Garden & Gun June/July 2019

EDITOR’S LETTER Island Escape EXPLORING THE SOUTH’S WILD BEAUTY WITH A CUMBERLAND ISLAND LOCAL DAVID DIBENEDETTO Senior Vice President & Editor in Chief Growing up a river rat in coastal Georgia, I was a student of all of the state’s fifteen barrier islands, but the wildest ones enthralled me most. Even their names seemed to conjure adventure—Ossabaw, Blackbeard, Wassaw (where I left plenty of tracks in the sand), St. Catherines, Sapelo, Wolf, and the crown jewel, Cumberland. At eighteen miles long, it is the largest of the islands and was once primarily owned by the Carnegie family, of steel and philanthropy fame. Here there were remains of forts, mansion ruins, wild horses—the stuff of a young explorer’s dreams. I first visited the island when I was fifteen. And though that…

Sweet Tooth Finding treasures from the sea Clockwise from top left: William Hereford; Margaret Houston; Jenny Everett I often joke with Jenny that if the house catches fire, grab the kids first, the dogs next, and then my Megalodon tooth. I found it when I was thirteen. My jon boat’s anchor miraculously snagged it while dragging along the bottom on a windy day. I’d collected plenty of shark teeth by then, but I’d never found one as big and as perfectly preserved, its serrated edges still sharp enough to cut even after spending at least three million years in the mud. And while many friends have suggested it belongs in a frame, I keep it on a shelf so I can let others feel its heft or run my own…

CONTRIBUTORS “You can see the sights, burn some calories, and get a po’boy—or a sno-ball—afterward” —Maurice Carlos Ruffin on running with streetcars, p. 140 John Grisham WRITER More than thirty years ago, a small-town Mississippi lawyer named John Grisham arose early before work to write. After he finished that first book, A Time to Kill, Grisham began writing The Firm, which became 1991’s top-selling novel and kicked off one of modern history’s most celebrated writing careers. Grisham, who was born in Jonesboro, Arkansas, will release his next legal thriller in October. He’s also writing another book set on fictional Camino Island, which takes inspiration from Amelia Island, Florida—Grisham’s favorite place for “serious loafing,” as he calls it in his ode to summer by the shore (“Classic Weekend Escapes,” p. 101).…

LETTERS “Every trip to Kentucky has me hauling a suitcase of White Lily flour back to Oregon” ROLL OUT THE WELCOME Several weeks ago, I received a subscription offer to your magazine. It was a surprise to me, a traditional woodchuck Yankee. I took a chance and mailed my check, and the April/May 2019 issue arrived. Russell Worth Parker’s Good Dog essay was worth the subscription price. I’ll be looking forward to the next issue. Amy Brill Sutton, Vermont When my April/May 2019 issue of G&G arrived, I jumped for joy seeing Scott Peacock’s name. He is my biscuit god, and I have been following his recipe for nearly a decade. But I knew little about the man. Every trip to Kentucky has seen me hauling a suitcase full of…

Social Chatter GARDENANDGUN.COM AND BEYOND WE ASKED... How do you describe summer heat? On Facebook, you shared your favorite Southern expressions for temperatures hotter than the hinges on the gates of hell. It’s like walking in dogs’ breath. Walter Schwarz Hotter than Georgia asphalt. Heather Smith As hot as burlap underwear. Kelli Gathright Hotter than Billy blue blazes. Kimber Williams I’m ’bout to smother. Sandra Yarboro Hotter than chicken-fried hell. Dee Thompson Hotter than two foxes “fornicating” in a forest fire. Barbara Lawson Air you can wear! Nancy Thornton-Waterhouse Hotter than a two-dollar pistol. Anne Dolan I just saw a hound dog chasing a rabbit—and they were both walking. Christine Clayton Hutchinson…

MUSIC Banding Together THE SONS OF ALLMAN BROTHERS ROYALTY JOIN FORCES By Matt Hendrickson Hanging out backstage isn’t what it used to be. Remember the movie Almost Famous? A budding music journalist goes on the road in the early seventies with the fictional band Stillwater, a group partially based on the Allman Brothers, and gets a behind-the-curtain look into a world of groupies, drugs, and hard drinking. Today it’s mostly just about what the Wi-Fi password is, video games, and maybe a green juice. ¶ But what hasn’t changed, mercifully, is the spine-tingly adrenaline rush as the house lights dim. And on this sultry night just before a show in Ocala, Florida, Devon Allman tells his bandmates to huddle up. This tour has been a special one because Duane Betts…