WARE COUNTY  GA  Bio  Laurie Lee Sparrow

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by 
Barbara Winge barbarawinge@yahoo.com


http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/ware/bio/sparrow.txt

Table of Contents page: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/ware.htm
Georgia Table of Contents: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm

                    

                      WAYCROSS JOURNAL HERALD 
                   Waycross, Ware County, Georgia 
                      Monday, April 22, 1974 
            An Utterly Delightful Lady of Fourth Estate 
     
Laurie Lee Sparrow was an utterly delightful lady of the
Fourth Estate.

Her heart was in the community where she was born and
"raised," and she insisted on the term "raised," not
"reared."

She had an personal interest in just about every family
and individual in Ware County and could write about
almost anyone in a way that made it appear she was a
kinsman.

LAURIE LEE did profiles on many citizens, particularly
elderly residents of Waycross and Ware County and she
could draw them out in a marvelous fashion.

She had a flare for words and phrases and on occasion,
might overdraw things a bit but when she did it was in a
spirit of love and compassion.

Probably most people remember her best as the farm editor
of the Journal-Herald.  She would say in jest that
whenever the editor had an important story to cover, he
would assign it to someone else then tell het to "go
write about the hog market."

But the truth of the matter was that she loved nothing
more than her association with farmers and farm families.
HER INTERVIEWS for the paper and for her radio broadcasts
during the tobacco market seasons were gems.  She somehow
managed to capture the flavor of the auctions as nobody
else could.

The farmer's wife would let down her hair and tell the
lady reporter about the hard work that went into getting
out the leaf crop and the man of the farm would say
somthing like, "Now you know, Mrs. Sparrow, farming ain't
the easy work in the world."

Laurie Lee also reveled in the political scene.  She grew
up in a political family (her relatives held county
offices including the post of sheriff) and she regarded
election night in the old Ware County Courthouse as
something akin to dinner on the grounds.

ALONG WITH this reporter, she would conduct radio
broadcasts which included interviews with the winning and
losing candidates. But she was perhaps at her best when
it came to filling in a time lull between returns.

I would talk with her about the old political days and
she would describe the old ornate spittoons and tell
stories about how one fellow was supposed to have
swallowed a whole fist-full of ballots in an effort to
swing an election to his candidate.

It is not possible to do justice to this interesting,
vivacious lady in a short article such as this.  She was
a lover of poetry and of people, and was enamoured of
almost everything about her home town.

When she died in 1966, her passing reminded those who
knew her of the turning out of a light. Laurie Lee
Sparrow was an unforgettable personality.



(Submitted by Barbara Walker Winge,  barbarawinge@yahoo.com)



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