Mark Clegg, author of The Crimson and Gold: Football and Integration in Athens, Georgia, will be Georgia Writers Museum’s Meet the Author presenter September 1, with doors open at 6:30 p.m. for a 7 p.m. program start.
GWM recently contacted Clegg for a brief interview about his writing career and new book.
GWM: What appeals to you most about the sports genre as a writer?
Clegg: Although I have always been a sports fan, I was never particularly drawn to writing a sports book. I was more attracted to the underlying struggle for civil rights in Athens during the 1960s and 1970s, and sports was the perfect vehicle to illustrate this era of monumental societal transformation.
During my boyhood, I was struck by the fact that Southern high schools and college teams were segregated, but the professional leagues had been integrated for almost two decades.
GWM: What, in your opinion, makes The Crimson and Gold unique?
Clegg: The Black high school (Burney-Harris) was something approaching an equal partner as it faced consolidation with its white counterpart, Athens High School. This respect was earned largely through athletic accomplishments, particularly when the two schools played each other in football.
GWM: What surprised you most from your many interviews before writing the book?
Clegg: While everyone realized that consolidating the high schools would result in an upgrade in resources, most African Americans also realized that they would also be sacrificing a rich cultural heritage linked closely to Burney-Harris High School.
GWM: What can you tell us a bit about your writing process?
Clegg: I never start a book with an outline; the story evolves as I conduct research and interviews. I spend most of my time in person or on the phone interviewing people, and many hours in libraries, searching through archives.
GWM: Do you have a favorite writer, and if so, why?
Clegg: I would have to say Flannery O’Connor. She was a great storyteller. The first sentence of A Good Man is Hard to Find is phenomenal: “The grandmother didn’t want to go to Florida.”
This immediately introduces the reader to a key character, conflict, and setting. Pure brilliance.
GWM: What piece of advice gleaned from another author do you consider most helpful as an author?
Clegg: Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. in his “ 8 Rules of Writing” said, “Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.”
GWM: Can you give us a sneak preview of your next book?
Clegg: UGA Press is publishing my next book, The People’s Lake – The Tumultuous History of Lake Lanier. As the lake approaches its 70th year of existence, it maintains a fragile equilibrium as the demands by competing, and sometimes distrusting, interests place ever-increasing strains on its bountiful but finite resources.
Visit Georgia Writers Museum at georgiawritersmuseum. org to register and purchase tickets for $45 each, or $40 each for two or more, with all tickets also including a gourmet-prepared meal.
— Contributed