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The Braselton News
Wednesday, June 7, 2023
Opinion
13 books that shaped America
For you bibliophiles out there who pay attention to
‘best books to read" on any given occasion, you might
remember the Public Broadcasting System’s survey on
America's favorite novel. More than 7,200 people voted.
It was released in 2018 and called “The Great Amer
ican Read”. Do you remember what novel came in
first? It was Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird”,
which came in ahead of such popular classics as “Pride
and Prejudice “(#4) and “Gone with the Wind” (#6)
and newer best sellers like “Outlander (#2) and “Harry
Potter” (#3).
Remember, this survey was only for novels—and did
not include non-fiction books like the “The Bible” ( the
biggest selling book of all time)
I heard a recent podcast with the
great author Jay Parini, who wrote the
memorable biography of America's
most popular poet. “Robert Frost: A
Life”, talking about his book Promised
Land: 13 Books that Changed America.
It’s a great blend of books, ranging
from Dale Carnegies 1936 best seller
“How to Win Friends and Influence
People”(1936) to Harriett Beecher
Stowe's “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” (1852),
which many folks, including Parini,
felt contributed to the abolitionist
philosophy that led to the Civil War (I have started to
reread this book, which Parini said contains some of the
greatest narrative ever written in the United States and I
think he is right).
It's interesting to note that most of Parini's books are
non-fiction, and we have all read most of them at one
point—although perhaps in school as a ‘requirement’ in
your study of America.
[I digress here for a moment to say something about
re-reading books: I strongly recommend it. Dust off
that old copy of “The Great Gatsby” or “A Tale of Two
Cities” or “The Old Man and The Sea”, take it down and
enjoy it now, at a different point in your life. You will
be amazed how your accumulated life experiences can
enrich your enjoyment of these classics].
Parini, a prolific author, poet and long-time professor
at Middlebury College in Vermont, where Frost once
taught, said he chose the number “13” as it reflected the
number of original colonies—and there were so many
other top ten he wanted to try something different.
Also included in this list were Thoreau’s “Walden”
(Parini has spoken often about the influence that Walden
and his mentor, Ralph Waldo Emerson, had on the
poet Robert Frost) and W.E.B. DuBois’ “The Souls of
Black Folks”, which if you have never read, you should
consider.
Parini called DuBois. “... a hero, someone who
produced a voice of steely self-confidence in the face of
virulent racism and it’s pale but no less deadly cousin,
benign neglect.”
“The Federalist Papers” also made the list, Parini writ
ing that these 85 essays, compiled by founding fathers,
Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay “...
put forth a vision of representative government as it
would be practiced on this continent for more than two
centuries.” While this book will make you realize how
far we've come from their vision, it will also show how
much we are still embracing it.
There may not be many lists of influential books that
have Dr. Spock’s “The Common Sense Book of Baby
and Child Care,” but it's on Parini's list as a book that
“.. .changed the way Americans raised their children,
probably forever.” (Although if Spock were alive, I’m
not sure he’d still agree with what he wrote in 1946—as
I wonder if the young parents of today, with their very
busy lives, are still seeking what Spock called that nec
essary “warm connection between parent and child”).
The other books on Parini’s list include “The Journals
of Lewis and Clark” (1814), the Mark Twain sequel to
“Tom Sawyer”, the “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”
(1885), “Of Plymouth Plantation” (1627), the Pilgrim’s
original story written by pioneer William Bradford and
“The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin”, which
began, and still sets the standard for, autobiographical
writing in America.
Parini also chose Betty Friedan’s “The Feminine
Mystique (1963) because “.. .it changed our culture in
ways difficult to overstate” [if you are female and under
50 and professionally successful and haven’t read this
book, you might be where you are because of it] and
Mary Antin’s autobiographic 1912 memoir called “The
Promised Land’, a penultimate story of Russian & Jew
ish immigrants seeking a “distant place across the sea, a
promised land of milk and honey.”
One of the final entries is “On the Road”, a 1957 book
by Jack Kerouac, who founded the term “Beat Genera
tion”, that Parini describes as “.. .a road novel, present
ing a major example of this important American genre.”
We can all argue with these choices (what are lists for,
anyway, but to generate discussion or disagreement?)
but these books clearly had an impact on our society, our
government, our social fabric and our everyday Ameri
can lives in ways we might have forgotten—unless we
read them again to remind us.
