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    Just a Country Boy: As Told to Tish Lynn
    Just a Country Boy: As Told to Tish Lynn
    Just a Country Boy: As Told to Tish Lynn
    Ebook143 pages1 hour

    Just a Country Boy: As Told to Tish Lynn

    By Roy Richards Jr.

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    At eighty-five, Gentry still has the mischievous glint in his eye that he surely had as a child. An aging face tells no lies and Gentrys face is full of guile, curiosity, joy and sass. He quips, with no apologies, that he has led a somewhat selfish life, indulging his passions and interests never having a family of his own until he married very happily at sixty. From his modest beginnings, he led a bigger life than might have been expected and has enjoyed every minute of it.

    And so begins Edgar Gentry Bartons Just a Country Boy, a witty, meticulously crafted tribute recounted by Tish Lynn. As the engaging narrative transports readers through the twentieth century, he regales them with slice of life stories about his small town Tennessee roots, life during the Depression, WWII, true love, good fishing, playing baseball, and everything that came after. A mix of humor, detail, and accessible writing attracts readers with an interest in twentieth century Americaand a life well lived.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAuthorHouse
    Release dateJun 1, 2011
    ISBN9781456723989
    Just a Country Boy: As Told to Tish Lynn
    Author

    Roy Richards Jr.

    Engaging, insightful, and with a touch of humor, Just a Country Boy by Edgar Gentry Barton is the sort of autobiography that illustrates the just rewards of a just life. For Barton, its been a long, satisfying, and accomplished one. Born in 1922, in a small town in Tennessee, Gentry recounts his country boy roots and how his kin coped during the Great Depression. He also provides fascinating anecdotes about his college experience, the DuPont Chemical Company slogan that inspired his career choice, his service in the Navy, and eventual travel throughout the southern states. Detailing his family relationships, he focuses on his close bond with his brother as well as his one true love, an unforgettable woman whom he married at the age of sixty. Drawing readers in on page one with an accessible, unassuming writing style, this tribute to the simple life is more than one familys historyits a snapshot of America during the twentieth century. Edgar Gentry Barton, Jr., told the story of his life to Tish Lynn, who prepared it into the story you see here. Tish Lynn is a northern transplant come to Charleston, SC thirty years ago. She lives and has raised a family there, and has worked as a freelance writer in communications, marketing and development for non-profit organizations she admires. She enjoys bringing the voices of others to the page and may, one day, sing for herself.

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      Book preview

      Just a Country Boy - Roy Richards Jr.

      © 2011 Roy Richards, Jr. All rights reserved.

      No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

      First published by AuthorHouse 05/26/2011

      ISBN: 978-1-4567-2395-8 (sc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4567-2398-9 (e)

      ISBN: 978-1-4567-2397-2 (dj)

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2011900463

      Printed in the United States of America

      Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

      and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

      Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any Web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      Contents

      PREFACE

      FOR MY GODSON

      PROLOGUE

      GROWING UP

      AN EDUCATED MAN

      LIFE AFTER RUTHERFORD

      NANCY

      GENTRY IN ROY’S LIFE

      EPILOGUE

      ADDENDA:

      GENTRY’S THOUGHTS

      PREFACE

      As I look back at more than fifty years of life and the good fortune that has come my way, the greatest gift has been the people I have known, and most especially those who have made a difference in my life. Gentry Barton stands near the head of that line.

      I came to know Gentry in the way that a young nephew comes to know an older uncle: he was an elder statesman coming from a generation and place before me. He was the second husband of my dear Aunt Nancy. They married after a very long courtship, during which she did due diligence on him, and he did due diligence on the very institution of marriage itself.

      For me he was dapper and sophisticated, in an old-fashioned, old-south way. He was also well-educated and well-read, qualities that impressed my family of small-town, West Georgia folk. He had an important post at an important company, with ranks of salesmen working for him. He managed a far-flung market that covered the old South and Caribbean, back in the days when both were remote if not exotic. All that, and a sparkling, charming, straight-up and honest personality that was magnetic and warm.

      As a youngster I admired him from afar, as all young boys do when they admire and emulate certain men. As it turned out, circumstances pushed us closer together. Those around us, whom we loved and clung to, fell away and we saw fit to embrace one another.

