I Think I Know Them!

I recall reading (or maybe it was watching an interview) one time about that wonderful Southern writer Fannie Flagg, author of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe. She said she was watching a pageant on TV and talking to another Southern friend on the phone, who was also watching the pageant. Someone they though they knew came on, and Ms. Flagg mentioned how Southern women always end up saying things like "Isn't that Essie Smith of the Birmingham Smiths?" Or something to that effect.

This is so true, as I was reminded last night. Southern women are always making those connections. It's even become our family joke, since the kids have learned if they mention a name then I ultimately know that person or their family somehow. It's always bad tidings when I say "Is his Momma named Sue (or Betty, or Mary, etc.)?" - at least bad tidings in the eyes of the kids.

Some people might say that Southern women don't have a monopoly on this trait. Maybe not anymore, if you look at the growing interest in family trees and genealogy. However, Southern women turned that into an art form decades ago, with genealogy both familial and social.

So I am reading a book on my Kindle called Death Trap by M. William Phelps. I absolutely love true crime stories and murder mystery or suspense books. This one looked interesting as it was a death that presumably resulted from a custody dispute between a man and his ex-wife. Being a stepmother to four children and witnessing first hand a high conflict custody dispute. I have even known what it was like to wonder if one day she would "snap" and end up trying to hurt or even kill us. So, this book immediately looked interesting.

The story pulled me in right away with the ex-husband and his current wife (Alan and Terra Bates) missing and probably dead.  The book alternated with the investigation at where the bodies were located (Georgia), the family homes where the Bates were expected (Alabama), and the history of the exes (Alan Bates and Jessica McCord) and their conflicted relationship. About 40% of the way through the book, the author gave us the history of Terra Bates. I was surprised to see that her "formative years were spent in Clemson, South Carolina." Now, this is my hometown so it immediately rang a bell.

I double checked the parent names: Joe Klugh and Jan Gillespie (they had divorced and her mother remarried). Realizing she was born Terra Klugh, and her father was Joe Klugh I suddenly realized these were very familiar names. And thus my "Fannie Flagg" moment, repeated often times throughout any true Southern girls' life, was started. After a quick check, I put together that Joe Klugh was the son of Ed and Maureen Simpson. Naturally that led to a phone call with my mother, who said, "Why yes! The Simpsons were best friends with your grandfather, and you met them several times. You need to come talk to your Daddy tomorrow about them." I did recall that Mrs. Simpson worked for Dr. Hunter, who saw my grandparents for years.

Once I told Momma how I got interested, she said, "I need to make some calls tomorrow and find out more about this."Long before Facebook and other social networking, Southern women used the telephone to connect and check information. In fact, there have always been three modes of communication: telephone, telegraph, and tell a Southern woman.

Like I said to my husband last night after I hung up with Momma, "Ain't that the South for ya?"