Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 6A
BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2016
Lunch with John Huey
CHARLESTON, S. C. - There was nearly
an impasse in my lunch conversation with
John Huey, a Georgia graduate who rose to
the lofty media position of Editor-in-
Chief of Time-Life.
I wanted to talk about his experi
ences which had him in touch with
heads of state, billionaire headliners,
a movie star or two, along with the
movers and shakers of the world.
He preferred to discourse about the
Bulldogs, hoping that I had some
answers to why Georgia did not win
more games last fall.
Our conversation did get off to a
good start, however, being that he
knew the perfect place for lunch
in this laid back but eclectic city.
“Meet me at Hominy Grill at high noon at
the comer of Rutledge and Cannon,” he had
advised.
Before we return to tug of war regarding the
topic of our conversation, let’s hang out for a
minute with regard to our lunch address.
Hominy Grill is anchored in an old neigh
borhood in historic Charleston where you will
find limited parking, dirt curbing, schizophren
ic traffic, laid back living and a clientele as
varied as the menu.
You can indulge in short orders, sandwiches
and big plates that would satiate a hungry jack
hammer operator; high-rise biscuits, jalapeno
hushpuppies with sorghum butter, ribs and
veggies galore, barbecued anything, she crab
soup, and sauteed chicken livers-all served in
an atmosphere as inviting as the food.
I had arrived early at this signature restau
rant, which promotes grits at every space from
the menu to the walls.
When you come to a place like Hominy
Grill, you want to stay a while — if your lunch
guest will stay in the conversational traces.
“What did you think of Eason’s perfor
mance?” John interrupted my opening volley
of. “How did an English major get into the
newspaper business.”
If you are interested, I never got an answer
to my question and was resigned and com
pelled to being both the interviewer and the
interviewee, mostly the latter.
After all, he had said at the outset that he
was not interested in being written about, but
lord knows, if you are an aficionado of the
University of Georgia and want to enjoy the
writing process and are connected with illustri
ous alumni, you have to be as dogged as Huey
was with his army of editors and reporters to
get to the bottom on every story that Time-
Life’s plethora of magazines covered.
I gave in first. Told him everything I knew
about Kirby Smart, the history of all things
Bulldog (which in most cases he knew better
than I), the recruiting prospects for Kirby’s
next class, the play calling (that is
not an issue for either of us, by the
way, but he wanted a second opin
ion) and when could he get a tour
of the new indoor practice facility.
At this point, lunch had been had,
and it was time to order homemade
pecan pie.
I was keeping him late to pick up
oysters for dinner, when he finally
relented. He let me in on his life
and times as the premier media
editor going.
But only a little.
This is a man who was in the
media mainstream for 20 years, taking off
and landing an estimated 2,800 times or there
about at LaGuardia Airport. That came about
because of a personal choice.
He chose to live on nearby Sullivan’s Island
because he didn’t want to raise his kids in
Manhattan. Further, those weekend respites
at the South Carolina coast, rejuvenated and
invigorated him when he returned to “the city”
and put on his editor’s face.
Huey was an underling at the DeKalb New
Era when Jim Minter hired him as a reporter
for the Atlanta Constitution.
From there Huey would go as far as an ink-
stained wretch could go -Time Inc’s editor in
chief. He turned Fortune around like a football
coach taking over a moribund program and
advancing it into championship status.
For 20 years, he elevated both the editorial
savvy and the bottom line of Time, Inc.
He had a three pronged objective that con
firms he will always feel good inside, under
scoring the integrity of the editorial process:
•Produce the best possible product
•Protect journalists from inappropriate out
side influence
•Protect readers from any type of treachery
on part of his journalists
Someday I will get to the rest of the story.
Next time, he will tell me more and maybe
Georgia will have blown away the competition
which will cause him to loosen up.
Encores with accomplished editors like
John Huey at places like the Hominy Grill will
always attract enterprising columnists.
After all he is a Southern gentleman and
knows a journalist must get answers to his
questions. Woof, woof.
Loran Smith is a columnist for the Barrow
News-Journal. He is co-host of the University
of Georgia football radio pre-game show.
loran
smith
Random Rants in Rhyme
Life is a Gift
Life - Is a gift to be lived for and with others -
your father, your mother, your sisters and your brothers;
your sons and your daughters, your husband or your wife.
These are the ones that are closest in your life.
