Former Georgia Gov. Lester Maddox, Dies
David McNamara
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
June 25, 2003
ATLANTA (AP) -- Lester Maddox, the restaurateur who became a symbol of
segregationist defiance and then Georgia governor in a fluke election, died
Wednesday in an Atlanta hospice, family members said. He was 87.
Maddox, who had battled cancer since 1983, had cracked two ribs when he fell
about 10 days ago at an assisted living home where he was recovering from
intestinal surgery, his daughter Virginia Carnes said Tuesday.
Maddox became famous in the 1960s when he closed and then sold his Pickrick
fried chicken restaurant in Atlanta rather than serve blacks. But fears of
racial strife during his 1967-71 governorship proved unfounded when Maddox
pursued a policy of relative moderation on race.
It began with an inaugural vow that ``there will be no place in Georgia
during the next four years for those who advocate extremism or violence.''
Barred from succeeding himself at the end of his four-year term, Maddox won
the state's second-highest office, and from the position as lieutenant
governor battled the man who succeeded him as governor, President-to-be
Jimmy Carter.
A bid to return to the executive mansion failed in 1974, and Maddox dabbled
at real estate.
He tried a final comeback in 1990, but his years away from the public
spotlight and a changing electorate left him fifth in a five-person race
with just 3 percent of the vote.
An irrepressible, flamboyant man, Maddox often seemed more caricature than
flesh. His slick pate and thick glasses were fodder for cartoonists. He was
known for quaint sayings and outrageous gestures like riding a bicycle
backward.
``How you, chief?'' was one customary greeting. Another: ``It's great to be
alive. A lot of folks aren't, you know.''
He won the hearts of many by opening the doors of his office and the
governor's mansion to what he called the ``little people.'' Twice a month he
held a kind of people's court to hear the problems of the rank-and-file and
offer advice and help.
At his final open house at the executive mansion, thousands turned out to
bid Maddox farewell.
Maddox was born Sept. 30, 1915, in Atlanta. He was a school dropout who
later took a correspondence course and opened a restaurant. It was through
that restaurant, the Pickrick, that Maddox became nationally known for his
outspoken opposition to integration.
James Neibaur
JN
matador
>
> I remember when he walked off the Dick Cavett show years ago.
You're not the only one.
[sorry if formatting doesn't hold here]
Randy Newman
Good Old Boys
Last night I saw Lester Maddox on a TV show
With some smart ass New York Jew
And the Jew laughed at Lester Maddox
And the audience laughed at Lester Maddox too
Well he may be a fool but he's our fool
If they think they're better than him they're wrong
So I went to the park and I took some paper along
And that's where I made this song
We talk real funny down here
We drink too much and we laugh too loud
We're too dumb to make it in no Northern town
And we're keepin' the niggers down
We got no-necked oilmen from Texas
And good ol' boys from Tennessee
And colleges men from LSU
Went in dumb. Come out dumb too
Hustlin' 'round Atlanta in their alligator shoes
Gettin' drunk every weekend at the barbecues
And they're keepin' the niggers down
CHORUS
We're rednecks, rednecks
And we don't know our ass from a hole in the ground
We're rednecks, we're rednecks
And we're keeping the niggers down
Now your northern nigger's a Negro
You see he's got his dignity
Down here we're too ignorant to realize
That the North has set the nigger free
Yes he's free to be put in a cage
In Harlem in New York City
And he's free to be put in a cage on the
South-Side of Chicago
And the West-Side
And he's free to be put in a cage in Hough in Cleveland
And he's free to be put in a cage in East St. Louis
And he's free to be put in a cage in Fillmore in
San Francisco
And he's free to be put in a cage in Roxbury in Boston
They're gatherin' 'em up from miles around
Keepin' the niggers down
.
.
.
PirateJohn
>
>
>You're not the only one.
