Jimmy Crack Corn:
The Story of a Self-Sufficient, Southern Man
Katherine White
ANT 682
Syracuse University
December 2012
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I chose to interview my Cousin Scott for our life history project. I was interested to learn more
about his story because we both grew up in rural Southern towns and share a strong love of the county
we call home. Both of us love the outdoors and are strong believers in self sustainability but lead very
different lives. Scott is thirty years my senior and works all week as a line clearer. In his down time he
hunts and works on his land. I am a grad student, living in the city and spend my free time reading and
travelling. Although we are so different, we both strongly identify ourselves with the Southern culture. I
find myself navigating through other cultures and adapting my rural Southern identity to different
situations whereas Scott never changes his Southern identity in any situation. I was interested to see
how he defined his role in Southern culture and what influences have helped shape his way of
identifying himself in our shared culture.
I first met Cousin Scott when I began dating my husband six years ago and have enjoyed hearing
his stories ever since. Scott lives in the same county as my husband, Will, and father-in-law, Preston and
the three men share a tight bond with each other. Scott’s parents passed away many years ago and my
husband’s mother, Chari, passed away when he was a teenager. Since then it has been just the three of
them and they are united by many shared memories. I was glad for the opportunity to interview Scott,
not only because I am really intrigued by his life story but also to give the three of them a place to share
family stories with me, the newest member of the family. Whenever we are all together they are always
sharing different stories of their past but this was an opportunity to really learn more about different
subjects that were either skipped over or passed because it was considered not important.
It was originally unclear exactly how Cousin Scott was related to the family; it was just always
acknowledged that he was family. While doing this project Scott explained how we are all related and it
was really interesting to hear, my husband was the most surprised I believe, he had always thought they
were related on his mother’s side. In fact Cousin Scott’s mother and Preston’s father were siblings, so
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Scott is related on Preston’s side of the family. The reason there was so much confusion about how we
were all related was because while growing up in North Carolina Scott lived two doors down from Will’s
mother and her family. Although they grew up near each other and their parents knew each other it
wasn’t known they were related until Preston and Chari were married. It makes sense that they chose to
just call him Cousin Scott and skip the confusing explanations. No matter how we are all related, it is
very clear that Will, Preston and Scott are a very close family unit and take care of each other.
Since the stories Scott shares are closely entwined with the county he lives in, Nelson County, I
will spend a few moments describing the area and giving a brief history. This will provide a helpful
background for the reader to orient Scott to the area he loves as well as providing an insight to the
region and culture of the county.
Nelson County, Virginia is located about forty-five minutes south of Charlottesville, the home of
The University of Virginia. It is home to many farms and orchards, many well-known in the region for
their heirloom fruits and vegetables. In addition to the rich agriculture Nelson has made a name for itself
with local wineries and brew pubs. It has become a famous part of the ‘Brew Ridge Trail’ and many of
the local beers are starting to become known nation-wide. Nelson also boasts a popular ski resort and
hiking trails along part of the very famous Appalachian Trail. It is known to be an artist community and
one can find many local artisans who work with a variety of mediums; pottery, photography, painting
and many more. Although Nelson is has a bustling local economy it has remained mostly rural with no
development or change. The community is adamant about preserving their way of life and promoting a
local lifestyle. Most community members get most or all of their supplies locally and whenever possible
use organic products. The self-sustainable lifestyle made popular in the 70s has remained the same in
Nelson County for generations. The enjoyment and preservation of nature combined with the desire to
live off the land fits with Scott’s lifestyle perfectly and it is easy to see how he fell in love with the area at
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the age of fifteen and never left. As Scott says, he may leave Nelson to go somewhere else, “but I never
leave Nelson” meaning it is always in his heart and he always returns.
Scott was born in Pender County, North Carolina in 1964. He spent most of his young childhood
in a small town called Burgaw, population 18,000. As I explained earlier, he grew up a few houses down
from Will’s mother and her family. He remembers his mom having coffee with her mother every
morning on the front porch. When asked what his earliest memories of North Carolina were he recalls
“it was never crowded. School, you could walk to” and he remembers walking to school and in third
grade being able to ride his bike; that was a big deal. Even at an early age you can see the emphasis he
places on his neighborhood being small and quiet. Scott places a lot of importance on being small town,
quiet and peaceful. He does not like big cities and does not see the need for all the “hustle and bustle”.
