Month: September 2012

Some revisionist history, courtesy of a Southern rocker.  (I’ve lived in Georgia forty years and I’ve heard this argument more times than I care to remember.) The last surviving original member of legendary Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. Gary Rossington, recently announced the group would quit its association with the Confederate battle flag due to racism and stuff. Well, theere’s been a fan backlash, and Rossington backtracked on/clarified the issue on the group’s Facebook page, saying the band would continue to associate itswelf with the banner. I wanted to clarify the discussion of the Confederate Flag in our recent CNN interview.  Myself, the past and present members (that are from the South), are all extremely proud of our heritage and being from the South. We know what the Dixie…

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I had a wonderful time with Women Who Read Too Much, a longstanding Decatur-area book club. I met with them Sunday evening at the home of Ann and Alan Abramowitz to discuss Brambleman. Thanks Ann (front center), and thank you ladies!  

See original post. From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Hoping that every Georgian has the right to free speech – even when it is uncomfortable to some – the American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit against the state on behalf of the Ku Klux Klan. The Klan is suing the state after it was denied an opportunity to participate in the Adopt-A-Highway program. The group is seeking an injunction that would allow them to participate in the program. The lawsuit, filed this week in Fulton County Superior Court, argues that the state has “set up criteria for qualification for the Adopt-A-Highway program that are unconstitutionally vague and…have established no process for appeal of denial to an application.” In June, an application to…

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Embarrassing. Another first for Georgia. In the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Political Insider blog, Jim Galloway reports: Secretary of State Brian Kemp announced this afternoon that, to meet a 3 percent ($732,626) budget cut ordered by Gov. Nathan Deal, he’ll be forced to cut off general public access to the state archives collection in Morrow, effective Nov. 1. From Kemp: ”The decision to reduce public access to the historical records of this state was not arrived at without great consternation.  To my knowledge, Georgia will be the only state in the country that will not have a central location in which the public can visit to research and review the historical records of their government and state.” Access to records will be available by…

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I participated in an Independent Book Publishers Association promotion that ran in the August 27 issue of Publishers Weekly. I couldn’t ask for better position: Brambleman was at the top right side of Page 3.  It will be featured in PW again in October, hopefully with a review.

From the Orlando Sentinel: Florida A&M University is not responsible for drum major Robert Champion’s hazing death, according to a court document filed Monday night. Champion himself is. In a 23-page motion seeking dismissal of a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Champion’s family in Orange County circuit court, FAMU’s attorneys laid out a blunt response: Champion was a 26-year-old leader in FAMU’s famous marching band who knew the dangers of hazing. He had signed an anti-hazing pledge with the university months before he was beaten aboard a charter bus in Orlando last fall. He had witnessed two other students submit to the brutal ritual immediately before him. And for several months previously, Champion had debated with his friend and fellow drum major…

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