That same issue contained a Special Section on the sea islands of the Atlantic Coast from Cape Fear, North Carolina to Fort George Island Florida, by Russ Rymer who continues to have a distinguished literary career as author of Genie – A Scientific Tragedy; American Beach – A Saga of Race, Wealth and Memory; and former editor-in-chief of Mother Jones magazine. Tom Patterson hiked the Chattooga River Trail, Reece Turrentine canoed Alabama’s Little River Canyon, and William “Dub” Anderson fished with legendary Georgia Tech football coach Bobby Dodd.

We’d like to hear from anyone with back issues of the original Brown’s Guide.

This is a wonderful story!

I enjoyed it immeasurably.

And, although I haven’t read Gone With the Wind as many times as you have (three or four and seen the movie perhaps a dozen times), I must confess that I was somewhat surprised when I returned to live in Georgia some 16 years ago after an absence of three decades to learn that Jonesboro and Clayton County could state such a strong claim to being the home of Tara.

So within a few months of relocating to Georgia, I read the book again and fully understood many of the contentions made by Jonesboro and Clayton County.

One, however, still puzzles me and perhaps leads me to conclude that Mitchell did not intend to have Tara associated with Jonesboro, Clayton County or any specific point on the compass.

When Scarlett leaves Tara to live for the first time, her mother suggests that she go to Savannah BECAUSE IT IS CLOSER to Tara than Atlanta.

The last time I checked, Jonesboro isn’t as close to Savannah than it is to Atlanta.

When I first saw Juliette, Georgia, I wondered whether Kudzu ever had it so good. The whole town was being engulfed by that leafy predator. It was hot¬—Georgia summer hot and humid. So much so that when I went into the antique store that would become the Whistle Stop Cafe in my film Fried Green Tomatoes, my glasses fogged up so badly, I couldn’t see a thing inside. When I went outside, I was perspiring so badly that my glasses kept sliding off my nose.

It was a town that time forgot. When I walked out on the dam and looked back over the lake towards the town, I knew I had found my Southern home. It was so tiny, so devoid of people and so clearly a town where memories were far richer than the today’s comings and goings. I could smell the barbecue. I could hear the laughter of children running up the muddy street. I could see that old Model T pickup being dredged out of the lake. I knew I could put Evelyn Couch (Kathy Bates in the movie) by those train tracks and she would hear the ghost trains of yesteryear—and the spell would be set for my movie to begin.