society of America and welcomes comments: doc@yall.com. 68

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blue collar Mama, and My Own Mayberry

by Jeff Foxworthy

Bill Engvall, Jeff Foxworthy and Larry the Cable Guy star in Blue Collar TV, airing Sundays at 9:00/8:00 Central on The WB.

I got a great Mama (Carole). My Mama’s probably the reason I’m grounded and sane. I hadn’t talked to her since last night, and I’m seeing her on Saturday, You gotta talk to your Mama at least two or three times a week. You know, she came from just a regular ole, blue collar, get up and go to work every day family. And she’s a good girl; I mean she went to church twice on Sundays and for Wednesday night supper. My whole life she’s been taking care of somebody. Taking dinner to somebody that was sick or going to visit somebody in the hospital. She’s just a good woman; cause I had a real diverse upbringing. I had a mother like that, and I had a daddy that was married six times. So, we were kind of peggin’ both ends of the spectrum there. I think you look back at the foundation she gave us growing up and I think that’s why me and my brother and sister are the way we are today because of her. She’s just steady. That’s right. My dad was married six times! He was a character. I don’t think he ever met a woman he didn’t have a little fondness for, but, he was funny though. My parents divorced when I was about nine. And I always knew my dad my whole life. He died in a car wreck about five years ago, but it wasn’t like we were estranged or anything. I grew up in Hapeville, Ga., with my mother. Her family was from there. My granddaddy was the Asst. Fire Chief of Hapeville. That was kind of cool! Back then it was like a little bit

“

of Mayberry. You went out and got on your bike and rode to school and stopped by the fire station and got a free Coca-Cola from your granddaddy – and played little league ball. Hapeville is one of those special towns, and it’s where Chick-fil-A was invented. Founder Truett Cathy and I went to the same church. Truett is a wonderful human being. That man gives away so much stuff. And nobody ever knows about it. He doesn’t do it for the press or anything else. I was telling somebody not long ago, when I was a kid, if you ran into Truett, he always had those free Chick-fil-A passes in his coat pocket, and he’d see you out on the street and he’d give you one. And when I was a kid that was like gold. I mean you might as well have won the lottery to get a free Chick-fil-A! And now, I’m 47, and Truett does all these charities around town, and I perform at a bunch of ‘em for him. I never charge him anything; I just show up and do it. Truett will pull me aside and say, ‘I sure do appreciate you doing this,” and he’ll reach in his coat pocket and pull out one of them things to get a free sandwich and I’m like, “Mr. Truett, I can buy one now! I’m ok!” When I was a kid, I wouldn’t turn one down. I’m lucky enough that I have been around long enough – and because of that Mama I talked about – was grounded enough to know that being on T.V. was not the most important thing in the world. The only thing that matters 100 years from now is what kind of kids you left behind.

…being on T.V. was not the most important thing in the world. The only thing that matters 100 years from now is what kind of kids you left behind.

”

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what southern women

know

Underneath It All

by Ronda Rich

Ronda Rich is the author of What Southern Women Know (That Every Woman Should) and The Town That Came A-Courtin’. 70

Mothers across America have been known to admonish, “Always wear clean underwear. You never know when you’ll be in an accident.” Southern mamas carry it a step further by saying, “Always match your lingerie. You never know who might see it.” I was almost scarred by this. Literally. When I was a freshman in college and waiting to turn into the school’s entrance, I looked into my rearview mirror just in time to see a car speeding toward me. Just before it slammed into the rear of my car, rather than trying to figure out how to get away, I was thinking, “Oh no! I can’t go to the emergency room! I have a big fat run in my panty hose.” When I dressed that morning, I thought that since I was wearing slacks, it wouldn’t matter. Yet it led to my embarrassment in the ER when the attendants saw that inexcusably large hole surrounded by runs in my navy stockings. Later, Mama said, “I thought I raised you better than any such.” I carry the remnants of that accident with me daily: a neck that turns stiff when rain comes, a slightly discolored place on the inside of my left knee that never completely cleared up from a horrible bruise and the emotional trauma of the bad first impression that strangers in an emergency room got of me. Southern women are meticulous in matters of pristine presentation. I’m a true believer in matching lingerie. Not necessarily for others – though it is fair to say that men love women who match – but for myself. (Trust me: A man’s heart can be won as easily with matching lingerie as it can be won with homemade biscuits. It is also important to point out here that the color white should be avoided as much as possible. It’s so 1950’s.) Years ago, I read where Florenz Ziegfeld, the famed Broadway showman and producer, was called before his investors to explain the absurdly high costs of the French handmade under garments that he was buying for his dancers. Ziegfeld girls in the 1920s and 1930s were highly touted as the most beautiful, most tantalizing women in the world. It was a title that was highly coveted and proudly carried when given. Ziegfeld offered no apology. In fact, he explained that, under no conditions, would he cease the practice. “Gentlemen,” he said, “When our ladies wear those expensive, sumptuous