Then come your friends, an absolute necessity
for making your life everything it ought to be.
There are some that are closer than are others.
King Solomon says they’re “closer than a brother.”
This writer finds that the closest friend may be
one who began as a staunch enemy.
You two work out the problem you have, and then
that enemy can become a trusted friend.
It used to be that every neighborhood
looked after one another for mutual good.
Now we are so busy with work and more,
we hardly even know our neighbor next-door.
This could be a key to loose some fetters -
knock on that neighbor’s door, and know him better.
You never know. He might become a friend
that could stick right with you to the end.
Money is a commodity over ranked.
Life does not depend on what is in your bank.
Oh, some of it is a base necessity,
but money will never fill your life with glee.
The same is true with power and with fame.
No matter how many people know your name,
true happiness depends on what lies within,
and relationships with neighbors, family, and friends.
The greatest friend to have to guide your life
in times of troubles and trials, is Jesus Christ,
who is the Way, the Truth and ( also) the Life,
He will stick closer than a husband, a wife or a friend
because He is God, and your heart is what He will live in.
Life is a gift to be lived for and with others,
and a full one goes far beyond our sisters and brothers.
© 2016, cbs
1
skelton
Visiting ‘home’ on vacations
Collecting small, local
newspapers when I’m on
vacation has long been a habit
of mine, going back more than
a quarter century.
Every time we stop in a
small town - such as Com
merce or Jefferson or Bra-
selton or Hoschton -1 look for
a newspaper rack.
Of course, when I started,
those papers cost 25 cents,
maybe 35. Now many are $1;
most are 75 cents.
I look for those papers for
multiple reasons: they are most like the
ones where I have worked; they cover
towns where people buy the local paper
to see if it got the story right, not to see
if it got the story; they have news about
the subjects I cover also; and the quality
found in them varies a great deal.
But most importantly, those papers
cover their towns. They aren’t “mar
kets,” just as we find our towns to be
“ours.”
About 20 years ago, I noticed the
daily newspaper world - what I think
of as “big” newspapers - started talking
about “hyperlocal.”
I was puzzled about that term for
some time. Then I realized it was what
I had been doing all my career.
My stories routinely report on argu
ments between county commissioners,
the purchase of computers or textbooks
for schools and increases in water rates
by utility boards. They also include
students of the month, the volunteer of
the year, a spelling bee winner. National
Merit semifinalists and the opening of
youth baseball.
I once won a press association award
for a T-ball league photo on opening
day. It had about six or eight kids, all
going different directions or looking at
different things, including clouds and
parents. We used the photo on page one
because we didn’t have anything better
that week.
I could go on.
What the sophisticates of the news
paper world called “hyperlocal,” I grew
up referring to as “refrigerator” news -
those stories families cut out and stuck
on the refrigerator.
That news is what makes
community. It helps bind us
together. We are in the midst
of Christmas season and cele
brations are everywhere - tree
lightings, parades and a host
of activities have been plen
tiful.
Since vacation for us was
most often in the late spring
to early summer, back when
we’d go to the beach and I
bodysurfed, the news I read
was FFA competitions for
cows and sheep, festivals that
featured crafts and food, budget and
tax stories, selling bonds or refinancing
debt.
I read about weird crime stories -
someone stealing a Twinkies, pack of
cigarettes and six-pack of beer or maybe
taking a cow from a pasture. We often
would see tales of a thief who leaves
identification for the cops to find.
It’s a long way from the macroeco
nomics being discussed at the national
level. Globalization is not a major issue
in our towns. Yet we also have Kubota
and Amazon and they have jobs for our
neighbors.
I also read the New York Times and
Washington Post regularly. They cover
very different subjects than we do.
We cover “real” news, just like the
big boys, or the Atlanta TV stations. We
usually know the story better because
we have been following it and it’s part
of our town.
I always enjoy seeing the common
news, budgets and development, state
championships, political races. Had not
thought about this for a while, but I
did because of my travels in Jackson
and Barrow County, to Hoschton and
Commerce.
That the reason I look for those
papers on vacation is they are much
like us.
I enjoy seeing that common thread
across small towns. I’ve followed that
in Tennessee, Kentucky, North and
South Carolina and Georgia. It’s home.
Ron Bridgeman is a reporter for
Mainstreet Newspapers. Send him email
at ron@mainstreetnews.com.
