Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Characters of Georgia

Visit the hometowns of James Brown, Brer Rabbit, Flannery O'Connor and more.

Sweet home Georgia – inspiration for characters both real and fictional.
Sweet home Georgia – inspiration for characters both real and fictional.

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, real or fictional, Georgia was the home of some of our most memorable, iconic characters.

Seeing their birthplaces is not merely about roaming from town to town. Rather, it’s learning about the folks who live there and how they think, the topography of the land, the culture in which they grew up and the history of the state that made the characters what they were.

The King of Soul in his hometown of Augusta.

James Brown

Between his records, live shows and movies – Blues Brothers, Rocky IV – can there be anybody who doesn’t know who the “Hardest Working Man in Show Business,” the Godfather of Soul, James Brown was?

In Augusta, you can visit the church where he swept floors in exchange for the opportunity to practice on their the piano, the radio station where he used to busk for soldiers’ change, the restaurants where he loved to eat. The Augusta Museum of History has a whole James Brown exhibit filled with personal items donated by Brown’s complicated web of descendants.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Carey Williams, Jr.

Carey Williams, Jr. is the publisher and editor of Greensboro’s Herald-Journal. He runs a one-room newspaper office, where people can just walk in off the street to report news or buy a paper. A real-life Walter Burns from The Front Page meets Ed Asner, he’s reputed to have hosted three different Presidents in his home. Clearly, this small-town newspaperman, the fourth generation in his family to run the Herald-Journal, is a real power player. He doesn’t take himself too seriously, though; he wrote a risqué roman à clef that has thinly disguised local citizens as characters. One elderly Southern belle read the book and called out Williams: “Carey, Jr., you’re a pervert!”

Brer Rabbit statue at the Uncle Remus Museum, Eatonton.

After chewing the fat with a newsman, you’re probably ready for real food. A couple doors down is The Yesterday Café, whose award-winning buttermilk pie is rich, not overly sweet, but positively addictive.

Uncle Remus and Brer Rabbit

Both characters are products of author Joel Chandler Harris’ life and imagination, but they still feel like “people” from the Old South. Disney’s movie Song of the South fixed their images in our minds. It feels right that the Uncle Remus Museum has been built in an over 200-year-old set of slave cabins in Eatonton. Try to go when one of the museum’s docents and storytellers, Georgia Smith, will be there. She makes Brer Rabbit seem to come alive!

Water tower in Homer, GA.

Oliver Hardy

Oliver Hardy along with his sidekick Stan Laurel are beloved the world over. Hardy was born in Harlem, Georgia, which now has a sweet little museum devoted to the early film stars. Even if you can’t make it to the annual festival, the museum plays films in back. There are lots of memorabilia sent in by fans, as well as a cool gift shop.

Flannery O’Connor

Her characters rank amongst the ugliest, cruelest and dislikeable fictional people in all of American literature. Walk around her last home and farm, Andalusia, and you’ll learn that she had her moments, too. There have been revelations of recently unearthed letters that are racially insensitive. Though the on-site’s museum director disavows that she was a hermit, O’Connor could most fairly be considered a homebody. An unattractive woman suffering from lupus, she never married.

Blind Willie McTell

He was born William Samuel McTier in Thomson. His style differed from Delta bluesmen, in that he had a smoother, less gruff/rough delivery. McTell penned "Statesboro Blues," a huge hit for the Allman Bros. Bob Dylan played tribute to him in his song "Blind Willie McTell."

Today, you can pay tribute to him yourself at a fantastic annual music fest. Unlike other fests that rope off VIP, press and security sections, anybody can walk right up to the stage and just absorb the blues. Not only do regional BBQ restaurants sell their wares on site, but also local home cooks set up shop – you can get a taste of Thomson like only a long-lost friend would.

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

3 Tips for Creating a Cozy and Inviting Living Room in San Diego

Next Article

Memories of bonfires amid the pits off Palm

Before it was Ocean View Hills, it was party central
Sweet home Georgia – inspiration for characters both real and fictional.
Sweet home Georgia – inspiration for characters both real and fictional.