garments, they feel beautiful. And when they feel beautiful, they act beautiful. They carry themselves with an undeniable pride. It’s what helps to make a Ziegfeld girl the most desired in the world.” I agree. And, I practice what Ziegfeld preached. I vehemently believe in lovely, matching lingerie for the sake of my own self-confidence. I also think that you owe it to others to wear lingerie that matches. Because you never know when someone is going to see your underwear. You would not want to subject them to an eclectic assortment of styles and colors. Just the other day, for instance, complete strangers saw my black lace panties and matching bra. A real estate agent, despite an agreement to show my house only by

“

Always match your lingerie. You never know who might see it.

”

appointment, showed it unexpectedly while I was out of town. Since I had hurried in from one trip, dumped mail and clothes throughout the house and left immediately for New York, the entire first floor was a mess. Additionally, I had done a quick washer of clothes then laid my delicates out on the kitchen counter to air dry. I try not to be indelicate with my delicates. Strangers, who were touring my house, were able to gawk at my intimate apparel. I felt exposed. I heard later that the real estate agent told someone that the house was quite a mess, leaving out the part that she showed it without warning and against the agreement. Mostly, though, I was disappointed that she had failed to share with others what good taste I have in buying lingerie. Or that, most importantly, it all matched. My first thought, after being completely horrified, was, “Thank goodness, it was bikinis and not thongs. How embarrassing that would have been.” Finally, though, I realized that it could have been even worse than that. What if I were the kind to wear big, white granny panties with bras that don’t match? Now, that would have really been embarrassing.

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star gazing PRACTICAL WHIMSY southern hospitality hollywood style

by Joe LoCicero

Stone Mountain, Ga.-raised Joe LoCicero is a Hollywood writer-publicist and entertaining guru whose eclectic, collective credits include Entertainment Tonight, The All-New Captain Kangaroo and Frasier. He is the co-author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Clear Thinking. Joe began the “Practical Whimsy” movement in 2003. For groovy goods and hip tips, check out www.practicalwhimsy.com

Adventures in Inspiring, In-Spring Television Sometimes, when you’re hired to work on a T.V. show, you decide to be and stay enthusiastic about it — regardless of deepdown feelings that betray that enthusiasm — because you want to make the best of the situation, you appreciate the passion of the talent involved, you want to stay employed… and well, because, especially with my being from the South, it’s just good manners. But during the past couple of months, I’ve genuinely relished the opportunity of working on a couple of series that will debut this year. In both these cases, the shows — to my taste — brought out the best in television: witty writing, lively characters, involving plots, engaging stars. That’s not to say that either series will win awards, garner high ratings, or even stay on-the-air, but they did instill a sense of hope in me about TV’s current state and that, maybe, the buzz about scripted shows can loom larger than Lost and Desperate Housewives. Typically, most of the networks premiere their much ballyhooed (and some, maybe not so much so) new sitcoms, dramas and reality series in the fall. And for years, the networks have ushered in a “second season” of shows to replenish ratings-starved fare, or simply because some of their touted series just weren’t ready in time. In the past few years, that trend has gained momentum. From January to April, several series with top-notch talent and an array of premises will beam onto T.V. screens. For starters, The Wonder Years Fred Savage joins his justreleased-from-an-asylum mom (played by Jane Curtin) in Crumbs. Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Jenna Elfman topline new sitcoms as comically complex women (The New Adventures of Old Christine and Courting Alex, respectively). And Aidan Quinn is a pillpopping Episcopalian priest in The Book of Daniel. In my case, I worked on two shows coincidentally based on best-selling books: Emily’s Reasons Why Not, the Heather Graham series based on the same-titled tome by Carrie Gerlach, and Love Monkey, the Tom Cavanagh dramedy based on the novel by Kyle Smith. Emily’s is a decidedly female take on the single life, and Love Monkey — ironically — imbues a decidedly male perspective. Both groove to an eclectic, soulful, and sometimes band-breaking soundtrack. And both exude atmosphere in spades. So although neither of them takes place in the South, both had plenty for this Southerner to appreciate. The half-hour, single camera comedy Emily’s Reasons Why Not chronicles the dating faux pas, career foibles, and relationship snafus of its titular character. She is, also ironically, a successful self-help book editor

