I miss Lewis Grizzard. He’d have a fit if he knew I just typed that while listening to a Cyndi Lauper song.
I found Lewis on a shelf at Books-A-Million in Clarksville recently.
I have read this book many times.
Lewis Grizzard died in 1994. Twenty-five years ago for those of you keeping score. Born in Fort Benning in 1946. Died in Atlanta in 1994. He was 47 when he died. He was a good son of Georgia for sure. Lewis loved the South and so do I. The passionate football fans. The sweet tea. How folks “carry” someone to the grocery instead drive them. The smell of the pinestraw baking. A particular dignity resides in the South. For good or bad, it is there. At least it was. I want to believe it is still there. I do question it though. So many throwing their snuff cans in the ring of a politician from New York City certainly calls for alarm.
Lewis was an unashamed Republican when it was a great deal easier for some of us to be one. What I would give to have Lewis on the back porch with me holding forth on the state of national politics today. I can hear him now.
What strikes me these days is how the roles have been reversed in this country. Ya know it? I mean, didn’t we used to despise those liberals cos they were the whiny know it all bunch? Who the hell has ever whined more than the the guy in the White House right now? He’d complain about the rope at his own hanging. But you can’t say that. You’ll be called a terrorist. Sound familiar? We used to call liberals names back in the good old days. The Republicans are the whiny know it all group now. And it is uglier than a bowling shoe.
Tell me about it, Lewis. Tell me about it.
I mean what was better than making fun of Ted Kennedy? He looks like a diplomatic whiz these days. And what about…oh…don’t get me started on how John McCain was treated. Do heroes only mean something when a camera and a parade are around?
Tell me about it, Lewis. Tell me about it. Let’s talk about something else.
Okay. I guess you heard the Southeastern Conference has decided to let member schools decide whether or not they want to sell alcohol at college games. Isn’t that hypocritical if I am watching an eighteen year-old score the winning touchdown in overtime and he can’t legally declare Miller Time to celebrate? If that is the case (bad choice of words I suppose), aren’t I a hypocrite if I toast the winning touchdown? Remember when a guy got on the PA and said a prayer before the game? If you wanted to take a drink back then, you had to sneak it in. That is the way it should be. I don’t like it. I don’t like schools making an alcohol profit off of a twenty year-old scoring a touchdown. Cheers should be limited to the ones led by the cheerleaders on the field and not the “Cheers-leader” stumbling around. If you approve this, go ahead and start making checks out to the college players. You just lost the last vestige keeping you from it.
Tell me about it, Lewis. Tell me about it.
Is that The Moody Blues you just put on the CD player? You know I made fun of them in one of my books a long time ago.
Yes, Lewis. I know. But I also know there is room enough for both of you on my shelves in the office. And there is more than enough room for you and The Moodies in my heart. Now, if we can only get John Kasich back in the thick of things.
What I would give to have that conversation with Lewis Grizzard.
Speaking the rights…
Danny Johnson