I heard Tommy King, a Lawtey, Florida, native farmed this land for over fifty years. His grandparents cultivated the same sixty acres. King’s Kountry Produce operated as one of the biggest strawberry growers in North Florida. The Kings also grew over twenty vegetables on their land. They sold produce at this roadside location near Starke, Florida, off U.S. Route 301. Tommy’s wife Jane canned homemade jams. Unfortunately, these days the place looks abandoned and emits a Ghostland America vibe.
Everybody Wants to Rule the World counts as Ace Atkins’ 31st book. Based in Atlanta during 1985, known as “The Year of the Spy”, the novel revolves around fourteen-year-old Peter Bennett who believes his mom’s new boyfriend Gary is a Russian agent. It’s a funny,...
Wilson’s Gold Star Studio is now located in Topanga Canyon. Wilson’s solo albums include Frankie Ray, Gentle Spirit (2011), Fanfare (2013), Rare Birds (2018), Dixie Blur (2020) and Eat the Worm (2023). In 2017, Wilson signed on as Roger Waters’s bandleader. Wilson is also a talented luthier. He has built over 100 guitars. He’s a guitar picker of the highest order as well as a muscle car aficionado.
I just heard Steve Cropper died. This phone interview transpired in 2008, when I worked for Swampland.com. The full interview can be read in Insured Beyond The Grave. I met Cropper years later on Sea Island, Georgia. He was a southern gentleman of the highest order,...
Chris Robinson sings what he knows about:
“To my lowdown downtown money waster
Your saving grace was that I liked to taste ya
But your flower is spoiled
Too easy to make ya
You got a .38 and your book of revelation
I got a .44 and a load of temptation.”
In desperate need of comedy this morning, I pulled a Charles Portis book off the shelf. I turned to a story in Escape Velocity about Portis trying to stop smoking. I craved a brief respite from grim news, looming deadlines, and eerie realities. Portis provided—as always–a much needed laugh.
“Everything is okey-doke in the Okefenokee.” --Jerry Reed Lydia Smith did not scare easy. She stood 6’6 feet tall and always carried a Smith & Wesson pistol. Born in 1864, Lydia grew up poor on Cowhouse Island in the Okefenokee Swamp. She eventually built an...
The Dead Towns of Georgia certifies a brutal life in wild country…
"Music soothes the savage beast. It has no color. That's where I saw God." --Herman Hitson Herman Hitson, born in 1943, counts as another gifted musician on the esteemed Music Maker Foundation roster. Hitson spent his childhood in Ocilla, Georgia. Later, his family...
Essence of old America right here when the cars weren't run on computers. You had to turn the radio dial yourself to find a station instead of some new-fangled digital system. Manufacturing began in the 1930s for the Buick Roadmaster. The Roadmaster parked in the...