Today, I am going to write about something that was very
important in the scheme of influencing my career.
I am going to write about Chili Dogs.
OK, you might be scratching your head a little bit on this
one. But, let me explain. As I have written many times over the years, radio
was my first love. I began writing as kind of an offshoot of that, and that’s
how things developed. But, when I was fifteen, those influences began to
intersect a bit.
When I was a teenager, I won a lot of prizes from WSM Radio –
CD’s, concert tickets, even a trip to Chattanooga once. However, in 1989, I won
a prize which would have a huge mark on me wanting to be a writer – the book Chili Dawgs Always Bark At Night by
Lewis Grizzard. For those not familiar with the name – as he’s been deceased
for over two decades, he was a prize-winning columnist for the Atlanta
Journal-Constitution. He wrote about his native Georgia, sports, and Southern
life with a flair and a humor that captivated me. While some of my writing
style I owe to the sentimental leanings of Earl Hamner, Jr. and his work in
books like The Homecoming or the TV
series The Waltons, I do hope there’s
a bit of the smart-alecky side of Grizzard that shows up from time to time.
His book titles were as interesting as his writings – Kathy Sue Loudermilk, I Love You, Elvis Is
Dead and I Don’t Feel So Good Myself, and When My Love Returns From The Ladies
Room, Will I Be To Old To Care? The Chili Dawgs reference is a tip of the
hat to the Atlanta and Athens-based eatery The Varsity and their world-famous
chili dogs and slaw dogs. And, having gone crazy on their food my first time
there, it’s true. They do bark at night. Lewis had a way at looking at life,
love, and the mistakes that one makes with a sense of humor (albeit at times a
little twisted!) that you couldn’t help but love. To this day, when I am going
through Atlanta or Athens, I have to stop at The Varsity and have a chili dog
in his honor.
Grizzard was definitely from another time. I don’t know that
his writings would have thrived the same way today, with political correctness
so much in vogue, and he took no prisoners, whether it be Democrat, Republican,
Braves, or Bulldogs. I never met him, so I don’t know how much of what he wrote
was tongue-in-cheek. I did talk to him on the phone once. He was a guest on
WSM, and I called to ask him if Kathy Sue Loudermilk (whether that was her real
name or not, I don’t know, but every school had a Kathy Sue – the one girl who
stopped traffic the most!) was as beautiful as he made out. He insisted she
was. But, in either case, the impression that he made on a teenager from
Tennessee with his whimsical musings was a major one. I can’t say that I
totally wanted to follow in his footsteps in all things, but if you’ve ever
detected a little bit of a humorous tone in some of my non-journalism work, I
would like to think his influence is there.
Which reminds me, I haven’t been to Atlanta in some time.
Maybe it’s time for a Varsity run. Anybody with me?
