The Early Years<br > Jimmy and ! grew up three years and three miles apart， he on a<br >farm in the "country，" and I， along with my two younger brothers，<br >Jerry and Murray， and my much younger sister， Allethea， in a<br > simple white frame house in the middle of Plains. The red clay<br > soil is very fertile in southern Georgia， and my mother grew<br >it<br > zinnias， petunias， hollyhocks， crepe myrtle， and what seemed like<br >~，~ hundreds of other flowers in carefully tended beds on the street<br > ~ide of our house; the back yard held Our vegetable garden a~d<br > lots of trees--fig， pear， pecan and wild cherry， and pomegranate<br > bushes and a scuppernong arbor. I remember very well that we<br >had rosebushes too， because once I fell out of the sitting room<br >window and landed in one of them. I still have the scar on my<br >chin to remind me.<br > Our back yard seemed enormous. At its edge was a woodpile<br >for the cook stove and coal for burning in the fireplaces. There<br >was a smokehouse， a chicken house filled with chickens， ~nd at<br >one time a rabbit pen， though we finally had to get rid of the<br >rabbits because they kept multiplying and we ran out of room for<br >them. We also had a barn for the milk cow and a few pigs， and<br >another barn for the mules my father used on our nearby farm.<br >Behind the barns was someone else s field. Every spring the rains<br >formed a pond in it， and we could hear the loud chirping of the<br >frogs from our po~ch at night.<br > Dust was a prominent part of our life. Billows of red dust<br >engulfed us every time<br >paved road in town wa，，<br >We lived on a heavily t<br >on the front porch and<br >keep it out. The doors<br >summer， and fall becal<br > Plains was very sm~<br >of about 600. Everyon~<br >very nice when there v<br >there was a death in the<br >though; everyone kne~<br >good place and a good<br >another over the sad th<br >things. Collectively， w~<br >world.<br > We had no movie tl<br >Plains. Occasionally sor<br >never last very long. "I<br >around the churches. IV<br >grandfather Baptist， an~<br >churches--almost evel<br >Sunday school and regu<br >ing， Methodist League，<br >We regularly went to f<br >ate dinner outdoors on<br >eagerly to one of the bi<br >For a whole week duri<br >morning and night， and<br >prayed， and the preachq<br > God was a real pres~<br >times. We were taught tq<br >and desire to live the k:<br >one another and be kin~<br >to be good. But we wc<br >loved Him， I was afrai~<br >didn t think about Him;<br >and I was "afraid even tq<br >were good He would lc<br > The other focal poir<br >were very proud of our<br >fifty students in eleven<br ><br >