If it’s almost holiday season in Logan County, chances are that prolific Russellville writer Algie Ray Smith has published another book. And the odds are in the favor of anyone who wagers that the family of his youth will be at the center of it. Both theories are unquestionably correct.
The 2013 book, which is the 12th in the series, is entitled Mammy and Me. He calls it a collection of short stories. Each chapter finds Smith’s grandmother, who was always ‘Mammy’ to him and his siblings, interacting with the storyteller, young Algie Ray himself. In earlier books, he called the character representing him ‘Joey.’ In fact, the first book in the series was entitled Joey Stories.
The 2011 edition was called Mammy and the Wild Apes. It, too, featured the Smith children and their relationship with their grandchildren. In a review of that book, I wrote: “He talks about the remembrances of his youth with his wise but eccentric grandmother, Cora Jane Woodward Whiting. Her wisdom ranged from the spiritual to the practical, from folklore to fundamental truths. She rocked and consoled them when it was needed and chided them when they were acting like ‘wild apes.’”
More of the same can be found in Mammy and Me except there is little mention of Smith’s big brother, whom he always called Kenneth. The book is dedicated to the memory of the former Russellville mayor and city councilman, who died this summer after gallantly battling cancer for several years. The dedication also mentions Ken Smith’s being Mr. RHS and captain of the Panther football team, his rank as Lt. Colonel after 35 years in the Kentucky National Guard, his 38 years as a lab technician at the local hospitals, and his partnership in Smith’s Service Station, which the brothers have operated since the death of their beloved father, A.C. Smith.
Algie Ray also speaks lovingly in some of the chapters of one of his sisters, the late Joy Smith Harbison.
Also mentioned on the dedication page is the late Linda Tyree Stratton, who was a member of Algie Ray’s RHS Class of 1959.
In the various chapters/stories, Mammy dispenses medicine, folk remedies, wisdom and food. She’s stern when she needs to be and tender when that’s appropriate. Little Ray Smith learns much about the ways of the world and especially of women of all ages through his dealings with Mammy.
A humorous chapter finds Ray talking Mammy into attending a performance of Bisbee’s Commedians, which always set up in the vacant lot behind the service station at the intersection of the Bowling Green and Franklin roads. A severe storm hits and the boy is convinced Mammy is buried under the big tent. She had beaten a hasty retreat in advance, however.
One chapter that the author acknowledges he is especially proud of is called “The Book of Heroes.” In it, he refers to a 1948 book published by Willard Riley Post #5710, which lists over 1,500 names of Logan Countians who served in World War II. All of those names are reprinted on 10 pages in the book. In fact, the first page details those who died in World War II service, over 90 ‘heroes.’
The book lists these 1948 post officers: Quartermaster Sanford Alexander, Trustee Emerson ‘Doc’ Beauchamp, Senior Vice Commander Earl Davis, Junior Vice Commander Bill Guion, Surgeon Dr. J.P. Glenn, Trustee Leslie Newberry, Post Commander Thomas A. Noe Jr., Trustee James T. Purvis and Adjutant William J. Russell.
County officials named in 1948 were Judge Homer Dorris, Sheriff Reuben Kemp, County Attorney John Albert Whitaker, Tax Commissioner J.H. Hollins, Jailer Hayden Kees, and School Superintendent Robert Piper.
Mammy and Me is valuable for those names alone. Anyone who lived in Logan County during the post war years will have memories stirred, and genealogists will find it useful for research. (Personally, I see lots of Turners named, but the most meaningful to me is my mother’s brother, Chief Petty Officer Cecil Radford Mayton.)
Other local names in Mammy and Me include:
Mattie Bess Arnold, Ervin Belcher, Nancy Borchers, Charlie Bowles, Georgia Brodie, Skinny Browning, Eddie Bush, Ruth Price Carpenter, Jenny Casebier, Edward ‘Pyke’ Coffman, Clyde Darden, Dr. C.V. Dodson, David Duncan, Nora Edwards, Cliente Fugate, Theodocia Graham, Pete Hancock, Dale and Agnes Harris, Gerry Johnson, Clare Louise Jones, Gary Koch, Lelia McEndree, Winnie Minnix, Don McCormick, Jim and Annie Pedigo, Raymond ‘Doc’ Perry, Stella Perry, Eleanor Piper, Clennie Sue Rector Riley, Pete Simmons, Viola Simpson, A.C. and Louise Smith, Herschel Spears, Shorty Taylor, Linda Tyree Stratton, Coach B.H. Weaver. Andrew Whiting, Burr Wilkins, Ike Reed, Joyce Reed Wilson, Ross Woodward and Teeter Woodward.
The cover of Mammy and Me and several drawings inside the book were drawn by local artist Sonny Green, who has done the artwork for many of Smith’s books.
Copies of Mammy and Me can be purchased at Smith’s Service Station on Russellville’s East End or at Riley White on Carrico Park Square in Russellville for $10. Anyone who wants a copy mailed can order it at 917 Sunset Lane, Russellville 42276 for $12.