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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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