>
Alas, I don't remember it. Want to explain the circumstances?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pirat...@aol.com
Keeper of the Humour List at http://members.aol.com/PirateJohn/pirate1.html
"Mother, mother ocean... I have heard your call" - Jimmy Buffett, A Pirate
Looks At Forty.
Riderhood
James Neibaur wrote:
> I remember when he walked off the Dick Cavett show years ago.
>
> JN
>
>
Maybe he was bored.
Riderhood
Terry Flahiff
Capote or Cavett made reference to the fact that had barred an African
American customer access to his restaurant by waving an axe at him (Maddox had
owned a restaurant previous to becoming governor). Indignantly, Maddox
informed them that he would never do that! He had used a pick not an axe.
When the panel and the audience laughed at him he stormed off the show.
Capote, in turn, began to make some sarcastic references to the departed
governor. The one that I recall was the fact that Capote had once eaten at
the restaurant and, although his chicken dinner wasn't bad, it wasn't finger
lickin' good!
J.D. Baldwin
In the previous article, Terry Flahiff <tfla...@ionsys.com> wrote:
> Capote, in turn, began to make some sarcastic references to the
> departed governor. The one that I recall was the fact that Capote
> had once eaten at the restaurant and, although his chicken dinner
> wasn't bad, it wasn't finger lickin' good!
I don't think it was fingers Capote was inclined to lick in those
days.
--
_+_ From the catapult of |If anyone disagrees with any statement I make, I
_|70|___:)=}- J.D. Baldwin |am quite prepared not only to retract it, but also
\ / bal...@panix.com|to deny under oath that I ever made it. -T. Lehrer
***~~~~-----------------------------------------------------------------------
matador
>
> Terry Flahiff <tfla...@ionsys.com> wrote:
> > Capote, in turn, began to make some sarcastic references to the
> > departed governor. The one that I recall was the fact that Capote
> > had once eaten at the restaurant and, although his chicken dinner
> > wasn't bad, it wasn't finger lickin' good!
>
> I don't think it was fingers Capote was inclined to lick in those
> days.
Cite ?
I just can't imagine Capote, even in those days, being
capable of inclining enough to savor his own McNuggets.
.
.
.
Fred Landry
guest. I thought he and Cavett baited Maddox until he finally got up and walked
out. Did I dream that?
Fred Landry
Land...@aol.com
(Remove "NOSPAM" from my address to reply via e-mail)
The Kentucky Wizard
consultations with my Joint Chiefs of Staff, being briefed by members of my
Cabinet and telephone conversations with various world leaders, I have come
to the following conclusions:
> Strange. I thought it was Rosie Greer (remember him?) that was the other
> guest. I thought he and Cavett baited Maddox until he finally got up and
walked
> out. Did I dream that?
>
>
>
> Fred Landry
Close, but no cigar. This from an article on Randy Newman and his infamous
"Rednecks" song.
http://www.rhino.com/Features/liners/75567lin3.html
Not that it was quick. Randy was ambitious, and Good O
ld Boys was a concept album. He'd wanted to explore a Southern, blue-collar
character and had a concept and story called "Johnny Cutler's Birthday." And
then he came up with "Rednecks."
He'd been watching The Dick Cavett Show. Cavett had this ultraliberal show
on PBS that reeked of snob appeal. And Randy, who's a true liberal, was
always able to see through that and had a certain amount of resentment
toward the program. Among Cavett's guests was Georgia governor Lester
Maddox, who was a pretty controversial figure at the time. The other guests
included Gore Vidal and Jim Brown, who just belittled Maddox. Randy had very
little sympathy for Lester Maddox, but he always responded to the underdog.
"Rednecks" starts out with "Last night I saw Lester Maddox on a TV show/With
some smart-ass New York Jew/And the Jew laughed at Lester Maddox/And the
audience laughed at Lester Maddox, too/Well, he may be a fool, but he's our
fool/If they think they're better than him, they're wrong."1 The other
guests may or may not have been New York Jews, but the point is that the
character in the song may well have assumed they were.