David R. Altman, a former Georgia Author of the
Year nominee, lives in Hoschton with his wife Lisa. His
second poetry chapbook, “Cold Remembered”, was
published by Finishing Line Press in February. He can
be reached at altmandavidr@gmail.com.
Chip Davis
Seeing someone flourish in business which
reflects that they are truly happy with their occupa
tion makes you realize the ultimate fulfillment be
yond family compatibility is to passionately enjoy
what you do when it comes to gainful employment.
As you travel the road of life you encounter many
who are overachievers and note
worthy producers. They embrace
the work ethic as a gratifying en
dearment. They consider business
an opportunity to identify with the
American dream—salt-of-the-earth
types who, for generations, have
made America great.
I have a friend, one of the afore
mentioned, with a home in Bogart,
just 10 miles west of Athens. His
business address is Hernando, Mis
sissippi, however, and when there
is a reason for him to go there,
he simply goes out to Ben Epps Field in Athens,
cranks up his Piper JetProp and flies himself to the
Magnolia State where his company remanufactures
aircraft container loaders. The sprawling complex
of FedEx, the shipping giant, is located 25 miles
from Chris’ building and has been a customer of his
for years.
When a FedEx package arrives at your doorstep,
same as it might in Nogales, Arizona; Brownsville,
Texas; Nome, Alaska; Overton, Nevada; Sault St.
Marie, Michigan; or Katmandu, it may well have
been loaded onto one of FedEx’s 650 planes which
daily deliver an average of 6.21 million packag
es around the world by one of Chris’s efficient
container loaders. That is a lot of packages which
require considerable handling which means the
entire operation, like the NFF draft, is always on
the clock.
We probably would not be telling this story if it
hadn’t been for a Sunday afternoon ritual back in
the Atlanta suburb of Chamblee in the early sev
enties. At the mere mention of that time in his life,
Chis will bring pause to the conversation and speak
reverently about his parents and preach aloud what
is on his heart. “My late parents Betty and Gerald
Davis were devout Southern Baptists who taught
me to work hard and treat others as you would want
to be treated. I owe my success to them.”
As the conversation moves forward, he begins
to smile widely at the memory of his parents, and
it becomes prolonged when he recalls how they
would, on those Sunday afternoons, drop him off
at Peachtree DeKalb Airport where he wandered
about all the parked planes, pining for the day
when he would be able to solo. His passion took
root back then and has never waned.
Even today, he can’t wait to settle into the
cockpit of his single engine aircraft and rise above
scars, debris and littler that one often confronts on
the ground.
Following graduation from Georgia Southern
in 1973 with a degree in business finance, Chris’
passion to fly became more and more entrenched.
His parental training has served him well. Treating
people right became his mantra. He meets people
and an instant friendship takes root.
One of those friendships was with a man named
Bob Brooks who worked for Eddie Rickenback-
er, World War I fighter ace, and later Chairman
of Eastern Air Lines. “Mr. Brooks told me that
Mr. Rickenbacker would often go into the lobby
at Eastern and personally thank all the salesman
for doing business with his airline. I have never
forgotten that. Mr. Brooks taught me the ground
support equipment business. I wouldn’t be where I
am today without his influence.”
With the help of the late banker, Bill Hopper
(“Bill understood what it took to make a small
business work.), Chris founded Rolling, Conveying
and Lifting Components (RCL) in 1988. With his
FedEx and other connections and friendships, he
has enjoyed an enterprising business for over three
decades. Friendships have come in handy through
out his business career. When Pan Am was going
out of business, the comptroller told Chris a check
for $125,000 for Chris’ fledgling company was in
his Pan Am office in Parsippany, New Jersey if he
wanted to come pick it up. “We had made friends
with the guys with Pan Am JFK,” Chris says. “We
got one of them to pick it up for us and send it to
Atlanta via Delta Dash. We deposited it on Mon
day, it cleared on Tuesday and Pan Am declared
bankruptcy on Thursday.” It has been a smooth
ride, no bumpy business turbulence for RCL since
that time.
Friends find it interesting that Chris is afraid of
heights, not the wild blue yonder, but five feet up
on a step ladder, for example. He won’t clean his
gutters, for example, and he wouldn’t walk across
the Sidney Lanier Bridge which spans the Bruns
wick River.