but can never seem to take the advice her books so ardently dispense. While each plot plays out, Emily learns the five reasons why a particular relationship or situation may be doomed. In her escapades, she relies on the comfort and (usually constructive) criticism of two lifelong, acerbic best friends. At the publishing house, she copes with the snarky (and hilarious) Glitter (Smith Cho), her former backstabbing assistant permanently intent on injecting misery into Emily’s personal and professional lives as painfully, humiliatingly and frequently as possible. In chronicling the tales, the series weaves together an iconic L.A. presence, a funky, trend-setting fashion sense, and a blend of bands, tunes and music that resonate with and reverb the series’ distinct tone. Grammy Award winner Macy Gray sings the show’s theme song. Gary Calamar, previously music supervisor for Six Feet Under, serves in the same capacity here. And Susie DeSanto, costume designer for such feature films as 13 Going on 30 with Jennifer Garner, and Miss Congeniality with Sandra Bullock brings an unmistakable flair and vision to outfit the show’s characters in ensembles and accouterments that will undoubtedly spark gotta-have-it buzz. Meanwhile, in a fresh, irreverent and realistic portrayal of both the bonds of friendship and the twisted paths of romance, the one-hour dramedy Love Monkey — starring Cavanagh and also featuring former 90210-er Jason Priestley — draws on the pulse, energy and drive of the music industry. Its tenor — figuratively and literally — provides an atmospheric soundtrack for the protagonist, his best buds, the women in their lives, and their interconnected exploits in New York City. Cavanagh portrays a former hotshot artists’ rep at a big-time commercial label who — upon taking a noble stand on separating art from commerce — is summarily dismissed. But that defeat paves the way for his transition to an upstart record label, where he intends to truly make a difference in the music world. In each episode, Love Monkey blends the music and presence of such hot new acts as Robbers on High Street (“Love Underground”), Eugene (“Mr. Solitude”), She Wants Revenge (“Monologue”), and Kristin Hoffman (“Rescue Me”), with cameos and guest shots of such influential stalwarts as Ben Folds, Aimee Mann, James Blunt, and LeAnn Rimes. So, with charming leads at their centers, these shows join a cavalcade of others, each trying to keep boosting television’s stature, and possibly prompting water cooler chatter, cover stories… or your loyal viewership. And, with either one of these, you’ve got a hospitable invitation to shake off the winter doldrums with some sprightly, spring-y television. MARCH/APRIL 2006 • Y’ALL

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ms. ms. grits grits True Grits: Gentlemen Raised In The South

by Deborah Ford

Deborah Ford is the founder of Grits® Inc. (Girls Raised in the South), a multi-million dollar merchandising company. Ford is the author of the best-selling GRITS, Guide To Life, and Puttin’ On The GRITS, a Southern Guide to Entertaining. Her newest, Grits Friends Are Forevah is now available. Contact “Ms. Grits” via email at msgrits@yall.com 72

I love men from all around the world. But just as it’s nice to come home to Birmingham, Ala., after weeks on the road, it’s nice to come back to our beloved Southern men after spending time with others. A Southern gentleman may be rich or poor, black or white, but he’ll always abide by the same code of conduct. Almost any man will treat his boss well, but a Southern man will show the same kindness and respect for everyone from the First Lady on down to the girl asking him if he wants fries with that. The graciousness of Southern men, and their true gentlemanliness, always lets me know that I’m back home where I belong. I didn’t grow up in a big clan surrounded by lots of Southern men. My Daddy died when I was 10, and my Mother did not remarry until I was 20. I had four sisters and only one brother. My early life among boys was limited, though I loved the men I knew, and I treasure what time I had with them. From what I remember of Daddy, he was a true Southern gentleman. Daddy was the first Southern man I loved, and I learned a lot from him. He was small in stature, but he had a big, soft heart. He loved his home and family with all his being. Daddy was honest, hard working, and compassionate. He may not have been highly educated, but he had the best manners of any man I’ve ever known. Our behavior and morals were important to him, no matter where we were. Even though he had only a fourth grade education, he always told stories about the importance of school, and he was determined that all of his children would finish high school and college. If we missed a day of school, we had to be deathly ill. Even in the hardest times, he made sure that we all attended church regularly, and he set the example by attending every Sunday morning and Wednesday night himself. He worked long hours as a farmer. Daddy taught us to be proud of working, and do the best job that we could, whether we were lawyers and doctors or janitors and assembly workers. Every job was honorable and worth doing. In spite of his hard work, Daddy, like a lot of Southerners, eventually lost the farm. He was forced to become a janitor, but he still did his work with strength and pride. Even when he became ill, he maintained his strength and hope. Daddy always looked on the bright side, and he was grateful for each day, whether it brought good or bad. Although Daddy died young and I didn’t have many male relatives, I had several neighbors, teachers, coaches, and,