Randy's genius for creating a character and knowing exactly what that
character would say was, and still is, unique in pop songwriting. Very few
people can write first-person point of view in character. He's brilliant at
it because he has such a clear understanding of people. He is a great
observer of people.
--
© The Wiz ®
«¤»¥«¤»¥«¤»
James Neibaur
the sun don't shine."
No, I am not joking.
JN
Fred Landry
>included Gore Vidal and Jim Brown, who just belittled Maddox.
Jim Brown - not Rosie Greer. I knew it was a black football player. Not
Truman Capote. Thanks for clarifying.
Terry Flahiff
you posted your earlier message I also remembered the presence of a black
football player who "inflamed" the situation.
Also, at the risk of being wrong once again, I believe that the famous "take
this piece of paper, fold it five ways and shove it where the moon don't
shine" was directed at Norman Mailer. He and Gore Vidal had a monumental
argument on the Cavett Show one night (among other things, Mailer had
head-butted Vidal in the green room before the show even went to air). It
strikes me that when Mailer appeared on a subsequent show Cavett had his
trademark clipboard with him, with a list of questions. However true to
form he got off his script and began to challenge Mailer about other
topics. Mailer, rather gruffly demanded to know if Cavett was going to
refer to his prepared set of questions and Cavett picked up the clipboard,
pulled off the sheet and said: "Take this sheet of paper......."
Since I was off base with my Capote reference I won't swear to my
recollection here but I think that this is the way it played out
Cpl. O'Reilly
<tfla...@ionsys.com> wrote:
> Also, at the risk of being wrong once again, I believe that the famous "take
> this piece of paper, fold it five ways and shove it where the moon don't
> shine" was directed at Norman Mailer.
Yes, it was. I saw that when it happened. And it was on the ABC show,
not PBS, as someone suggested. The audience went nuts.
The Kentucky Wizard
consultations with my Joint Chiefs of Staff, being briefed by members of my
Cabinet and telephone conversations with various world leaders, I have come
to the following conclusions:
<snip> Also, at the risk of being wrong once again, I believe that the
famous "take
> this piece of paper, fold it five ways and shove it where the moon don't
> shine" was directed at Norman Mailer. He and Gore Vidal had a monumental
> argument on the Cavett Show one night (among other things, Mailer had
> head-butted Vidal in the green room before the show even went to air). It
> strikes me that when Mailer appeared on a subsequent show Cavett had his
> trademark clipboard with him, with a list of questions. However true to
> form he got off his script and began to challenge Mailer about other
> topics. Mailer, rather gruffly demanded to know if Cavett was going to
> refer to his prepared set of questions and Cavett picked up the clipboard,
> pulled off the sheet and said: "Take this sheet of paper......."
>
> Since I was off base with my Capote reference I won't swear to my
> recollection here but I think that this is the way it played out<snip>
http://jumptheshark.com/d/dickcavett.htm
When Norman Mailer patronizingly suggested "Why don't you look at your card
and ask the next question?" Cavett replied "Why don't you fold it five ways
and stick it where the moon don't shine?" After a standing eight count,
Mailer asked feebly "Did you have that prepared ahead of time?" Cavett
explained that it was a "quote from Tolstoy."
--
© The Wiz ®
«¤»¥«¤»¥«¤»
James Neibaur
kentuck...@hotmail.com wrote on 6/26/03 4:29 PM:
> When Norman Mailer patronizingly suggested "Why don't you look at your card
> and ask the next question?" Cavett replied "Why don't you fold it five ways
> and stick it where the moon don't shine?" After a standing eight count,
> Mailer asked feebly "Did you have that prepared ahead of time?" Cavett
> explained that it was a "quote from Tolstoy."
Thanks. Often when I try to remember events from over 30 years ago, they
sort of run together in my head.
I am surprised I didn't recall the Maddox walk-off occuring on Merv Griffin
instead of Cavett!!
