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Some Stuff I Wrote (2001) H. Morris Williams
the horror of it.
Friend Frank Harrison who had I larrison-Revels Wrecker Service back then was one of the
first on the scene. He once told me, “I went to a lot of bad wrecks in my line of work and I saw some
terrible sights but that was one of the worst. I didn’t sleep too well for several nights after that.”
So whatever happened to “Dead Man’s Curve?” Eventually, the Department of
T ransportation straightened and four-laned that section of Highway 41. Nowadays, people can drive
by that area and not even particularly notice that there was ever a curve there. But local people can
tell you a lot they remember about accidents that happened on “Dead Man’s Curve”. Just ask
around.
By the way, there was also a “Dead Man’s Curve” on Highway 90 near Wellborn where
several people were killed in accidents until the main road was rerouted. At least two from Lake
City died there but that’s a story for another day.
Movie Memories
April 26,1994
Some of the happiest hours of my youth were spent watching movies in the cool, comfortable
darkness of the long-closed Grand and DeSoto theaters.
The Grand was my early favorite. It was there that I joyously kept regular appointments
every Saturday afternoon to watch the adventures of Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Hopalong Cassidy,
Gabby Hayes, Tex Ritter, Johnny Mack Brown, Tim McCoy and other cowboy friends. Bill Elliot
was my favorite — he wore two guns, holsters backward — even though he sometimes kissed a
girlfriend.
Sometimes I was as interested in other movie-watchers as I was in the movie itself. For
example, there was a young family of three that often sat in front of me — a young mother
sandwiched between her little son and daughter. They always bought a 12-ounce bottle of Pepsi
Cola and a pack of five crackers for refreshments during the movie. Snuggling close together, that
little family passed that one bottle of Pepsi back and forth taking turns sipping it, all through the
movie. As for the five crackers, they always divided them the same way - two for each child and one
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