ago called When Cars Smiled. Because the bumper and the grille looked like a smile on a face.” John’s new poetry book is called After The
Meltdown, an amazing collection of writings that is filled with Southern imagery drawn from the uniquely woven fabrics of our gen- eration. “There’s sort of a theme to the book,” says
Griffin. “Something that folks can connect with that grew up during the ‘50’s and ‘60’s and early ‘70’s. I was born in a small town, and that was before the Interstate 75 was built through Georgia. We lived on dirt roads. There were very few paved roads. You had to go into town to be on a paved road. We only went into town to visit the tobacco market or the hog market to bring in something that we could sell. Otherwise, we were working. And we worked six days at least from sun up to sun down when I was a kid. That was another kind of existence, and I found out that a lot of other people that grew up in that same rural area grew up with the same upbringing, where you had to get up and go to work. There was no other choice. That was the only way to make a mule, was to grow your own.” At this point, John changed rooms in order
to get better cell reception. “I just stepped into Duane Allman’s room.
Man, this room has great energy. You know, I just love this place. [The Allman Brothers Band Big House & Museum.] I have been coming in and out of this place for years, and I never fail to get overwhelmed by all the dis- plays, the stuff on the walls - it’s awesome.” John proceeded to school me on the vari-
ous types of poetry, saying that he doesn’t stick to a single writing style. “You have lyrical poetry, which is the stuff
songs are made of. And then you have narra- tive, which is descriptive a person or thing. So I do some of both.” I asked john about the artist who designed
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the beautiful cover for his book. “Flournoy Holmes has been nominated for
Grammys for at least six album covers. He did the Eat a Peach album; Charlie Daniels Fire On The Mountain album; he did a lot of the Marshall Tucker art; Wet Willie’s Drippin’ Wet; Flournoy is a legend, and he’s still doing cover art. It floored me when he offered to do my cover. I thought about calling my book tour the Judge a Book By Its Cover Tour, be- cause Flournoy makes me look good before you open the book. And then Kirk West shot my author photo. (Laughs) It was like having Major League players come by your baseball camp and say hey, what can we do for ya?” The final poem in After The Meltdown was
written about a very special person in John’s life, as well as many others. “It was by popular demand. Several people
had told me, you’re close friends with Mama Louise Hudson, you should include her in your book. So I did.” Griffin’s poem truly sums up the sweet-
ness of the founder and cook at the legendary H&H Restaurant. There could not be a better way to conclude this wonderful poetry book, written by one of Macon, Georgia’s most in- teresting and talented artists, John Charles Griffin. •
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