      I am now more than twenty five years—half my life—in that embrace. How wonderful it has been for me to know Gentry. I used to admire him. Now I admire, respect and love him, and am a better man because of it.

      Roy Richards, Jr, October, 2010

      (Roy Barton McGee Richards, born in 2005, is the son of Roy Richards Jr., Gentry’s nephew. As reference and tribute to his uncle, Roy Jr. asked Gentry to be little Roy’s godfather. Below follows a short note from Gentry to little Roy.)

      FOR MY GODSON

      Roy Barton McGee Richards

      I would not wish to pass on much advice to younger generations but would like to leave my godson, Roy Barton McGee Richards, just a few suggestions as guideposts for his life and career.

      First, I would propose that he have a genuine affection for the work (commercial, civic, governmental, and/or artistic) that he chooses for a career. Work itself is to my mind the greatest possible single motivator, largely because its satisfactions are endogenous. In simple terms, if one likes his work, he can do well even without additional motivators. True motivation wells up from within the corpus of good work.

      Secondly, I recommend that he seek and maintain financial stability throughout his life and distinguish very carefully between his wants and his actual needs. Connected with this thought is that he maintain the capacity to meet all his financial obligations in a full and timely manner. Reputation is everything in life, and one’s fiscal reputation is called creditworthiness.

      Another point of reference is the observance of a strict ethical code: One should shun shortcuts. Quick solutions that have amoral elements are only temporarily effective and are destined to return and haunt one. Two examples from my own life come to mind. Once, when I was working at the manganese plant while finishing my studies at the University of Tennessee, I was supposed to train my replacement, but skipped out on the third training and went to a wild party—leaving poor Bill Pope (the trainee) all alone at the plant and unsure of what to do. It was not only disrespectful and irresponsible but might have led to serious repercussions in the chemical processing of the manganese. I always regretted it.

      The other time was when I was in the military. I had the deck responsibility on my ship one evening, but I also had a date and a party to go to, so I left a first-class bosun in charge and left the ship. As fate would have it, when I opened the door to the party, the first person I saw was my captain and the first thing he asked me was, Who’s got the deck, Barton?

      For a lodestar, when all else fails, look to the Golden Rule.

      Finally, Roy, I would be gratified to know that you have striven in your relationship with your fellow man to uphold the values of the Southern Gentleman.

      JUST A COUNTRY BOY

      By Edgar Gentry Barton Jr.

      (As told to Tish Lynn)

      PROLOGUE

      Living with Things

      The house of Edgar Gentry Barton, Jr., sits on a long slope that descends to the edge of a lake where the Chattahoochee and Chestatee rivers join in Forsyth County, Georgia—a gentle tumble down a hill. The house tumbles too, with several rooms and a porch cascading off the back. Construction afterthoughts over the years.

      Gentry steps out into the early sunshine in his tweed jacket and cap—the image of an English country gentleman.

      I’m just a country boy, he frequently says, and yet his closets are filled with tartans, plaids, and tweeds enough to weather a full winter in North Georgia wearing a new outfit every day.

      Gentry enjoys living in this part of Georgia and is proud of its history and significance. The old Federal Road that started in Augusta used to run nearby through Cherokee land to the Cherokee capital of new Echota near Calhoun. His stories are rich with historical detail, much of it gleaned from the dusty volumes lining almost every room of his house.

      President Monroe traversed this road on horseback to inspect the U.S. and Indian lands, Gentry explains. In the 1830s, on the specific instructions of President Jackson, the Indians were relocated to the Oklahoma Territory and this portion near the old Federal Road was allocated to individual citizens by lottery, which resulted in the founding of Forsyth and its county seat, Cumming.

      Gentry (or sometimes Gent) is a student of many things and he is patient and deliberate in the telling. Inside his wood-lined home, he moves slowly from room to room with a story about every piece of furniture, rug, picture, clock, spread, map, tool, and painting on the wall. His white hair, wavy and full, is set against red cheeks and a sparkling grin. He loves this intellectual engagement with his visitor, and thrives on repartee. He is eighty-six and it has been a long and rich life. There is no doubt that he has enjoyed himself.

      There are Kentucky-Tennessee chests of walnut and cherry from a time when there were still walnut forests where he grew up in Rutherford, Tennessee.

      Nothing left now, he says. "It used to make me irritated when my father would complain that the trees were all gone.

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