Sign-In
Cart
About the South: An Aging Southerner Recalls Life Tragic and Triumphant in a 1900s-Era Rural Farm Family
Paperback
Biographies GeneralAging & Elder CareHumor
Publisher Price: $24.95
Publisher: Whippoorwill Publications LLC
Published: May 31 2025
Pages: 210
Weight: 0.63
Height: 0.44 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
Within the pages of this book are a collection of events and experiences About the South which, once perused, will be difficult for the reader to put down. These collective memories include tragic and heart-rending life on one hand, and adventure and absolute hilarity on the other, all of which took place within the Jackson family of northwest Georgia in the 1950s and '60s. On the surface, this brood appears to be a typical rural farming family of that era, but in reality, things often were not quite what they seemed to be. These events - for the most part - are all true and represent a semi-autobiographical account of the author's life.
In the early years of this household, there are countless comedic moments. In one instance for example, the author, as a child of five years in age, exercised a small tyke's vengeance to imprison his grandfather in the family's dairy farm milk-house for some five hours where the elder Jackson was forced to angrily cool his heels after having chastised the fearful tiny youngster for a perceived innocent activity. On another occasion, the two oldest brothers conspire to convince their younger sibling that he can safely jump off the roof of the family home and supposedly float gently and unharmed down to the ground beneath a tiny surplus Army military supplies parachute. On yet another day, the dynamiting of a troublesome beaver dam on the Jackson farm property almost eliminates more than the dam. And on separate days of reckoning, the youngest brother finally wreaks vengeance upon his elder sibling in dramatic fashion in episodes which will leave the reader reeling in laughter.
Beneath this veneer of humorous life, however, were also many sad and heart-rending experiences. When the chips were down financially, alcoholism (not to mention a fire in the middle of the night) almost destroys the family completely. After the forces of this evil and subsequent divorce have taken their toll upon the family, the youngest son is tragically accused - at age 16 - of a crime which actually was no crime at all, and then later accidentally poisoned to death at age 23; the youngest sister is beaten, robbed - and worse - by thieves; and the family home is a whisker away from being repossessed when bankruptcy comes knocking on the door.
Along the way, however, are many interspersed inspirational moments as well. Learn about a devoted elderly Black farm worker who meticulously and lovingly cared for the Jackson youngsters during their formative years, earning for him their undying love and respect. Enjoy the details of a highly-decorated World War II veteran who took his young charges - as members of Troop #14 of the Boy Scouts of America - on many high adventures in the 1960s and taught them how to survive in a world which was fast-becoming a very confusing place. These and some 20 additional episodes of unusual comedy, high adventure and heart-breaking tragedy await the readers of this account of the author's rise to manhood where even then, he continued to experience oft-hilarious incidents About the South which defy description.
1 different editions
Also available
About the South: An Aging Southerner Recalls Life Tragic and Triumphant in a 1900s-Era Rural Farm Family
Jackson, R. Olin
Hardcover
Also from
Jackson, R. Olin
Memories of Army Life and MPs of the 529th: The Top Military Police Company in the United States Army of the 1970s
Jackson, R. Olin
Hardcover
Memories of Army Life and MPs of the 529th: The Top Military Police Company in the United States Army of the 1970s
Jackson, R. Olin
Paperback
About the South: An Aging Southerner Recalls Life Tragic and Triumphant in a 1900s-Era Rural Farm Family
Jackson, R. Olin
Hardcover
Also in
Biographies General
Bluesland: Portraits of Thirteen Major American Blues Masters
Pete Welding (ED.)
Toby Byron (ED.)
Hardcover
Karl Popper - The Formative Years, 1902 1945: Politics and Philosophy in Interwar Vienna
Hacohen, Malachi Haim
Hardcover
The Children of Athena: Greek Intellectuals in the Age of Rome: 150 Bc0-400 AD
Freeman, Charles
Hardcover
Make It a Double: From Wretched to Wondrous: Tales of One Woman's Lifelong Discovery of Whisky
Sackier, Shelley
Hardcover
The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race
Isaacson, Walter
Hardcover
An Enemy Such as This: Larry Casuse and the Fight for Native Liberation in One Family on Two Continents Over Three Centuries
Correia, David
Hardcover
Agents of Chaos: Thomas King Forçade, High Times, and the Paranoid End of the 1970s
Howe, Sean
Hardcover
Someday Mija, You'll Learn the Difference Between a Whore and a Working Woman: A Memoir
Martinez, Yvonne
Paperback
The Secret Life of the Savoy: Glamour and Intrigue at the World's Most Famous Hotel
Williams, Olivia
Paperback
The Badger: The Life of Bernard Hinault and the Legacy of French Cycling
Fotheringham, William
Paperback
The Devil's Diary: Alfred Rosenberg and the Stolen Secrets of the Third Reich
Wittman, Robert K.
Kinney, David
Paperback
Florence Kelley and the Nation's Work: The Rise of Womens Political Culture, 1830-1900
Sklar, Kathryn Kish
Paperback
The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn: Family Politics at the Court of Henry VIII
Warnicke, Retha M.
Paperback
A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II
Purnell, Sonia
Hardcover
Living with a Wild God: A Nonbeliever's Search for the Truth about Everything
Ehrenreich, Barbara
Paperback
Seafaring Women: Adventures of Pirate Queens, Female Stowaways, and Sailors' Wives
Cordingly, David
Paperback
The Butcher, the Embezzler, and the Fall Guy: A Family Memoir of Scandal and Greed in the Meat Industry
Cherington, Gretchen
Paperback
Gift of Power: The Life and Teachings of a Lakota Medicine Man
Erdoes, Richard
Lame Deer, Chief Archie Fire
Paperback
My Own Devices: True Stories from the Road on Music, Science, and Senseless Love
Dessa Wander
Hardcover
Nobody's Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice
Giuffre, Virginia Roberts
Hardcover
How to Be Okay When Nothing Is Okay: Tips and Tricks That Kept Me Alive, Happy, and Creative in Spite of Myself
Lawson, Jenny
Hardcover
Family of Spies: A World War II Story of Nazi Espionage, Betrayal, and the Secret History Behind Pearl Harbor
Kuehn, Christine
Hardcover
Dangerous, Dirty, Violent, and Young: A Fugitive Family in the Revolutionary Underground
Dohrn, Zayd Ayers
Hardcover
A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon
Fedarko, Kevin
Paperback
Catch the Devil: A True Story of Murder, Deception, and Injustice on the Gulf Coast
Colloff, Pamela
Hardcover
Homeschooled: A New York Times Bestselling Memoir and Read with Jenna Pick
Merrill Block, Stefan
Hardcover
Through Mom's Eyes: Simple Wisdom from Mothers Who Raised Extraordinary Humans
Jones, Sheinelle
Hardcover