Fat, Dumb, and Happy Down in Georgia - Hardcover

Boyd, Bill

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0865546754 ISBN 13: 9780865546752

Publisher: Mercer Univ Pr, 1999

Synopsis

Retired Macon Telegraph columnist Bill Boyd wasn't always Fat, Dumb, and Happy Down in Georgia. That's the name of his new book, but Boyd led a nomadic existence for the first 38 years of his life, first as the son of an Oklahoma sharecropper and then as a member of the United States Marine Corps. Boyd says a sergeant major used to warn career Marines: "Don't get too fat, dumb and happy here (at a duty station in Cleveland, Ohio). About the time you do, you'll get orders to go to Vietnam or Okinawa or some other enchanted land."

Boyd explains: "Three years was about all a Marine could expect to stay in one place. But I put down some roots when I retired in 1973, and, for more than 25 years, I have lived in the same town. And the sergeant major will just have to excuse me this time. In Macon, Georgia, I have indeed grown fat (like a hibernating grizzly bear), dumb (like a fox), and happy (like a bullfrog under a drippy faucet on a hot summer day)."

In 25 years with the Telegraph, he won more than 20 writing awards from various press associations. Nine of those awards came for the column he began writing in 1977. In all, Boyd wrote more than 3,500 columns and some of his best are included in _Fat, Dumb, and Happy Down in Georgia".

Like most columnists, Boyd sometimes wrote about the interesting collection of people that make up the Boyd family: Marvalene, a sharecropper's daughter and his wife of 33 years; Joe, now 28, an adopted son who teaches at Houston County High School; Wanda, 26, a foster daughter who is now a missionary and will fly home from Virginia for the book signing; and his only grandchild, Josh, 8, who appears on the dust cover of the new book with the author. However, Boyd captured a wide audience by writing about everyday people.

About this title

About the Author

Barbara Stinson, who edited Boyd's columns for 14 years, calls him "the consummate storyteller." Former governor Zell Miller explains the author's success this way: "Bill Boyd's columns are popular because he goes out into the highways and byways and talks with real people about their everyday thoughts, feelings and experiences and puts them on paper in the language of the average man and woman. He's funny, wise, writes well and never puts on the dog. And I like that." Radio and television personality Bill Powell says: "Whether you're from the country or city, you'll enjoy his priceless gift for telling stories about life in Georgia. They are interesting and downright hilarious." Lord Gordon Parry of the British House of Lords added: "He makes magic out of moments, weaves medieval tapestry out of words. To be a hero for a day in a column by Bill Boyd is to be ennobled in Georgia." Boyd calls his latest book "a great experience," adding that he "had the chance to revisit many of my old friends by re-reading more than a thousand columns" in assembling material for the book.

Review

"If Bill Boyd got any fatter, dumber, and happier, he probably wouldn't be able to get out of that hammock pictured on the cover of his new book.

"When you have the pleasure of reading Boyd's fourth book Fat, Dumb, and Happy Down in Georgia, you're left with only one question.

"After churning out his first three books in a span of four years, why did it take him twelve years to publish his fourth?

"At times, Boyd writes like a man on fire. Other times, the gentleness of his words will simply melt your heart.

"No telling how he got out of that hammock, being the fat, dumb, and happy person he is. One thing is for sure. You might want to find yourself a hammock and kick back with Ol' Boyd. Take off your shoes and relax. You'll want to listen to the voice of an old friend." -- Macon Telegraph

About this edition

• Publisher: Mercer Univ Pr
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0865546754
• ISBN 13: 9780865546752
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 238