JN
doc
<kentuck...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>http://jumptheshark.com/d/dickcavett.htm
>
>When Norman Mailer patronizingly suggested "Why don't you look at your card
>and ask the next question?" Cavett replied "Why don't you fold it five ways
>and stick it where the moon don't shine?" After a standing eight count,
>Mailer asked feebly "Did you have that prepared ahead of time?" Cavett
>explained that it was a "quote from Tolstoy."
You know, Wiz, I never really cared for Cavett. AAMOF, I pretty much
thought he was a vacuous, pseudo-intellectual dilettante. But I will
have to give the devil his due, that was one fine bon mot!
Of course, in a duel between him and Mailer, it is difficult to decide
which one I'd rather see shish kebabed. Mailer never held onto a
conviction for longer than the time it took him to consume a fifth of
scotch, that overrated hack.
<meow>
James Neibaur
drbo...@xprt.net wrote on 6/26/03 4:40 PM:
> You know, Wiz, I never really cared for Cavett. AAMOF, I pretty much
> thought he was a vacuous, pseudo-intellectual dilettante. But I will
> have to give the devil his due, that was one fine bon mot!
My friend, writer Ed Watz, once called Cavett (in a TV Guide piece) "a
pedantic fly in celebrity's ointment." While I think that is a hell of a
funny line, I must say that I always rather liked Cavett back in his ABC
days for getting old movie performers whom I would never see elsewhere
(character actors like Frank McHugh, Allen Jenkins, etc.) and offbeat guests
that also would not appear elsewhere (I still recall Jimi Hendrix sitting
with Cavett and a Marcus Welby-era Robert Young having a pleasant chat).
I think it may have been Mailer who stated, "Cavett is the only talk show
host who actually reads my book before I appear for an interview."
JN
The Kentucky Wizard
consultations with my Joint Chiefs of Staff, being briefed by members of my
Cabinet and telephone conversations with various world leaders, I have come
to the following conclusions:
Agreed, doc. Cavett was definitely the "Poor Man's NyQuil". He certainly put
me to sleep on many occasions, but once in a while, he could come off like a
zinger that wouldn't have been funny coming from anyone else but him. I used
to work with a guy who basically a cross between Dick Cavett and Opie
Taylor, and was about as funny also. Once in a while however, he would pull
off a Cavett-like zinger, that only he could do. I was remarking in a
meeting once that I so tired, had been working so many hours recently and
was never home, that I guess my then three year old son had just figured
that his daddy had simply died and went to Heaven, to which my bland
counterpart looked up ever so slyly, and responded; "what would make him
think you went to Heaven?"
*OUCH*
--
© The Wiz ®
«¤»¥«¤»¥«¤»
Dave B
<kentuck...@hotmail.com> wrote:
I thought it was The Rock-"Turn that sumabitch sideways and shove it
up your candy ass." :)
Dave B
-----
"On the back side of 30, the short side of time, back on the bottom,
with no will to climb."-John Conlley
Hoodude
wrote:
>Strange. I thought it was Rosie Greer (remember him?)
Proving that two heads are not always better than one, yes, I remember
Rosie Grier; see:
http://us.imdb.com/Details?0069372
Hyfler/Rosner
"Hoodude" <dig_infinity!@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:89e107637c62de2f...@news.usenetguide.com...
> On 26 Jun 2003 13:52:08 GMT, land...@aol.comNOSPAM (Fred Landry)
> wrote:
>
> >Strange. I thought it was Rosie Greer (remember him?)
>
> Proving that two heads are not always better than one, yes, I remember
> Rosie Grier; see:
>
Wasn't Rosie Greer with Robert Kennedy when he died?
doc
wrote:
>Wasn't Rosie Greer with Robert Kennedy when he died?
Indeed, he was. He wrote about it at length.
The Kentucky Wizard
consultations with my Joint Chiefs of Staff, being briefed by members of my
Cabinet and telephone conversations with various world leaders, I have come
to the following conclusions:
IIRC, Greer was severely depressed for quite a while after RFK was
assassinated, blaming himself for not being able to stop Sirhan Sirhan in
time.