of course, my brother, and brother-in-law around me. Although all these men were different, they all shared respect for their parents, hospitality to their neighbors, pride in honoring their obligations, and a willingness to help those in need. I can honestly say that any of these special men would have given the shirt off his back if he thought someone else needed it. There were many men in my life, but a few stand out for the lessons they taught me. My brother-in-law, Julian, taught me commitment and loyalty. He is a man of few words, but I always knew he would do anything for his own family and mine as well. My mother remarried when I was in my 20’s, and it is from my stepfather, Bob, that I learned that it was possible to be friends with a man. My neighbor, Mr. Oakley, taught me the importance of community. He not only raised six

“

What I remember of Daddy, he was a true Southern gentleman. Daddy was the first Southern man I loved, and I learned a lot from him.

”

children on his own, he made sure that each child in the neighborhood was warm and had food on the table. My softball coach, Tommy Carter, made the time to help us out on the field even though he was a busy, highly respected politician in our county (Limestone County, Ala.). He taught me to do my best, both on and off the field. When I grew up, I married – more than once or even twice, I’m afraid. My ex-husbands (or bless-his-hearts, as I like to call them) didn’t have calluses on their hands like the men I grew up with, and I doubt one of them could drive a tractor. Maybe that should have been a warning sign. In fact, not one of them ever mowed the grass, worked around the house, or fixed the car. Even so, like the men I grew up with, they had a sense of community, of family, and of honor that made them special. My marriages did not work out, but I’m not giving up on Southern men. Nobody knows their faults better than I do, but I still wouldn’t trade them for anybody else in the world. They’re moral, they’re strong, they’re gentle, and they made a woman feel like a lady. What would a belle be without her beaux? I wouldn’t be the woman I am without the wonderful Southern gentlemen that have blessed my life, and I love them just as I love the land they call home.

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In my south…strangers are treated like family. And family is treated like royalty. – Angela Bassett St. Petersburg, Florida

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yʼall

of fame

Hernando de Soto

(1496-1542)

Explorer and conqueror Hernando de Soto was born at Villanueva de la Serena, Badajoz, Spain in 1496. He died on the banks of the Mississippi in 1542. His exploration of the South would forever change this part of the world. In 1540, de Soto started from the province of Apalache with the intention of exploring the country to the north. He explored the provinces of Altapaha (or Altamaha), Achalaque, Cofa, and Cofaque, all situated in what is now eastern and northern Georgia, meeting with fair success. He then worked his way in a southwesterly direction, intending to reach the coast at Achusi where he had agreed to meet Maldonado with the supply ships. But when he reached the province of Tuscaluza in southern Alabama, where he had been told there were immense riches, the Indians in large numbers offered a more stubborn resistance and gave him the worst battle he had yet had. The battle lasted nine hours and was finally won by the Spaniards, though nearly all the officers and men, including de Soto himself, were wounded. According to Barcilasso, there were 70 Spaniards and 11,000 Indians killed in the battle, and in addition the town of Mauvila (now 74

Mobile) was destroyed by a fire, which also consumed the provisions of the Spaniards. While in Tuscaluza, de Soto heard of some Spanish ships that were on the coast at Achusi. These were the ships that Maldonado had brought back from Havana with the supplies. De Soto thought he would

be able to reach them in a short time for he had been informed that he was then but thirty leagues from the coast. But his troops were so exhausted that he was forced to rest for a few days. Worn out by the long marches and the hardships they had undergone, and disappointed at not finding any

