Located in the beautiful North Georgia Mountains, Appalachian Country Magazine serves its readers and businesses with a lively spirit unmatched by other magazines. We bring professionalism to the magazine business without losing the personal touch that makes us uniquely qualified to represent the mountains in which we live.

Started in 2004 by publisher, Jodi Williams, Appalachian Country Magazine began as an effort to preserve the best of the mountain towns of Georgia—its people, places, history, culture, food, businesses and much more. It is a venture of love and passion. Each person that works on the magazine is chosen due to their personality, skills and heart. Those traits are reflected within the magazine’s pages.

As with any business, the magazine is useless without its readers and advertisers. We sincerely thank them for their continued support and we welcome comments and questions.

Letter from the Publisher

by Jodi Williams

In the next few issues, we are privileged to have the life of two men documented, one at the beginning of his life and the other at the end. This issue contains the story of Emmett Kelly and it got me thinking about my own legacy. At my funeral (far, far into the future), what will people say, will I leave the world a better place for having lived in it and how do I make that impact?

It could be as simple as being the best spouse or mother I can be—raising my children to be responsible members of our world. It could be that I said a word of encouragement when I could have criticized. It could be that I showed courtesy and respect for everyone (and that is really, really hard sometimes). Sometimes, it’s the simplest choices in life that determine who we are and who we will be. An idea turns into a thought. A thought turns into an action. An action turns into a habit. A habit turns into a lifestyle. A lifestyle turns into a legacy. What will be your legacy?

Here are a few sentences I want heard at my funeral:

“I was privileged to know her as the first female starship captain in the fleet.”

“It was because of her experimentation with chocolate that we now have the cure for cancer.”

“It’s hard to believe she was 120 years old. She didn’t look a day over 101.”

“Who knew she could have died like that? I mean, can anyone be that lucky?”

“My grandmother was a big influence in our whole family. Because of her and my grandfather, we have 4 scientists, 2 engineers, 1 writer, 4 Nobel prize winners and 1 artist in the family.”

“Those were her real teeth, you know.”

“Madame President, they’re ready to close the casket on your grandmother.”

“Look! She’s sitting up!”

Have a Happy Legacy!