Dispatches from the road, Summer 2007

When he died in 1908, Joel Chandler Harris left behind an unparalleled legacy– more than 60 stories retelling the oral traditions of Georgia slaves. A printer’s devil to a plantation owner and publisher in Eatonton, Harris had the opportunity to collect these stories heard on the plantation, often shared by slaves with the plantation owner’s young son. He published them in part as a magazine series Uncle Remus Magazine, complete with illustrations. On my travels through Georgia over the years, I’d passed the sign many times and this time we decided to find the museum dedicated to Harris’ work, a nonprofit community effort found along business US 441 in Eatonton. Inside several former slave cabins, dioramas, artifacts, and historical ephemera bring the authentic pre-Disney Uncle Remus to life.

Last week, I had a unique opportunity to visit the Governor’s Mansion in Tallahassee. But let me start at the beginning. Several weeks ago, my mom told me she’d read an article about how the Governor’s Mansion now had a library devoted to Florida authors. “You should be in there!” she said. So I did a little online research and found a website about the Governor’s Mansion. I emailed the curator, Carol Beck, and we bounced a few messages back and forth. Seems that they only had my Hiker’s Guide to the Sunshine State, since University Press of Florida has been generous with donations to the library. So I told Carol I’d do a little digging and see what I could come up with.

A business trip came up that would take me up to the Calhoun County 60th Annual Chamber of Commerce Dinner, so I scrambled to talk to a couple of publishers to see if I could get my Florida books donated. I had a bunch on hand, and managed to get a few more to fill out my entire Florida collection - 11 books in all, plus the one they had on hand. I asked Rob to come along, and was also traveling with my boss at FTA, Deborah. We went to the dinner in Blountstown, and headed to Tallahassee the next morning.

At the mansion, Carol escorted us back to the library. It takes up a rather large space that used to be a porch overlooking the gardens. I’d pre-signed the books I brought, but had a chance to sign Hiker’s Guide at the Governor’s desk in the library. What fun! I think they need a guestbook for visiting authors, but I did end up with a surprise string of mini-school-visits for the next hour. More on that in the next blog…in the meanwhile, check Rob’s blog for a sketch from the experience.

My sister and I have this friendly little rivalry. I continue to be amazed at the number of places she’s been and people she knows around the world, while she’s astounded at my published output. I’m pleased to announce my sister’s debut as a blogger with her new site, The Adventures of Mom, in which she recollects and recounts her travels around the world. Check it out! 

And just to jog her memory to write a cool story, here we are on the beach at Goa. From left to right, from 1999: Sal, Debs, Paul, me, and Lenny sharing the magic teapot. Today, Lenny’s in an ashram, Debs still keeps traveling, and we hear from Paul now and again. Were it not for Lenny and Paul, we’d never have discovered this lovely beach where we spent nine days … and they were the nine most relaxing, carefree days of my life.