Ever the gentleman, he has been known to fly
a hundred miles out of the way so the turbulence
will not make his passenger uncomfortable. He will
never fly when the weather is questionable.
Chris collects old cars; he is always doing some
thing special for his employees. Seeing Georgia
defeat Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl was a memora
ble highlight for him and enjoying a hot dog and a
Bulldog baseball victory at Foley Field, supporting
his friend, Coach Scott Stricklin, makes his day.
Just don’t ask him to climb a step ladder.
Loran Smith is a UGA commentator and colum
nist for Mainstreet Newspapers.
loran
smith
The worth of a good
man Father’s Day 2023
It started with a photo that my sister sent.{/span}
In 1950s black and white, there is a bespectacled
man, standing in a mountain river with water up to his
waist. He is wearing a white dress shirt with sleeves
rolled up and dark pants.
Some called him “Preacher.” Folks around town
called him “Honest Ralph” because his integrity was
admirable. We called him, Daddy.
Daddy was a bi-vocational preacher, meaning that
he owned a mechanic’s garage and farmed through the
week, then stood in a pulpit for the Lord on Sundays.
Every night, he came home, head
ed straight to the bathroom, then
scrubbed his hands for 10 minutes
with Lava soap. Still, his finger
nails always carried a grease stain
that followed him to his casket.
In the photo. Daddy is wading
into the water to test the depth. In
the mountains, then and still now,
little Baptist churches use natural
resources to baptize the new
ly-saved.
Once, Daddy brought a nine-
year-old boy up, out of the water,
as we watched from the water’s
edge.
Enthusiastically, the child shouted, “Jesus has
washed away all my sins!”
Later, my sister discovered two other photos where
several are lined up, waiting for their turn to hold their
noses and hear Daddy declare, “I baptize thee in the
name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.”
I was baptized like that, wearing a cute red, white
and blue dress that Mama made. Back then, girls wore
dresses for this life-changing moment which were
anchored by safety pins between our knees.
This image was lingering sweetly in my mind when
I passed the coffee table. There’s always a mess of
books scattered about. My eye caught a similar black
and white photo of a river baptizing on the cover of
“Appalachian Mountains Religion: A History.”
I picked it up to flip through it. I knew immediate
ly where I had gotten it. Zell Miller was one of the
South’s most memorable politicians. He could be
polarizing but he was also a former Marine who meant
business and stuck to doing what was best for the
people he represented.
When I was 17, he wrote me the first “fan letter” I
ever received. He listened faithfully to my weekend
radio show on a country music station. In common,
we shared many things: love of God, country music,
our country, and most especially, our mountains. He
became my friend and mentor.
From time to time, he’d send a handwritten note,
saying something like, “Oh, how proud you make this
old mountain boy. You keep sticking up for our moun
tain people.”
When Mama died, he wrote a remarkably powerful,
compassionate note. I keep it in a silver bowl on my
desk.
After the old politician gave up a life of service and
left Washington, where he served as a U.S. Senator,
he and Miss Shirley returned to the mountains, to the
simple stone house where he had been raised.
I answered the phone once to hear him exclaim,
“Guess what I’m doing? I’ve gone back to teaching
college history. I’m the happiest I’ve ever been.”
This is to explain how I came to possess many his
tory books on the Appalachians and Southern culture
that had once been read and cherished by Senator Zell
Miller. One day, while I was visiting Miss Shirley -
her stories are as powerful as his - she motioned to
stacks of books. “These were some of his favorites. I
want you to have them.”
Leafing through this book. I discovered a bonus: the
Senator had underlined sentences and placed stars and
check marks by particularly interesting facts such as
river baptizing.
“Mountain religion is a religion of the heart.” He
underlined that in red.
I smiled, thinking of these two mountain men, the
truths they held tightly and the children they raised.
For both, it was this simple: Everything was black
and white.
Ronda Rich is the best-selling author of the forth
coming novel, “St. Simons Island: A Stella Bankwell
Mystery,” available on Aug. 8.
ronda
rich
The Braselton News
Mike Buffington Co-Publisher
Scott Buffington Co-Publisher & Advertising Manager
Ben Munro Editor
Taylor Hearn Sports Editor
Wesleigh Sagon Photographer/Features
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