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Published Monday, October 18, 2010 in Local

Hometown reunion celebrates favorite son

By News Staff

The Newnan Times-Herald

Lewis Grizzard's closest friends told stories about him on Saturday night, and then a professional actor brought the journalist-turned-humorist to life in a Sunday afternoon stage presentation.

Saturday night's "A Toast to Lewis Grizzard" at Wadsworth Auditorium and Sunday's one-man show by Bill Oberst Jr. were the final events in the first Lewis Grizzard's Hometown Reunion. Carol Chancey of Cloudland Canyon Entertainment said organizers hope to make the reunion an annual event.

The events in Newnan followed a busy Saturday in Moreland, where Grizzard grew up. A new exhibit of Grizzard memorabilia was unveiled at the Old Mill Museum following a morning parade. A grits cooking contest was another highlight of the Moreland experience.

"A Toast to Lewis Grizzard" featured three segments with friends and family from various parts of Grizzard's life. The first segment, Moreland Days of Youth, featured Mary Ann Cauthen, Camilla Stevens, Lou Williams and Sara Jane Skinner.

Cauthen is Grizzard's first cousin and childhood playmate. She still lives near Moreland.

Stevens and Williams were high school friends -- the latter being a topic as "the red headed cheerleader" in columns and books by Grizzard. Skinner, who also lives near Moreland, taught Grizzard his first journalism class at Newnan High School and has a collection of his books -- most autographed with humorous messages.

Grizzard's professional life was the topic of the second segment. Jim Minter, Grizzard's mentor and boss at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, shared memories for that session, as did Art Harris, a CNN correspondent who worked with Grizzard. Monica Pearson, who counts an interview with Grizzard as one of her first assignments in Atlanta, spoke in a taped interview.

The final section -- Life with Lewis, His Passions -- featured live commentary by Steve Enoch, a business partner and friend, and Oberst. Taped recollections from Newnan political cartoonist David Boyd and Loran Smith were aired.

There also was audiotape of Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Mike Luckovich reflecting on the enduring popularity of the cartoon he drew of Lewis and his dog, Catfish, after Grizzard died. A highlight of the sparsely attended program was video of Dr. Randy Martin, Grizzard's cardiologist, sharing with visible emotion about his patient and friend.

At the end of the toast, Dedra Grizzard, thanked everyone for attending. Segments were punctuated with music by the Buckeye Band from Griffin.

Winston Skinner, assistant news editor at The Times-Herald, was the master of ceremonies for the evening. The program was opened by Scott Sargeant of Fun101 Radio who described the entire evening as "a tribute to Lewis Grizzard."

Oberst's one-man salute to Grizzard premiered at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, S.C. in 2000. Since, Oberst has brought the Moreland raconteur to the stage in such locations as the Fox Theatre in Atlanta and the local Centre for Performing and Visual Arts.

The venue for Sunday afternoon's show was the auditorium at Newnan High School, Grizzard's alma mater.

Grizzard was a sportswriter who later turned to writing columns. He penned several books, did standup comedy and was a semi-regular on "Designing Women" before his death from a congenital heart ailment in 1994.

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