Atlanta’s Voice of the South Remembered
Atlanta is a place worthy of chronicling. Every city has its share of stories, and on some days, it seems as though everyone has not only a novel in them, but volumes to be written to narrate a life. There are details in every block that the city needs to remember, not only for its own sense of presence but for preservation in the future. But Atlanta is a particularly apt subject for writing, perhaps even more than any other art form. There’s something in the way that the written word suggests that these events that happened here are worth remembering.
And in Atlanta, it’s worth remembering the work of Boyd Lewis , who was NPR’s voice of the South, before he finally decided that teaching English full-time was more rewarding than chronicling the social scenes here. He moved with his wife Deborah, to Pasadena at the end of the 90s, but his stories are still here. That’s the splendid thing about literature. Guests who love the city as much as we do may be staying at an Atlanta USA hotel without knowing about the spectacular past, if it were not for the presence of these storytellers in our lives.
Deborah was in control of the Margaret Mitchell House for awhile, and was responsible for getting it non-profit status. It was kind of a happy coincidence that they both had an interest in her, as Boyd lived in her basement apartment for a time, and even tells a pretty wonderful story about it. He’d pursued professionals to make a seance to get in touch with her spirit, as he felt it pretty keenly, and the results of the event were hilarious, as they always were, and his observations about the people show the locals as interesting and quirky, as we always are.
Margaret Mitchell might come across as a rather staid and stately woman, but her personal life reveals a rather colorful, and passionate, soul. High school students and the rest of California are lucky to have him there, and he’s missed out here.
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