--
© The Wiz ®
«¤»¥«¤»¥«¤»
Hoodude
wrote:
>Wasn't Rosie Greer with Robert Kennedy when he died?
Are you thinking of Rafer Johnson? After R. Kennedy was shot, someone
in the audience shouted repeatedly, "Get the gun, Rafer!" (my
recollection at this moment, may not be verbatim). Hadda be a white
guy sending in the Negro to do the dirty work.
The correct spelling is 'Grier'.
Loki
wrote:
I am pretty sure it was Rosey who was beside him. Reason being, I was
in England at the time and the initial reports were so muddled that at
one point a BBC announcer said that Rosey Grier was the shooter.
Loki
Bill Schenley
> > Are you thinking of Rafer Johnson? After R. Kennedy was
> > shot, someone in the audience shouted repeatedly, "Get the
> > gun, Rafer!" (my recollection at this moment, may not be
> > verbatim). Hadda be a white guy sending in the Negro to do
> > the dirty work.
> >The correct spelling is 'Grier'.
> I am pretty sure it was Rosey who was beside him. Reason being,
> I was in England at the time and the initial reports were so
> muddled that at one point a BBC announcer said that Rosey Grier
> was the shooter.
Both Grier and Rafer Johnson were with Robert Kennedy when he
was killed.
Warren Rogers, a journalist, wrestled Sirhan to the ground and Bill
Barry, one of Kennedy's security people, took the gun from him.
Barry then handed the weapon to Grier.
All of this was accomplished with the help of Johnson (who peeled
Sirhan's fingers from the gun), writer George Plimpton and a few
others.
Hyfler/Rosner
"Bill Schenley" <stra...@erie.net> wrote in message
news:vfp4fta...@corp.supernews.com...
>
> All of this was accomplished with the help of Johnson (who peeled
> Sirhan's fingers from the gun), writer George Plimpton
who I saw on the subway yesterday and thought, why can't I come up with his
name, and eventually gave up.
Thanks. Lol.
James Hall
"Loki" ...
> ...
> in England at the time and the initial reports were so muddled that at
> one point a BBC announcer said that Rosey Grier was the shooter.
Is the R.G. referenced the same R.G. who played for the Minn.
Vikings ?
JHall.
The Kentucky Wizard
consultations with my Joint Chiefs of Staff, being briefed by members of my
Cabinet and telephone conversations with various world leaders, I have come
to the following conclusions:
You're right, Loki, it was Rosey Grier. If you watch the footage where RFK
is speaking to the crowd, just before he left the podium, you can clearly
see Grier several times standing behind him with the rest of the crowd. He
was hired as RFK's bodyguard, and it was before the policy was instituted of
giving all Presidential candidates Secret Service protection. The did not
start until after Gov. Wallace was shot while campaigning for the
Presidency.
--
© The Wiz ®
«¤»¥«¤»¥«¤»
Loki
wrote:
No. He was the one who played for the LA Rams.
Loki
Hyfler/Rosner
"The Kentucky Wizard" <kentuck...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:6g2La.38863. He
> was hired as RFK's bodyguard, and it was before the policy was instituted
of
> giving all Presidential candidates Secret Service protection. The did not
> start until after Gov. Wallace was shot while campaigning for the
> Presidency.
I didn't know that. Thanks.
The Kentucky Wizard
consultations with my Joint Chiefs of Staff, being briefed by members of my
Cabinet and telephone conversations with various world leaders, I have come
to the following conclusions:
You're welcome, although I did a big 'ole typo, for I meant to say, "That
did not start" and not "The did not start".
Here is a little more detailed info from the Secret Service website.