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treasure, some of de Soto’s followers secretly plotted to abandon him, make their way to Achusi, and sail to Mexico. Learning of this, de Soto changed his plans, and, instead of marching toward the coast to join Maldonado, he led his men toward the interior in a westerly direction, knowing that they would not dare to desert him with the ships so far away. He hoped to reach New Spain (Mexico) by land. In a night battle (December, 1540), he lost 40 men and 50 horses besides having many wounded, and during the next four months he was attacked almost nightly. In April 1541, he came upon a fort surrounded with a stockade, and in storming it nearly all his men were wounded and many were killed. It is said that over 2,000 Indians were killed in this battle, but so many of the Spaniards were wounded that de Soto was compelled to stop for a few days in order to care for them. Notwithstanding his repeated losses, de Soto continued toward the interior, traversing several provinces constituting the present Gulf States, until he reached the Mississippi at a point in the northern part of the

present state of Mississippi. He crossed the river and pushed on to the northwest until he reached the province of Autiamque in the northwestern corner of Arkansas, where he passed the winter of 1541-42 on the Dayas River, now the Washita. In the spring of 1542, retracing his steps, he reached the Mississippi in May or June. Here, on June 20, 1542 (according to some authorities on 21 May), he was stricken with a fever and prepared for death. He made his will, named Luis de Moscoso de Alvarado as his successor in command of the expedition, and took leave of all. On the fifth day de Soto succumbed without having reached New Spain by land. His companions buried the body in a large hole, which the natives had dug near one of their villages to get materials to build their houses. However, as de Soto had given the

Indians to understand that the Christians were immortal, they afterwards disinterred the body, fearing the hostile savages might possibly discover it, and, finding him dead, make an attack. They then hollowed out the trunk of a large tree and, placing the body in it, sank it in the Mississippi, which they called the Grande. The shattered remnant of the expedition under Moscoso then attempted to work their way eastward, but, driven back by the Indians, they floated down the Mississippi and, after many hardships, finally reached Pánuco in Mexico. This expedition of de Soto, though it ended so disastrously, was one of the most elaborate and persistent efforts made by the Spaniards to explore the interior of North America. It was the first extensive exploration of at least six of the Southern states: South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Arkansas, and their written history often begins with narratives which tell the story of de Soto’s expedition. From these same narratives we also get our first description of the Cherokees, Seminoles, Creeks, Appalachians, Choctaws, and other famous tribes of Southern Indians.

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in memoriam door-gunner Lawrence Colburn and crew chief Glenn Andreotta) led to the cease-fire order at My Lai, and who was honored in 1998 with the prestigious Soldier’s Medal, the highest award for bravery not involving conflict with an enemy. Thompson died of cancer in Alexandria, La., on January 6. He was 62.

JANETTE CARTER Janette Carter, the last surviving member of The Carter Family Singers, whose hits include “Burry Me Under The Weeping Willow” and “Little Log Cabin By The Sea,” died of complications of Parkinsons Disease and chronic illness in Kingsport, Tenn., on Jan . 22. She was 82. LOUISE SCRUGGS Louise Scruggs, the wife and manager of banjo player Earl Scruggs who helped to expand the audience for bluegrass and country music, who met her husband in 1946 while Earl was performing at the Grand Ole Opry with bluegrass legend Bill Monroe and Louise was a member of the audience, died in Nashville on Feb. 2. She was 78.

HUGH THOMPSON, JR. Former Army helicopter pilot Hugh Thompson Jr. was honored for rescuing Vietnamese civilians from his fellow GIs during the My Lai massacre. His role in the 1968 massacre did not become widely known until decades later but whose efforts (along with those of

LT. COL. HORACE CROUCH (RET.) A member of the Doolittle Raiders’ daring bombing run over Japan during World War II, Crouch was one of 80 airmen aboard 16 B-25 bombers that made the daylight raid over Japan on April 18, 1942. His death leaves just 16 surviving Raiders. He was awarded the Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Air Medal for his valor. He died of pneumonia at the age of 87 in his hometown of Columbia, S.C., on Dec. 21, 2005.