His parents met while they were in college, his mother went to Greensboro and his father went
to Davison. His mother worked as a nurse and was also very active with volunteer work, his father was a
stockbroker. When Scott was fifteen his parents got a divorce and that was part of the reason he was
sent to Nelson County, to give him a stable place to live while his parents were sorting things out. He
recalls that when he returned he had to choose whether he would live with his mom or his dad, “every
young kid is thinkin’ momma, momma, momma. Every kid thinks of their momma, well I chose my
daddy.” He does not talk more about his decision to live with his father and I chose not to push the
discussion more in that direction. He was extremely close with his father and has a really hard time
remembering him without becoming incredibly sad.
He came from a pretty well-to-do family that was very active politically and financially and grew
up in country clubs but he always wanted to be outdoors. He was interested in doing landscaping and
tree work and as he said, “When you come from a family like mine they give you hell for it.” He tried
college for a little bit and went to GTCC in Greensboro for Agriculture and Business. He says he did the
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agriculture for his own interests and the business “because my old man was up my ass about it.” College
just wasn’t for him and he seems really happy with the lifestyle he has chosen. He explains that although
college wasn’t for him, it did give him insight into how “the old man did for himself” and I think that it is
an interesting point that he tried to follow in his footsteps but knew it wasn’t for him, and although his
family wasn’t excited about his decisions he stuck to his own beliefs.
He has two siblings, one brother and one sister. His sister is the oldest and he talks about her
more than their brother. She has managed banks for the past thirty years and still lives in the hometown
they grew up in. “The neck of the woods where we all started.” She is unmarried and a few years ago
she decided to adopt a child from China. While she was in China their mother was battling cancer and
she passed away before she came home with the baby. Scott recalls that “she never got to see the
youngin’” but they all feel that “that little girl brought another life in and doin’ in place of momma”.
Both he and his sister feel that their mother would have felt the same way but are very sad she never
had the chance to know her grandchild.
Scott is very attached to his niece, who is eleven now, and he carries around a picture of her. He
is very proud of her and is always talking about how smart she is, what her grades are in school and
what projects she has been working on. He talks about what they are teaching her in school and says
that if he were to go into her classroom and try and do the work they gave her he’d be lost. He said, “In
my day we didn’t have calculators, we had a pencil.” He feels that what they are teaching children and
the technology is beyond him, not because he can’t understand it but because he doesn’t want to. He
points out that Will and I are capable with the new advancements and especially Preston, who is an
engineering professor and consultant for NASA and that it is good that we use the newest technology
but seems rather proud of his refusal to join in.
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Scott’s brother, Brian, worked for years in the printing business but now just travels around
working various jobs. We did not talk much about his brother, just that he travels around a lot.
He talks a lot about the influence his dad had on him and describes him as a “man’s man.” It was
through him he learned his love of hunting, fishing and “doing for yourself.” He remembers learning
how to hunt, “eight years old with a twenty gauge shotgun” out in the fields. After the farmers had
brought in their crops they would go out hunting for doves and squirrels, and he remembers they would
always bring them home and fix them up to eat. I asked him what his favorite way to prepare them was
and he replied that it was to marinate them in Italian dressing. “Italian dressing does wonders for wild
game. Just like the turkey nuggets, honey. (he had prepared some wild turkey for me last time we went
home) Keeps ‘em from dryin’ out and everyone loves Italian dressing, its good!” He always places a
strong emphasis on the importance of eating everything he kills, in fact he often refers to it as
‘harvesting’. When asked how his hunting had been going since we had last seen him he replied that
today was a great day “I harvested two turkeys and a seven-point buck. Today was a good day.” He is
now processing the meat and preparing it for storage until it is ready to be eaten.
