Georgia Books

Mr. Speaker: The Biography Of Tom Murphy is the story of the man who was Speaker of the House longer than anyone in Georgia's political history. Murphy was powerful, controversial, enigmatic, effective, influential, and a consummate politician complete with a front-page image and political bravado. Georgia Journalist Richard Hyatt has applied all of his investigative and research skills to provide the reader with an engaging, informative, and insightful portrait of a legislator who was intimately involved in the political affairs of his state for decades. Mr. Speaker is highly recommended reading for students of political science and Georgia history.

Being very new to the Atlanta area, I needed some help finding my way around and knowing where to shop for what. This book eased my transition, and more than paid for itself.

Hooray for Silver Dagger Press which is reissuing the Sheila Travis mysteries. In this first of the series originaly published in 1988, Travis, a recent 40ish widow, comes to Chicago and the pretigious Markham Graduate School that trains future diplomats. Sheila is well qualified for her job as assistant to the president of Markham because her husband was in the diplomatic service in Japan and she served as his excellent hostess over their married years.
At Markham she is quickly tossed into a murder investigation when the body of a young woman is found in the library stacks at the institute. Suspects include not only the staff but visiting professors and an interesting group of grad students from very different backgrounds.
Sheila vows to keep clear of the investigation but her redoubtable Aunt Mary, a VERY Southern dowager and truly
delightful person, keeps urging her to dig in, despite the fact that Mike Flannagan of the Chicago Police, with an eye for Sheila, keeps reminding her to butt out. Another murder soon occurs for which Sheila feels some responsibility and her investigative skills soon are at full force.
In the end, Sheila gathers the suspects together in a large room (a throwback to the traditional mysteries of the 30's and 40's) and comes up with the solution.
Anyone who enjoys traditional mysteries with a very likable heroine will love the Shelia Travis series. Numer two, MURDER IN THE CHARLESTON MANNER is due for reissue in January.

Sharron Martin has lead quite an interesting life. A music teacher by education (at Alabama College, now Montevallo University) she followed her husband through his educational process and finally landed in Augusta, Georgia. She found a job teaching music, but had to commute between two classrooms twenty miles apart; taught around 1,000 students; and lugged her equipment from classroom to classroom every half hour. She finally realized that writing was her first love and waved goodbye to her unorthodox teaching situation. And like many great mystery writers, she and her husband have a cat.

Elizabeth Poindexter is an amateur sleuth. Her twin sister, Mary Peach, is a doctor, and Elizabeth's grandson, Michael Davonport, is an assistant with the District Attorney's office. So when Dottie Mathison's strangled body is found behind the organ after choir practice, Elizabeth's sleuthing skills come in handy as Michael swings into action investigating the murder and holding the local deputy Sheriff Whaley at bay:

"'I hear we got another one and that it was done by a professional. I ran into Fred outside,' Whaley added as an explanation. 'I knew it. I told you it was someone from the outside. But, no. You don't ever listen to me.' He looked around the room before finally glancing down at the body. 'Good God! Why is that white thing on his face?'"

Martin spins an Agatha Christie type of cosy mystery in which the small town's citizens eventually reveal all their secrets in a Southern tale full of church politics; senior denizens; and small town Southern Americana. Her characters are delightful, whether it be the somewhat dazed and confused Cousin Felicity, whose hair color changes with the blooming flowers; the shy and sad Woody, whose pitiful life sets him up as a suspect; to the choir members themselves, who seem to have flaws they would rather cover up, including the clergy.

Martin's first mystery is a sweet and wistful look at human nature, written by a woman with years of teaching under her belt. She fools the reader completely until the end of the book, and each chapter compels a serious look at the featured character. MURDER SINGS OUT is thoroughly delightful and is a carefully crafted first effort by a natural writing talent.

Shelley Glodowski
Senior Reviewer

Tracy Dean has done an excellent and most thorough job of surveying and assessing the historical architecture of Muscogee County, Georgia. This volume is a useful addition to Georgia's historic preservation library. This study represents many, many hours of outstanding work. I look forward to the sequel.

My Dear Friend: The Civil War Letters of Alva Benjamin Spencer 3rd Georgia Regiment Company C is a collection of civil war correspondence by Alva B. Spencer, a man who accepted the Baptist faith at a young age, graduated from Mercer University in Georgia, and enlisted as a Confederate private in the American Civil War. My Dear Friend is not only an up-close and personal look at the Civil War up to the surrender at Appomattox Courthouse, but also a love story - the letters are penned specifically to Alva's beloved "Maggie" at home. An entrancing, and at times heart-rending chronicle.

I want to know where in his writings does he treat fairly extensively the "acquiring of a second skin" as a result of being absorbed into the Gulag? I have found a very brief reference in the glossary of my old paperback translation from the early eighties. I know in years past that I read a more extensive treatment of this topic, but scanning of all his major works except August 1914 (which I have not read) and Cancer Ward (which I have read, but the local library does not have a copy) has not turned up this reference. Please someone help in this matter!

With this Georgia garden journal, you will learn how to transform the garden pictured in your mind's eye into reality. You will discover which plants thrive, which ones struggle and best of all, you will appreciate the many suprises your garden offers from season to season. You'll learn a lot from this journal/guide and your garden will show the results!

"Mysticism" has been selected for listing in "Religion and Psychoactive Sacraments: An Entheogen Chrestomathy" http://www.csp.org/chrestomathy

During the short time of the Trustee Era, the leader of the British colony of Georgia James Oglethorpe worked to establish a mutually beneficial, peaceful relationship with the Creek Indians, whose leader in this was Tomochichi. The activities between the two parties have a resemblance to the diplomatic activities between two countries. On a trip to England to get guidance on the developing negotiations, Oglethorpe took Tomochichi and other Creeks as representatives of the Creek nation. The relationship between the Creeks and the Georgia colony eventually worked out involved trade, land rights, and legal protections; and it was the basis for a military alliance in the War of Jenkin's Ear against the Spanish over differences in north Florida. The "charter" between the English colonists and the Creeks did not hold up with the coming of the Revolutionary War. In the early 1800s, the Creeks were relocated to Oklahoma. Sweet's account of this exceptional charter, or treaty, between European colonists and Native Americans evidences sophisticated and enlightened political behavior by both parties. This author is an assistant professor of history at Baylor.