Today, the Secret Service is authorized by law to protect:
1) The President, the Vice President, (or other individuals next in order of
succession to the Office of the President), the President-elect and Vice
President-elect;
2) The immediate families of the above individuals;
3) Former Presidents, their spouses for their lifetimes, except when the
spouse re-marries. In 1997, Congressional legislation became effective
limiting Secret Service protection to former Presidents for a period of not
more than 10 years from the date the former President leaves office.
4) Children of former presidents until age 16;
5) Visiting heads of foreign states or governments and their spouses
traveling with them, other distinguished foreign visitors to the United
States, and official representatives of the United States performing special
missions abroad;
6) Major Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates, and their spouses
within 120 days of a general Presidential election.
--
© The Wiz ®
«¤»¥«¤»¥«¤»
James Hall
Hoodude
>>>Wasn't Rosie Greer with Robert Kennedy when he died?
>>The correct spelling is 'Grier'.
>I am pretty sure it was Rosey who was beside him. Reason being, I was
>in England at the time and the initial reports were so muddled that at
>one point a BBC announcer said that Rosey Grier was the shooter.
In the hindsight of 35 years, that is amusing to hear.
Hoodude
wrote:
>> ...Rosey Grier
>Is the R.G. referenced the same R.G. who played for the Minn.
>Vikings ?
I was surprised by the amount of trivial data regarding RG on the IMDb
website:
http://us.imdb.com/Bio?Grier,%20Roosevelt
Biography for Roosevelt Grier
Height - 6' 5"
Trivia
Brawling N.Y. Giants football player, guitar-strumming folk singer,
and expert at the art of macramé.
He and Olympic Gold Medal Winner Rafer Johnson
<http://us.imdb.com/Name?Johnson,%20Rafer> helped capture and detain
Robert F. Kennedy's assassin Sirhan Bishara Sirhan on 6 June 1968;
Grier placed his sizeable thumb behind the trigger of Sirhan's gun to
prevent him from firing the weapon at anyone else in the crowd.
Cousin of actress Pam Grier <http://us.imdb.com/Name?Grier,%20Pam>.
The seventh of eleven children, he was named after Franklin Delano
Roosevelt.
Named All-Pro twice while with the New York Giants.
A torn Achilles tendon effectively ended his football career during
the 1967-68 season.
Became an ordained minister in 1983 and founded an inner city teen
resource center the following year.
He turned Republican and supported the "religious right" and the Moral
Majority led by Jerry Falwell.
Counseled and ministered fellow proballer O.J. Simpson while Simpson
was in prison. Oddly, the two had never met before. Simpson's football
career began just as Grier's ended.
Hit #126 on the Billboard Singles Charts in 1968 with "People Make the
World" (Amy 11029)
matador
>
> "Bill Schenley" <stra...@erie.net> wrote
> > All of this was accomplished with the help of Johnson (who peeled
> > Sirhan's fingers from the gun), writer George Plimpton
>
> who I saw on the subway yesterday and thought, why can't I come up with his
> name, and eventually gave up.
I figured George Plimpton was close to the Kennedys when we worked together
for several weeks over in Europe where he's less well(?YMMV) known, a while
back and again more briefly every so often until a few years ago. George is
a fascinating raconteur once he gets going; enjoys an audience and he has a
fine repertoire of colorful yet distinctively tasteful anecdotes to hold the
listener's attention without hogging too much of it for himself. Until now
I was unaware he was so close to events at the actual assassination of his
close friend Robert Kennedy.
.
.
.
Cpl. O'Reilly
<bIoLa.26704$0v4.2...@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net>, 吵o吩oo
<snos...@att.nettt> wrote:
> Supposedly Simpson confessed to Rosie, but the minister/penitent
> confidentiality issue prevented Rosie from revealing the details of
> their conversation -- IOW, he couldn't rat Simpson out.
I don't know why Simpson's guilt is still in any way controversial.
Simpson confessed to the cops on the phone during the so-called
"slow-speed chase" in the Bronco.
I agree that Grier, as a clergyman, shouldn't and couldn't rat on
Simpson.