He also talks about his chickens; he often raises them over the summer for their eggs then kills
them in the fall for their meat. As he says, “Food Lion, Harris Teeter, all them can kiss my ass, I got my
own.” It shows not only his self-sufficiency but also his dislike of modern stores providing what people
once made for themselves. He especially dislikes grocery stores shipping in all sorts of food that
wouldn’t naturally be available locally. He speaks of people getting what they can from local orchards,
farmers and gardens and that is the way it should be. This year a bobcat got all of his chickens before he
could harvest them and he is very philosophical about it. He says it’s the circle of life, nature taking its
course.
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All his cooking skills and recipes come from his father. His favorite meal his father made was
“beef stroganoff, all the mushrooms and doin. Hell of a good meatloaf but momma did better. But when
they met, she couldn’t even, whats the expression, she’d burn water”. She eventually learned how to
cook but he remembers when microwaves first came out that “momma didn’t trust it”. She eventually
used it, but she never trusted it. He refers to his father as a ‘gourmet’ and has many happy memories of
his father’s cooking.
Scott often refers to himself as ‘Jimmy Crack Corn’ which is an old folk song. He interprets it as
Jimmy (himself) cracking his own corn, growing his own crops and not relying on anyone else for help.
He doesn’t need help, he can provide for himself. I know the folk song has different meanings for
different people, especially because it is a song sung by a slave about a master being away, but for Scott
it isn’t about slavery or race but self-sufficiency. This is important for a few reasons but mainly his lack of
interest in racial differences. It is a common stereotype that a rural Southerner will be racist and
backwards but Scott is neither of these. When I asked him about his views he said that he never thinks
about it, he likes a man for who he is and not what skin color he has. His forward thinking and organic
lifestyle are very progressive and although he might not admit it, he is a great example of Southern,
rural living.
He gives another example of the disinterest in switching to more modern technology by
describing an old couple who had lived nearby while he was growing up in Nelson, Harvey and Myrtle
Kidd. The husband had just bought the wife a brand new electric stove and was so proud of the
purchase but she refused to use it. She had used a wood cook stove her entire life and wasn’t about to
change to something new. She would keep it clean and often put a vase of flowers on it but she used the
wood stove up to the day she died. Cousin Scott says that the food she made on that stove was some of
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the best food he had ever had in his life and laments the transition most people have made to electric
stoves.
He remembered her making her own butter and milk and said he was always fascinated by that
way of living and being able to take care of yourself. He shows a keen interest to the old ways of living in
the South and takes pride in any traditions he is able to carry on himself. When I asked him what he had
felt had changed the most in Nelson since his childhood he immediately said it was the loss of the older
folks who had lived in the area. He recalls helping them work the land, eating with them and staying the
nights sometimes and was really sad at their passing. They all lived on the same road as Will’s father and
we still pass their old farm houses every time we go home. I think that the loss of the older folks signals
a bigger loss of a group of who are following the older ways of life in the rural South and that is what is
at the root of Scott’s sadness.
Scott works for an electric company as a line clearer. He has been with the company for twenty
eight years and seems to enjoy his work. He gets up at 5am every morning and is home by 6 or 7pm that
night. It is usually an early bedtime, about 8pm or so. Recently the company has closed down until the
start of the new year and Scott is concerned about what he’ll do to supplement his income until work
picks back up. He had wanted to come up to New York after Hurricane Sandy struck because there was a
lot of money for people in his line of work up here and “them boys were making money by the bucket”
but his company wanted him to stay home because he was a senior member of the crew. Now there is
no work and Scott voices his frustrations about finding himself without a job. He knows that his boss is
doing all he can to get them back to work but feels that, “the big man thinks I’m just a number, he don’t
care about me.” He often refers to the “big man” or the “boss man” as the men in charge politically and
financially. He draws a distinct line between the type of man he is and the type of men they are. This is
interesting because he comes from a family that is mostly college-educated and holds many jobs that
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place them in the position of “boss man” but Scott does not see them that way. After talking for a while
I have found that the “boss man” to Scott is someone who is making a lot of money but has no interest
in the outdoors and looks down on people who live in the country. For example; my husband is a district
manager of a company in New York and oversees about ten branches but he goes home to hunt and
would rather be outdoors than in an office. To Scott, this makes Will one of “us”, referring to an honest
man who works with his hands and isn’t interested in material things but the happiness of a warm
home, family and food on the table.
He describes his father as a “big man” and his grandfather as well. They were both business men
who were very busy politically and financially and made a lot of money. Scott’s decision to not follow in
their footsteps shows a unique situation where he defines both his own priorities and theirs. He draws a
clear line between their work and his own lifestyle and seems to have identified their differences at a
young age. This also influences how he defines himself culturally. He identifies himself as a Southerner
but as a simple man with no desire to pursue money or material gains. He is greatly influenced by his
father but chose a very different lifestyle and identifies more with being outdoors than in an office or
school.
He talks at length about the older men he knows and has known and the respect he has for
them. One old man, Harvey Kidd, earned his particular respect for his ability to work the land up until his
mid-80s and remembers that he always called him ‘Sonny Boy’. He describes “old Harvey Kidd out there
throwing up bales of hay into the loft of this dang barn that looked like to collapse any minute. It was
about 100 degrees outside and that man didn’t show no signs of slowing down, one hell of a man.” He
also talks of a hunting buddy of his who is in his mid-70s. This man is well known locally for his banjo
playing and when he was younger he and his brother would play a lot of bluegrass around the area. He
has bad arthritis now but at times he still sits out and picks on his banjo and Scott describes that as,
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“some of the best times I’ve had sitting out there listen to that old man play his banjo.” He tried to teach
Scott when he was younger but as Scott explains, “I had small hands and short fingers and I got
annoyed. I was more focused on getting out of that little house and out into the woods.”
The outdoors is a very important part of Scott’s identity. From a young age he was drawn to the
woods and spent all of his free time out of doors. As a teenager Scott would spend hours outside
thinking about all the things going on in his life and felt it was the best place for him to be. He still feels
that way today and says that the outdoors “is where you find yourself one on one with yourself.” He
often says that the “outdoors is my church” and feels that is the best place where a man can find peace
and serenity. Will remembers being a teenager and being sent over to Cousin Scott’s because he was
being a trouble maker and Scott teaching him about the power of the outdoors. Will still feels the same
way and credits Scott with teaching him about being alone outside and working through his problems
that way.
I originally planned the interview with both Will and Preston present but quickly found that the
conversation strayed wildly and there were many distractions. This was a fun, informal setting and it was
clear that the boys enjoyed it immensely. I did learn about Scott’s vast knowledge of antique salt cellars,
he had learned about them from Will’s mother and helped her with her collection. This was something
he never would have talked about alone, so I was glad to see another side of him. This also was a great
way for Will and Preston to share some of their memories and where I got the idea to interview them
for their stories of Cousin Scott, I thought it would be a great way to view him in another perspective
and also gave me a bit more insight into his life stories and how he identifies himself. Unfortunately, I
was unable to get recorded interviews with Preston or Will, but I do have some stories that I have heard
many times and was able to piece in some of their accounts with Scott’s interviews.
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Our first recorded interview was a bit of a trial run for me. It gave me a chance to see how we
interacted with each other and to see how he liked to talk about his life stories. After playing back the
interview I was able to see what areas I would like to talk about more and I also learned that I needed to
listen more and talk less. If I just stayed silent, he would fill in the stories without me prompting, and
thus leading, our conversation. By recording our conversation I had made his story-telling more formal
and I think we both were a little awkward at first. I was uncomfortable because I wanted to ask more
about his childhood and his parents, but I knew that he always got upset when talking about his father
and I didn’t want to be pushy.
Our first interview was kind of all over the place, jumping from topic to topic. I think this
was in part because we were both feeling out what this whole project was going to be like; it was very
different from just sharing stories around the dinner table. According to Radin, “unprepared as primitive
man is to give a well-rounded and complete account of his culture, he has always been willing to narrate
snatches of autobiography.” (Radin, 1920) Scott is, of course, not a primitive man but it was easier to
open our discussion by getting bits and pieces of his whole story in the same fashion that Radin
preferred.
From this opening interview I found a few topics I was interested in pursuing further; his love of
the outdoors, his belief that he should have lived one hundred years ago and the disinterest he shows in
the modern hustle and bustle. These seem to be the most important themes that he uses to identify
himself and I am interested in learning more about these areas, it is also interesting to me on a personal
level because I share a lot of the same sentiments.
In our second interview I was interested in talking more about his love of history, where that
stemmed from and why he would rather have lived back then. When I asked him he was very brief with
his answer. He just feels that in the past people lived off the land and worked with what they had. As he
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said, “You can’t miss what you ain’t never had.” He often speaks of how people wouldn’t know how to
act if everything crashed and shows a bit of pride in knowing that he is perfectly self-sufficient and
doesn’t need a lot of material things. This became particularly interesting during our interview because
he spoke more about his family and his background. He describes a childhood in a wealthy family but
his disinterest in what was expected of him; a college education, good job, continuation of the family
lifestyle. He tried it and knew it was not for him and is very happy with the life he has created for himself
in Nelson County. He emphasizes his interest in the way people lived years ago in the South and would
rather live as close to that as possible.
I really enjoyed interviewing Cousin Scott for a number of different reasons. It was wonderful to
get his stories recorded and I learned some things I had never known before. I also found we had a lot in
common and shared similar opinions about certain things. While I was able to identify with Scott I also
noticed that I was also adapting a little bit, using my knowledge of rural, Southern culture to identify
with him more. I grew up in the South and strongly identify myself with that culture but have many
other cultures I identify myself with as well. We both grew up with similar backgrounds but where Scott
chose to go back to Nelson and live simply I chose to follow my interests through school and much like
him, I am never really gone from the country, I carry it with me.
I feel that I wasn’t able to discuss some topics as much as I would have liked and I believe that I
was holding myself back from broaching the subjects I was interested in for a couple of reasons. I was
raised to avoid sensitive subjects and to make sure everyone is comfortable and conversations are
pleasant. I have a murky idea about some parts of Scott’s past that I was interested in learning more
about but felt that it wasn’t my place to bring it up or it would make him uncomfortable. He was a bit of
a troublemaker when he was younger and that was the main reason he was sent to Nelson, to
straighten him out a bit. I would really have liked to know more about that, but left that topic alone.
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I was also interested in learning more about his ex-wife, Janice. I’ve never met her and she is
rarely mentioned in our conversations. I don’t know anything about her or the circumstances that
separated them and I really felt that asking about her was inappropriate. Due to my reluctance to
broach any subjects I felt were more sensitive I feel that I didn’t get the full picture of Scott’s life but I
also don’t regret that decision because we are always together for family visits and I didn’t want to
make it awkward or uncomfortable for us.
The most prominent theme I noticed throughout this project is our identification within the
Southern culture. We both define ourselves as Southerners and are proud of our traditions and heritage.
As Tim Jacobson writes in Heritage of the South, “It is a loyalty to a place where habits are strong and
memories are long. If those memories could speak, they would tell stories of a region powerfully shaped
by its history and determined to pass it on to future generations.”(Jacobson, 1992) Through sharing
stories and describing family history Scott, Will and Preston were taking part in the Southern tradition of
passing on their heritage. I was noticed my own identification with Southern culture has become even
stronger since my move to New York and I make it a point to tell people where I am from. I was
interested to see that I was so strongly tied to the Southern roots; it wasn’t noticeable to me until I was
removed from the region.
Scott’s dismissal of most modern conveniences and his love of the outdoors are two other
factors that we were able to connect over. I am also very interested in more simple living and avoiding
the rampant materialism that has come to define our modern society. Our shared love of Southern
culture and the love of days past are two major subjects we have in common and it was really wonderful
to connect over them. This project has also fueled my interest in collecting more stories from other local
Nelson County folk because I know that when they are gone, their stories will disappear as well. It is a
part of my culture that I take for granted but hearing Scott talk about the loss of old farming families I
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was reminded that we will lose more if we don’t make an effort to write down their stories. My husband
also became interested in collecting more stories, especially about his family history, during this project.