Upcoming events planned at
Auburn Library in December
The following events
are coming up at the
Auburn Library:
•Family Story Time -
11:15 a.m. on Monday,
Dec. 19, and Wednesday,
Dec. 21, for kids of all
ages. “We combine all
the elements of our other
story times to provide fun
for the whole family,” said
Bel Outwater, librarian.
•Worldwide Wednes
days Adult Computer
Lessons. Call the library
for appointment times.
The library will be
closed on Saturday, Dec.
24, and Monday, Dec. 26,
in observance of Christ
mas; and Saturday, Dec.
31, in observance of New
Years.
The library is located
at 24 5th Street. Library
hours are: Monday, 11
a.m. to 8 p.m.; Tuesday
through Thursday, 11
a.m. to 7 p.m.; Friday and
Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5
p.m.; and closed on Sun
days.
For more information
contact the library at
770-513-2925 or www.
aubum.prlib.org
Brenau students participate in ‘Mermaid Song’
Local Brenau University students
participated in the WonderQuest pro
duction “Mermaid Song” Sept. 30 -
Oct. 8 in Pearce Auditorium on the
Gainesville historic campus.
These students included:
•Sarah Dove of Bethlehem, a class of
2017 student majoring in theater design
and technology.
She worked on the carpentry crew.
She is a graduate of Apalachee High
School.
•Tristan Mitchell of Braselton, a class
of 2019 student majoring in theater
design and technology. She worked as
an electrician.
Tristan is a graduate of Jackson
County Comprehensive High School.
•Morgan Parker-Black of Hoschton,
a class of 2020 student majoring in the
ater design and technology.
She worked on the costumes. She is a
graduate of Jefferson High School.
•Katelyn Rochford of Winder, a class
of 2018 student majoring in musical
theater. She worked on the marketing.
Buffington continued from 4A
That the Sandy Hook
murders were staged by
government as an excuse
for gun control;
That Hillary Clinton had
dozens of people murdered;
That President Obama
created ISIS;
OR that Clinton is run
ning a child abuse ring from
a Washington Pizza joint;
Then you need to re-eval-
uate your ability to discern
fact from fiction, truth from
BS.
Just because something is
on Facebook does not make
it true.
Just because you believe
it does not make it true.
Facts matter. Truth mat
ters.
All of the above is pure
fiction.
That so many people real
ly believe that kind of false
stuff is scary.
Mike Buffington is
co-publisher of Mainstreet
Newspapers. Inc. He can
be reached at mike@main-
streetnews.com.
SEX OFFENDER
SEX OFFENDER
cO
M
Jermaine
Smith
Age 31
Height: 5’07”
Sex: Male Weight: 280
r~1
< !*
1 .
Bobby Gardner
McDaniel
Age 45
Height: 5’05”
Sex: Male Weight: 140
Address: 97 Lilly Drive, Apt. A
Winder, GA
Charge: Child Molestation
Location of Conviction: Unknown
Risk Assessment: Not Leveled
Address: 1319 Loganville Highway
Bethlehem, GA
Charge: Aggravated Sodomy,
Cruelty to Children
Location of Conviction: Barrow Co, GA
Risk Assessment: Not Leveled
SEX OFFENDER
Steven Allen
Purgason
Age 38
Height: 5'08”
Sex: Male Weight: 160
J.
Address: 178 B Georgia Avenue
Winder, GA
Charge: Statutory Rape
Location of Conviction: Gwinnett Co, GA
Risk Assessment: 1
SEX OFFENDER
James
Burgess
Age 53
Height: 5’05"
Sex: Male Weight: 186
Address: 231 South Broad St.
Winder, GA
Charge: Child Molestation
Location of Conviction: Walton Co, GA
Risk Assessment: Not Leveled
SEX OFFENDER
David Earl
Cantey III
Age 34
Height: 6’04”
Sex: Male Weight: 160
Address: 271 East Wright St. Apt. 28
Winder, GA
Charge: Statutory Rape
Location of Conviction: Jackson Co, GA
Risk Assessment: Not Leveled
SEX OFFENDER
Sherman
Amando Lee
Age 45
Height: 5’09”
Sex: Male Weight: 204
Address: 1029 Preserve Lane
Bethlehem, GA
Charge: Child Molestation
Location of Conviction: Jackson Co, GA
Risk Assessment: 1