Southern Legitimacy Statement: As to my SLS, I was born and raised in the South, exiled to England and then returned.

I have been a teacher, a lawyer and a business owner.
I am now blissfully retired.

Southern Legitimacy Statement:
Long time high school agriculture teacher, longer time Southerner (capital ‘S’ please)

Southern Legitimacy Statement:
Besides fixing cars and trucks, I have been teaching high school English, journalism, and creative writing for many years. I currently reside in eastern Alabama on the shore of Lake Wedowee, an 11,000 acre hydroelectric impoundment. Family includes my wife, daughter, son, two dogs, and a cat. Armadillos, deer, wild turkeys, and an assortment of other creatures frequent my property, but I don’t consider them family as they generally do not come inside.

I was born in Atlanta and have always lived within 100 miles of that city but rarely visit there because it’s not southern anymore. Maybe that’s the “New South,” but in my mind the real south exists in the small towns and rural areas, the ridges, hills, creeks, swamps, fields, and forests where–along with the hoot owls, whippoorwills, tree frogs, and crickets–you can still faintly hear the ghosts of young rebels crying in the wind.

Southern Legitimacy Statement: I grew up in the southern edge of the Blue Ridge in central Alabama, the product of a father from the cotton mill village and a mother who lived on the “respectable” side of the railroad tracks. A forester by trade, I roam the back roads of Alabama meeting people and looking for stories. Besides reading and writing, my interests include old country music, motorcycles, pork barbecue, and fine Boxer bulldogs.

Southern Legitimacy Statement:
The other day I caught myself saying “gee-tahr,” referring to that musical instrument with a long neck and strings. There was a time when this would have caused me great alarm, being born many miles north of the Mason-Dixon line, but I just chuckled to myself. Funny thing is my Chicago-born husband didn’t even notice. . .Oh yeah, we’re Southern.

Southern Legitimacy Statement
I do not have a pickup truck or a hound dog, and the only thing I hunt regularly is my glasses. But I do love me some homemade cornbread, and still miss my Grandma’s fried chicken. That woman could fry a boot and make it taste like heaven! I also think The Andy Griffith Show is the best series that’s ever been on television…