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, real or fictional, Georgia was the home of some of our most memorable, iconic characters.

Seeing their birthplaces is not merely about roaming from town to town. Rather, it’s learning about the folks who live there and how they think, the topography of the land, the culture in which they grew up and the history of the state that made the characters what they were.

The King of Soul in his hometown of Augusta.

James Brown

Between his records, live shows and movies – Blues Brothers, Rocky IV – can there be anybody who doesn’t know who the “Hardest Working Man in Show Business,” the Godfather of Soul, James Brown was?

In Augusta, you can visit the church where he swept floors in exchange for the opportunity to practice on their the piano, the radio station where he used to busk for soldiers’ change, the restaurants where he loved to eat. The Augusta Museum of History has a whole James Brown exhibit filled with personal items donated by Brown’s complicated web of descendants.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Carey Williams, Jr.

Carey Williams, Jr. is the publisher and editor of Greensboro’s Herald-Journal. He runs a one-room newspaper office, where people can just walk in off the street to report news or buy a paper. A real-life Walter Burns from The Front Page meets Ed Asner, he’s reputed to have hosted three different Presidents in his home. Clearly, this small-town newspaperman, the fourth generation in his family to run the Herald-Journal, is a real power player. He doesn’t take himself too seriously, though; he wrote a risqué roman à clef that has thinly disguised local citizens as characters. One elderly Southern belle read the book and called out Williams: “Carey, Jr., you’re a pervert!”

Brer Rabbit statue at the Uncle Remus Museum, Eatonton.

After chewing the fat with a newsman, you’re probably ready for real food. A couple doors down is The Yesterday Café, whose award-winning buttermilk pie is rich, not overly sweet, but positively addictive.

Uncle Remus and Brer Rabbit

Both characters are products of author Joel Chandler Harris’ life and imagination, but they still feel like “people” from the Old South. Disney’s movie Song of the South fixed their images in our minds. It feels right that the Uncle Remus Museum has been built in an over 200-year-old set of slave cabins in Eatonton. Try to go when one of the museum’s docents and storytellers, Georgia Smith, will be there. She makes Brer Rabbit seem to come alive!

Water tower in Homer, GA.

Oliver Hardy

Oliver Hardy along with his sidekick Stan Laurel are beloved the world over. Hardy was born in Harlem, Georgia, which now has a sweet little museum devoted to the early film stars. Even if you can’t make it to the annual festival, the museum plays films in back. There are lots of memorabilia sent in by fans, as well as a cool gift shop.

Flannery O’Connor

Her characters rank amongst the ugliest, cruelest and dislikeable fictional people in all of American literature. Walk around her last home and farm, Andalusia, and you’ll learn that she had her moments, too. There have been revelations of recently unearthed letters that are racially insensitive. Though the on-site’s museum director disavows that she was a hermit, O’Connor could most fairly be considered a homebody. An unattractive woman suffering from lupus, she never married.

Blind Willie McTell

He was born William Samuel McTier in Thomson. His style differed from Delta bluesmen, in that he had a smoother, less gruff/rough delivery. McTell penned "Statesboro Blues," a huge hit for the Allman Bros. Bob Dylan played tribute to him in his song "Blind Willie McTell."

Today, you can pay tribute to him yourself at a fantastic annual music fest. Unlike other fests that rope off VIP, press and security sections, anybody can walk right up to the stage and just absorb the blues. Not only do regional BBQ restaurants sell their wares on site, but also local home cooks set up shop – you can get a taste of Thomson like only a long-lost friend would.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Ocean Connectors Wildlife Kayaking Eco Tour, Noon Year Celebration

Events December 31-January 1, 2024
Next Article

Aaron Stewart trades Christmas wonders for his first new music in 15 years

“Just because the job part was done, didn’t mean the passion had to die”
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader