to work as a freelance writer. Within months, he hinted to Minter, by then managing editor at The Atlanta Constitution, that he wanted to return to newspapering. Minter hired him again. In late 1975, Grizzard was 28 when he moved north as executive sports editor at the Chicago SunTimes. Not long after, Minter hired him a third time, this go-round to helm the newly combined weekend Journal and Constitution. “He came down for the weekend but didn’t take the job,” Minter recalls. “He said he owed it to them in Chicago to stay—that he hadn’t been there long enough.” Grizzard ended up hating the cold weather and almost everything else about Chicago. When his former boss mentioned in 1977 that he was looking for a columnist, Grizzard was quick to ask, “How about me?” “He sent me three columns, and one of those was ‘If I Ever Get Back to Georgia, I’m Gonna Nail My Feet to the Ground,’” Minter recalls. Grizzard later expanded that column into a book about his journalism career. Grizzard returned to The Atlanta Constitution, first writing a sports column before moving to the news side where his humor column ran four days a week. His column eventually was syndicated in 450 newspapers, bringing him fame throughout the nation. In 1979, he published his first book, “Kathy Sue Loudermilk, I Love You,” a collection of his columns. He wrote 20 books, with several making the New York Times bestseller list. Year after year, he was the South’s best-selling author. His popularity as a writer opened doors. He recorded humor albums, did stand-up comedy, and made several TV appearances. But he considered one of his greatest claims to fame was having a plate at Sprayberry’s named for him. The Lewis Grizzard Special features his favorite meal there: a barbecue
sandwich, Brunswick stew and onion rings. As Grizzard’s career skyrocketed, his health began to plummet. When he was a young man, doctors had detected a heart murmur but figured it wouldn’t cause him much trouble. They were wrong. “It’s what killed him,” says Minter, who visited Grizzard daily during his last hospital stay. In his column and books, Grizzard shared details of his failed marriages, childhood mischief and adult foibles. When he fell ill, readers knew about it, sympathized and suffered with him. He chronicled his heart’s condition, from the heartbreak of losing wives, Georgia games and his beloved dog Catfish — to the heart repair he underwent in multiple surgeries. In 1982, he wrote about that year’s successful heart surgery in “They Tore Out My Heart and Stomped That Sucker Flat.” In that book, he recalled the kindness of friends back home: “Somebody put up a big board at the courthouse in Newnan and people signed it, wishing me a speedy recovery. When they brought it to my house and gave it to me, I didn’t cry. When they left, I cried.” Twelve years and two surgeries later, in March 1994 he was back at Emory Hospital in Atlanta for his fourth and final heart surgery. After he died, friends and fans from throughout the country exposed their own broken hearts in condolences and tributes to Grizzard. Today, fans from around the world visit the Moreland Hometown Heritage Museum to view Grizzard’s high school letterman’s jacket, childhood photos and memorabilia. The tributes and condolences continue, according to Museum Spokesperson Carol Chancey. “We miss our friend,” she concludes.
Top: His parents, Christine Word and Lewis Grizzard Sr., love on Lewis. Above: Grizzard adored his grandmother, “Mama Willie” Word. Photos Courtesy of Moreland Hometown Heritage Museum: A Tribute to Lewis Grizzard