Paul Hemphill

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Not to be confused with Paul Hempel.

Paul James Hemphill (February 18, 1936 – July 11, 2009) was an American journalist and author who wrote extensively about often-overlooked topics in the Southern United States such as country music, Evangelicalism, football, stock car racing and the blue collar people he met on his journeys around the South.

Early life and education

Hemphill was born in 1936 in

little league to writing about high school sports.[1]

Reporter

He was a sports reporter for papers in

Atlanta Journal shortly thereafter, where he became a reader favorite for his reporting on people and places from the South. He resigned despite all his experiences and opportunities with the paper, having felt that "with the next column due by dawn, I had run out of gas".[1]

Author

He started his first and most successful book, The Nashville Sound: Bright Lights and Country Music (1970), while at Harvard University on a Nieman Fellowship, a program designed to allow journalists the time to reflect on their careers and focus on honing their skills. The book was described by The New York Times as being "generally regarded as one of the best books on country music ever written".[1] The book provided an eye on the scene around the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee, at a time when country music was starting to achieve broader cultural recognition.[2]

The Good Old Boys (1974) was the first collection of his newspaper pieces, featuring items about country singers, baseball players and other assorted characters. His 1973 novel about a minor league baseball team,

William L. Petersen. Other novels included 1985's The Sixkiller Chronicles and his 1989 work King of the Road.[1]

Though Hemphill had deeply respected his truck-driving father in his youth, he later began to despise him for his unchecked

Winston Cup Circuit published in 1997. His 2005 Hank Williams biography Lovesick Blues marked a return to country music and his final book, the 2008 A Tiger Walk Through History was the story of Auburn Tigers football.[1]

Hemphill served on the faculty at Emory University, Brenau University and the University of Georgia, where he taught writing.[2] Hemphill was posthumously inducted into the University of Georgia, Georgia Writer's Hall of Fame in 2015, and the Atlanta Press Club Hall of Fame in 2021.[3][4]

Personal

Hemphill died at age 73 on July 11, 2009 from

metastasized to his lungs. He was survived by his second wife, Susan Percy, as well as three children from his first marriage, a daughter from his second marriage and six grandchildren.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Grimes, William. "Paul Hemphill, Chronicler of the South, Dies at 73", The New York Times, July 12, 2009. Accessed July 12, 2009.
  2. ^ a b c Emerson, Bo. "Noted Atlanta author Paul Hemphill dies", The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, July 11, 2009. Accessed July 12, 2009.
  3. ^ "Paul Hemphill | Georgia Writer's Hall of Fame".
  4. ^ "Awards & Hall of Fame".
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