Preston and Scott are both really knowledgeable about our family history and we feel that it is
important to record the stories they know so we will have them for future family members. As more old
folks in the area are leaving and passing away there is that fear that the old traditions and family
histories will be lost but with conversations like ours I believe we will be able to keep our culture alive
for future generations.
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For this project I am attaching two different interviews and parts of the transcriptions, however,
there were many other conversations and visits that I was unable to record and have reproduced from
notes and memory.
INTERVIEW #1
Kat: How long have you been hunting and when did you learn?
Scott: my daddy always did, my granddaddy always did. First thing I can remember doing is dove
hunting. On farms where they have crops like corn, soybeans, or whatever. After they harvested, cuttin,
doin, it draws wildlife. Eight years old with a twenty gauge shotgun dove hunting. And at the same time
learning about squirrel hunting and doin, always outdoors.
Kat: Did you eat them? Did you learn how to cook them?
Scott: Oh yeah. You, everything that you harvest and do, hunt like that you take home and
enjoy.
Kat: What is one of your earliest childhood memories growing up in North Carolina, before you
moved to Nelson?
Scott: Getting’ in trouble. *laughs*
Kat: Doing what?
Scott: Not the right things. *laughs* I need to answer that question differently, ask me that
question again. The neighborhood that I was in, no one at the time back then felt crowded. It was just
how it was, I was two doors down from Grammy, Williams grandma, Chari’s momma.you know what I’m
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talkin about? That neighborhood my momma used to go sit with her and drink coffee every morning.
Elementary school there you could walk to. . You rode your bicycle to school, back in third grade you
were riding your bicycle.
Kat: What did you think about Nelson when you first got there?
Scott: there was nothing much bothered, everything was still the way it was supposed to be as
far as advancement and this and that.
Kat: The Food Lion wasn’t there or anything was it?
Scott: no all that mess wasn’t even dreamed of, you had full service stations. Everything was
home town.
Kat: I kinda wish it was still like that, you know?
Scott: oh yeah honey, exactly. We don’t need all this hustle and bustle and I got this and that
and doin. No.
Kat: do you have any sisters and brothers
Scott: One of each.
Scott: that was like when microwaves came out. Momma was scared of it, she didn’t trust it. She
eventually used it but she didn’t trust it.
Kat: your dad was more of the cook now than your mom right?
Scott: he was a gourmet
Kat: what was your favorite?
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Scott: beef stroganoff. Hell of a good meatloaf but momma did better. But when they met, she
couldn’t even, whats the expression, she’d burn water.
Kat: what was your first memory when arriving in Nelson?
Scott: that I was safe, I was where I was supposed to be I should have been a hundred years ago.
You put that in there too, I should have been a hundred years ago than right here.
Scott: I killed two turkeys and a seven point buck today. I had a good day, harvested two turkeys
and a seven point buck.
Kat: what do you do once you’ve killed them? What’s the next step?
Scott: clean em, process em package them and enjoy.
Kat: do you know the story of how your parents met?
Scott: in college
Kat: where’d they go to college?
Scott: momma went to Greensboro and dad went to davison. She was 27 and dad was 28 when I
was born. 1964. My sisters the oldest.
Kat: now do they both live in Nelson too?
Scott: no they still live in North Carolina back where it all started.
Kat: what do they do?
Scott: She manages banks for the last thirty years. He was in the printing business for many
years now he bounces around doing what he can do.
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Scott: he tried teaching me back in the day and I didn’t have patience for it. I have small hands
and short fingers and got aggravated. I was more concentrated on getting out of that little house and
getting outside.
Chari always said the bottom was mine. Whenever I had free time I was always down there,
when I wasn’t baling hay or workin in the garden or at school I was down in the bottom.
Kat: what was your favorite subject in school?
Scott: history
Kat: how come?
Scott: cause I wanted to be in history. Like I told you I would have been better off a hundred
years ago. I wouldn’t have known of a pay phone, don’t need one don’t one. I don’t want a cell phone.
