2024 Columns

Dear Governor:  I know you have been busy signing or vetoing bills from the recent legislative session, so I have chosen not to disturb you.  But now that you have all that behind you, I wonder if I might have a word with you?  And that word is: Okefenokee. I have been at this job for 26 years and some 2,000-plus columns and I don’t recall getting as much angry mail as I … [Read more...] about May 12, 2024: An Open Letter To Gov. Kemp Regarding The Future Of Our Okefenokee

I am doing something I rarely, if ever, have done.  I am going to rerun a previous column verbatim.  Hans Trupp, of St. Simons, died last week.  I wrote the following about him two years ago and I ask your forbearance in allowing me to present it to you again.  Hans Trupp was and always will be an American hero. A true patriot. RIP, my friend. I may be one of the few people … [Read more...] about May 5, 2024: Paying Homage to An American Hero

When the telephone rings, you know it is Skeeter Skates.  It doesn’t just ring, it jumps up and down.  Skeeter can do that to a phone.  And to people, too. In case you are new to this space, Skeeter Skates is the owner and operator of Skeeter Skates Tree Stump Removal and Plow Repair in Ryo, Georgia.  He is also the presiding facilitator of the Ryo Morning Coffee Club.  … [Read more...] about April 28, 2024: Skeeter Skates Talks Up Uncle Coot For President

Dear Samuel Knox Wansley: Welcome!  You are my 7th great-grandchild and the 4th male in my growing family tree.  However, I suspect that is of little importance to you at this point.  I have the notion that  having arrived only a couple of weeks ago, you are more interested in sleep and sustenance than in your ranking.  Besides, as you will soon learn, all seven of you are … [Read more...] about April 21, 2024: Some Advice For a Newly Arrived Great-Grandson

As of this writing, the opportunity to express your opinion to Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division about their decision to issue draft permits for Alabama-based Twin Pines Minerals to strip mine 582 acres of wetlands it owns adjacent to the Okefenokee Swamp, is over.  That ended April 9th.  And our intrepid public servants under the Gold Dome along with their … [Read more...] about April 14, 2024: Twin Pines Mining Indifferent To Okefenokee Backlash