“This collection includes columns about faith, fatherhood, football and family that act as a love letter to Southern culture and a reminder that there is much more to it than rednecks and rebels. Humorous, heart-warming, and thought-provoking Mark Wallace Maguire emerges as a refreshing voice from the New South.“
That’s the book description on Amazon for, “Letters from Red Clay Country: Selected Columns,” which was published ten years ago today.
It is a collection of my favorite magazine and newspaper columns I penned over a decade when I was working as an editor and director with Cobb Life Magazine, Marietta Daily Journal, and Neighbor Newspapers.
These were exceptionally fun to write. The publisher Otis Brumby, Jr. and President Terry Smith gave me great latitude with my words and creative vision. Associate Publisher and longtime friend Jay Whorton encouraged me. I am grateful for all of them.
Writing these columns was very fruitful for me. I am influenced by all Southern storytellers and relish in telling a good story. Being stopped in the grocery store and having someone you don’t know start talking to you about your writing was a very memorable experience and provided great worth to my job.
My great-grandmother Helen Haskins Hall had also been a columnist in Blue Ridge and Thomaston and having that generational connectivity meant quite a bit.
Since leaving the magazine business in 2017, I’ve shifted my non fiction writing into faith and the arts, yet, the lure of the traditional feature column never dies. (Give me the ball and I’ll make a play.)
The release of this book came during a three-week period that changed my life in ways I couldn’t have imagined.
The book debuted on October 4, and I had a full schedule of speaking engagements and signings lined up. Roughly ten days later, everything came to a halt when I was involved in a serious bicycle accident. I shattered my wrist, broke my nose, several ribs and fingers, tore tendons, and split my face from my nose to my lip. The impact was so hard it cracked my bike helmet wide open. I was concussed and, as I drifted in and out of consciousness, I caught a glimpse of what I can only describe as the White City.
Recovery was long and difficult. I still chafe thinking of those dark months of healing during November and December that year. I postponed and cancelled most events, and the great momentum dissipated. Yet, I still rallied enough to be the featured speaker at the Anne Hathaway Garden Club Christmas Party. Even with a cast on and only two fingers working, I signed every copy.
As I went through the images from that period, I was reminded what amazing people I have had in my life who encouraged me.
Fayette Librarian Chris Snell invited me to an Emerging Writers Panel which began a long relationship with that institution.
Friends, especially the Sheffield Family, were incredibly supportive. In spring 2016, I had book signings and speaking events at the Lockheed Martin Retirees Association, the West Cobb Rotary Club, Lithia Springs Pharmacy, and others.
For two events, my oldest son, Patrick, donned his bacon costume to drum up publicity. (That might be the best memory of this time. What a look, right?)
On occasion of this tenth anniversary – tin or T-shirt? – and as a small thank you to you all who have been with me on the journey, the book is free for the next few days on Kindle. Grab a copy and take your own walk down memory lane. Link here and below.
Best, MWM
Mark Wallace Maguire • Author & Creative Collaborator 