Don’t need all that shit. I‘d like to see it all crash. I’d love to see what people would do, they would flip
out.. People of my generation, twenty thirty years older they’d all sit back and say ‘watch them squirm’
Think about it, they wouldn’t know how to act. You can’t go to charlottesburg (how Cousin Scott refers
to Charlottesville, Virginia) and find a pay phone, you find me a pay phone and I’ll give you fifty dollars.
People would not know how to act.
You don’t need all that hustle and bustle and mess.
Kat: would you mind describing your job? What you do for work?
Scott: line clearance
Kat: what does that mean?
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Scott: keep the power lines clear, trim the trees, keep the lights on. Ive been a climber for about
28 years. We’ve got bucket trucks and all those things. I’d rather climb. Whole lot easier than that
bucket and all. My profession, what I do, I’m a climber. 28 years I’ve climbed trees. All of em, any of em.
INTERVIEW #2
Kat: What do you think would be better about living back then as compared to now?
Scott: You can’t never miss what you ain’t never had. At that time you do with what you got and
you make the best of it. You don’t know anything different. This is what you got to work with and this is
how you deal with it and do with it and do. So much stuff out here right now, shut down satellites and
this and that and people would just be devastated right now. Then, this is mine, I’m gonna do and raise
my family. Live off the land and do.
I don’t have a cell phone and I’m not going to have one. My sister’s been driving me crazy about
it. And people at work.no. I got a land line and you can call me.
Kat: we’ve talked a little bit about how you feel the outdoors is your church?
Scott: exactly, peace and serenity. That’s where you find yourself one on one with yourself.
Kat: when did you first start feeling that way or have you always felt that way?
Kat: always. Always, cause I was always raised outdoors fishing hunting and all that. Being born
in the south, it was the thing. Itwasn’t like being born in the city or new jersey which works there and
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they experience it and do it. Where we are on the coast here we are gonna be fishing or hunting or
boating.
Kat: you sound tired today, you been busy?
Scott: I have been busy.
Kat: I was really interested in history and why that was such an influence
Scott: You remember the old man I was talking about Harvey Kid and Myrtle. And she was
scared of the new fancy general electric stove. No, that woman wanted her wood stove. She made her
own butter and milk and all and I was just fascinated by how people did. When I was growing up we did
have a milkman who came around. Those old times is gone. I would have rather been there and done
Kat: it does feel like time is moving really fast
Scott: it does and it’s all out of my league. I can’t get on the computer and do. My little niece,
she’s eleven, if I had to go into her classroom and sit down and do the work they are teaching I’d be lost
honey.
We didn’t have calculators we had pencils. And I’m not that damn ignorant about all of it.
Kat: can you think of any family traditions you did when you were a kid?
Scott: everybody was together regardless, all days and whatever. It was yes sir and no sir and no
ma’am and thank you that was all done.
Hold the door for somebody and you had manners, and there’s not a lot of manners out there
now. But yeah everybody got together. Just traditions, holidays, it was American. Lot of money and lot
of influences. They all did well for themselves and doin and I’m sitting in the bushes doing what I can do.
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Politically and everything and yeah. Lot of influence they had, country club and all I know how to act I’ve
been in there but its not my ballgame. My old man always pushed me to do this and do that. He was a
stockbroker and he was a big man and ran firms and did. And momma was always in the hospital and
doing. I wanted to go play. I wanted to landscaping and tree work When you come from a background
like mine they give you hell for it.
I tried college Greensboro GTCC my grandfather contributed lots of money to that college and
they got a health careers building named after him. The James L. Williams building. It was a community
college and I was going for business and agriculture. Agriculture because I liked the outdoors and the
business because the old man was up my ass about it. I didn’t have the patience but I tried it. I got a
little insight into how he did but it just wasn’t my ballgame.
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RESOURCES
Caughey, John L. (2006). Negotiating Cultures and Identities: Life History Issues, Methods and Readings.
Nebraska, University of Nebraska Press.
Jacobson, Tim. (1992). Heritage of the South. New York, Crescent.
Radin, Paul. (1920) The Autobiography of a Winnebago Indian: Life, Ways, Acculturation, and the
Peyote Cult. New York, Dover Publications.
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