COACH JOHN H. VAUGHT John Vaught, who coached the Ole Miss Rebels to national football prominence in the 1950s and 1960s and developed the star quarterbacks Charlie Conerly and Archie Manning, died Feb. 3 in Oxford, Miss. He was 96. In 25 seasons as head coach, Vaught took Ole Miss to six Southeastern Conference championships and 18 bowl games. He had a record of 190-61-12, and his teams were among the top five in the major national polls every season from 1959 to 1963. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1979. The football stadium on the University of Mississippi campus is named after Vaught.

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CORETTA SCOTT KING The widow of human rights advocate Martin Luther King, Coretta Scott King died Jan. 30, after a long illness. Born in 1927, she was raised on a farm near Marion, Ala. Her father was the first black farmer in the region to own a truck. She was responsible for renting a bus to solve the commuting problem of black high school students, who at the time, were not allowed to travel on school buses because of the country’s segregation policy. Mrs. King first attended Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, where her elder sister attended as the first black student enrolled at the university. Later, Coretta Scott King went to Boston University to study music, and it was there that she met Martin Luther King, a young Baptist minister working toward a Ph.D. The couple married in 1953 and had four children. King continued her husband’s work and his struggle for minority and human rights, after his 1968 assassination.

VAUGHT: COURTESY OF FAMILY, KING: ANNETTE BROWN/GETTY

KATHERINE PEDEN Kentucky’s first female commerce commissioner and a former broadcasting executive, Katherine Peden was elected national president of the Business & Professional Women’s Club and appointed by Pres. John F. Kennedy to the President’s Commission on the Status of Women in 1961. She was the only woman on the National Advisory Committee on Civil Disorders (known as the Kerner Commission and appointed by Pres. Lyndon Johnson), and was one of the first women in the nation named to a Fortune 500 company board of directors when she was appointed to the board of Westvaco Corporation. Peden died at 80 after a long illness in Lexington, Ky., on January 8.

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JOHN FERGUSON John Ferguson broadcast Louisiana State University sports for more than 40 years. He began broadcasting LSU Tiger athletics in 1946 and retired in 1987. He also did play-by-play for the New Orleans Saints and other sporting events. Ferguson died at 86 in Zachary, La., on Dec. 17, 2005. WALT CUDZIK Former NFL and AFL center Walt Cudzik, who was an original member of the Boston Patriots and played in all 56 games from 1960 to 1963, when the Patriots won their first division title and played in their first AFL championship game, died in Gulf Shores, Ala., on Dec. 11, 2005. He was 73. After football, Cudzik earned a law degree and practiced as an attorney.

BARRY COWSILL Barry Cowsill was a member of the popular 1960s singing family The Cowsills, which recorded a series of top hits and was the inspiration for the TV series The Partridge Family. Cowsill had been missing since Hurricane Katrina flooded his home. He was found dead on the Chartres Street Wharf in New Orleans, nearly four months after he disappeared, on Dec. 28, 2005. He was 51.

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festive south Mar. 2 – 12 Florida Strawberry Festival® Family oriented event, with heritage dating back to 1930, includes performances each day by world-renowned music entertainers, competitions and contests for youth and adults, and exhibits of agriculture, commerce, horticulture, fine arts, livestock, homemade goods, crafts and parades. Plant City, FL. 813-752-9194 www.flstrawberryfestival.com berrypr@flstrawberryfestival.com Mar. 3 – 5 Black Heritage Festival Highlights achievements of AfricanAmericans through cultural and performing arts events. Activities include live music (Gospel, Zydeco and R&B), visual arts exhibits, pageants, contests, cheer and dance competitions, performing arts, a marketplace, and more. Lake Charles, LA. 800-456-7952 www.bhflc.org Mar. 3 (school day), Mar 4 & 5 (public days) MTSU American Indian Festival All Nations festival dedicated to the American Indians and the celebration of their culture and heritage. The Indian Traders Market is the largest and most comprehensive Native arts and crafts presentation in the area. Murfreesboro, TN. 615-898-5645 www.mtsu.edu/powwow powwow@mtsu.edu Mar. 4 – 5 Kentucky Crafted: The Market Kentucky’s finest traditional, folk & contemporary crafts, two-dimensional visual art, music recordings, books and food products. This award-winning event continues to expand as Kentucky’s treasured cultural showcase. Louisville, KY. 888-592-7238/502-564-8076 www.kycraft.ky.gov kycraft@ky.gov

March 17-19 Historic Selma Pilgrimage & Antique Show Selma, Ala. Come see a variety of architectural styles and tour homes rarely open to the public. Take an engaging twilight tour of Selma’s historic cemetery. www.selmaAlabama.com Mar. 17 – 26 Macon, Georgia’s International Cherry Blossom Festival Featuring over 500 events including parades, concerts, fireworks, amusement rides, dances, arts & crafts and much more. The festival takes place while the town’s 275,000 Yoshino Cherry Trees are in bloom. Macon, GA. 478-751-7429 www.cherryblossom.com cbf@cherryblossom.com Mar. 18 14th Annual Lighthouse Festival Visitors can climb 219 stairs to the top of the tower, learn about the lives of the keepers and their families in the museum, enjoy living history activities, live entertainment, pony rides, children’s games and crafts. St. Augustine, FL. 904-829-0745 www.staugustinelighthouse.com stauglh@aug.com Mar. 18 Strawberry Jam’n Toast to the Arts Hear musicians “jam” in the streets of historic downtown Ponchatoula, watch dance performances, browse and collect works of art. Donations benefit the education of musicians/artists and advance of the arts. Ponchatoula, LA. 800-617-4502 www.strawberryjam.org

Mar. 28 – Apr. 9 Columbus, Mississippi Annual Spring Pilgrimage – 2006– Homes, churches, and gardens will be highlighted as well as “Tales from the Crypt”, which are vignettes performed in historic Friendship Cemetery. Performances last year received the “Governors Award for Excellence in the Arts”. Columbus, MS. 800-920-3533 www.historic-columbus.org Mar. 31 – Apr. 2 Summerville Family YMCA Flowertown Festival This festival offers a feast for all the senses – all set against a backdrop of blooming azaleas, dogwoods and wisteria. More than 200 craft vendors and artisans have booths set up throughout the park. Summerville, SC. 843-871-9622, ext. 119 www.summervilleymca.org linda.mccoy@knology.net March 30 - April 2 Mule Day, Columbia, Tenn. This is a celebration of the world’s most important hybrid - the mule! Mule Day has been a tradition since 1840 when the first Monday in April brought huge crowds to the livestock show and mule market. 931-381-9557; Harvey Spain; www.muleday.com; bpierce@maurycounty-tn.gov

April 1 Springtime Tallahassee, Tallahassee, Fla. This community event features regional artisans and entertainment. Street parties, parades, 250 arts and crafts vendors and a children’s park are all part of the fun, plus Mar. 8 – 12 Mar. 22 – 26 food from around the world. 12th Annual A Mountain Quiltfest Providence Hospital Foundation 850-224-5012; Susan Hall; Quilting classes, seminars and quilt shows Festival of Flowers www.springtimetallahassee.com; featuring beautiful quilting workmanship This nationally acclaimed event is held under director@springtimetallahassee.com and techniques as well as vendors featuring the magnificent canopy of the Avenue of the new and unique quilting patterns, supplies Oaks on the historic campus of Spring Hill April 6 -15 and materials. Pigeon Forge, TN. College. Lovely, life-sized “secret” gardens Come See Me Festival, 800-251-9100 www.mypigeonforge.com will be showcased in this year’s event. Rock Hill, S.C. events@cityofpigeonforge.com Mobile, AL. The largest all-volunteer festival in South 251-639-2050/877-777-0529 Carolina has more than 50 events for all Mar. 10–December 31, 2007 www.festivalofflowers.com ages, including the beach bash, festival I Can’t Stop Loving You: Ray Charles dseamon@providencehospital.org parade, moonlight jazz, food and art expo, and Country Music and a huge tailgate party and fireworks The Country Music Hall of fame and extravaganza. Museum’s exhibition will trace a lifelong Mar. 23 – 26 800-681-7635/803-329-7625; love affair with country music. Presented Robert Osborne’s Classic Ann Terry; www.comeseeme.rockhill. at the invitation of Ray Charles Enterprises, Film Festival net; comeseeme@comporium.net the biographical exhibition will provide an The festival, featuring classic overview of Ray Charles’ remarkable career. movies introduced by Turner April 2 - May 1 Nashville, TN. countrymusichalloffame.com Classic Movies’ Robert Biltmore Estate’s Festival of lthiels@countrymusichalloffame.com Osborne, gives film-goers the Flowers, Asheville, N.C. opportunity to see classic films The Biltmore Estate celebrates its Mar. 11 – 19 the way they were meant to 75th anniversary of being open to the 45th Annual be seen - on a really big screen in a theater public with more than ten acres of formal Canadian-American Days Festival atmosphere! Athens, GA. gardens exploding with color, elaborate Celebrate the 45th anniversary of Can706-542-5038 www.grady.uga.edu/ floral arrangements in Biltmore House, and Am Days with musical performances by osbornefest murrayd@uga.edu entertainment throughout the house and Canadian and American bands, military grounds. 800-543-2961; Priscilla Rhoades; ensembles, school bands and community March 25 www.biltmore.com; groups. This event was the first international 1st Annual Heritage Arts Festival of happenings@biltmore.com festival organized in South Carolina and has South Mississippi won numerous awards. Myrtle Beach Area, Hattiesburg, Miss. April 6 - 9 SC. 843-626-7444 myrtlebeachinfo.com The Festival will celebrate South Mississippi’s Jacksonville Jazz Festival, art heritage. Featuring great entertainment, Jacksonville, Fla. Mar. 16 & 17 great food, great arts and crafts and much Jazz music will be heard all over the city Amite Oyster Festival more including events for the kids. Event at multiple venues, including the Great A tribute to the local oyster industry offering features performances by Ricky Skaggs American Jazz Piano Competition featuring entertainment, celebrity participation, and the Southern Mississippi Symphony five amateur pianists. Also includes a juried concessions and a midway. Amite, LA. Orchestra. www.theADP.com art show, wine tasting event, jazz brunches 985-748-7156 atdnews@bellsouth.net at local restaurants and complimentary trolley transportation between each venue.

Mar. 18 Warrenton Hunt Point to Point Races A family event featuring Timber races over wood fences, steeplechases, brush fences and flat races. Warrenton, VA. 540-347-1888

904-630-3690; Christina Langston; www.jaxjazzfest.com; events@coj.net April 7 - 30 46th Annual Dogwood Arts Festival, Knoxville, Tenn Over 60 miles of dogwood trails in seven of Knoxville’s most prestigious neighborhoods is one reason to experience this festival. But there are also arts and crafts, live entertainment, children’s activities and sports events. 865-637-4561; Ruthie Kuhlman; www.dogwoodarts.com; pr@dogwoodarts.com April 20 - 22 30th Annual Hillbilly Days Festival, Pikeville, Ky. This festival provides a taste of Appalachian culture with bluegrass and country music, square dancing and clogging. As you’re tapping your toes to the tunes, you can also sample authentic southern cooking and find treasures from local artisans and crafters. 606-432-5063/800-844-7453; Phyllis Hunt; www.tourpikecounty.com; tourpikeco@se-tel.com April 21-22 7th Stage and Screen Hall of Fame Weekend Tuscaloosa, Ala. Starting off Friday night with The Mayberry Variety Show, where guests and vistors can gather with stars of the long running The Andy Griffith Show and Gomer Pyle USMC. Featured performances include Ronnie Shell and the Darling Family. Ends on Saturday with a gala honoring the latest inductees to the Alabama Stage and Screen Hall of Fame. www.theatretusc.com. April 22 Cotton District Arts Festival and Old Main Music Festival Starkville, Miss Featuring live entertainment, kids activities, fine art, arts and flower show and the Taste of the South. Festival will also play host to Y’all Magazine’s Sweet Tea Challenge presented by Luzianne. www.starkville.org April 28 - 30 Historic Columbus Foundation’s Riverfest Weekend, Columbus, Ga. This event features fine arts and crafts, folk art, a children’s interactive area, tours of five historic homes, living history demonstrations, Native American skills demonstrations, and more. 706-3247417/706-323-7979; Frances Quick; www.columbusriverfest.com; riverfest@bellsouth.com April 29 11th Annual Double Decker Arts Festival, Oxford, Miss Gather on Oxford’s Historic Downtown Square for a day of art, music and fun. Performances by Dr. John, Steve Azar and Marty Stuart. www.doubledeckerfestival.com April 29-30 10th Annual National Cornbread Festival, South Pittsburg, Tenn. The National Cornbread Festival is a time-honored tradition celebrating everything cornbread. In past years, we’ve welcomed thousands of people from near and far to our historic downtown main street for a weekend of our own special brand of “Southern Hospitality”. South Pittsburg, Tennessee. Located two miles south of I-24 exit 152 just 25 miles west of Chattanooga, Tennessee. 423-837-0022; www.nationalcornbread.com

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