Lewis Grizzard
Lewis Grizzard – Life, Career, and Famous Quotes
Explore the life of Lewis Grizzard — the American humorist and columnist from the South. Learn about his career, style, influence, and memorable quotes that captured Southern wit and wisdom.
Introduction
Lewis McDonald Grizzard Jr. (October 20, 1946 – March 20, 1994) was a distinctive voice in American humor and journalism, best known for his Southern sensibility, self-deprecating wit, and reflections on everyday life. Through his syndicated columns, comedic performances, and many books, Grizzard gave voice to the experiences, concerns, and humor of the American South, while also touching universal themes of love, family, aging, and identity.
Early Life and Family
Lewis Grizzard was born at Fort Benning, Georgia.
His family background was not privileged; Grizzard’s upbringing in rural Georgia and his experience of growing up in a working-class, often strained family environment shaped much of his later humor, which often drew on nostalgic memories, Southern culture, and the struggles of ordinary people.
He often referred to the complicated relationship with his father in his writings; his book My Daddy Was a Pistol and I’m a Son of a Gun delved into that emotional complexity.
Youth and Education
Grizzard attended the University of Georgia in Athens, where he studied journalism. Athens Daily News rather than the student paper, writing local stories.
Even before finishing his degree, Grizzard launched his journalism career. At age 23, he became one of the youngest sports editors at the Atlanta Journal.
Career and Achievements
From Sports or to Humor Columnist
Though he began in sports journalism, Grizzard shifted into the realm of humorous commentary and life writing. After stints in Atlanta and Chicago, he returned to Georgia and started penning a column for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Over time, that column—mixing nostalgia, Southern life, everyday frustrations, and sharp observations—became his signature.
His columns achieved wide syndication, eventually appearing in hundreds of newspapers.
Books & Humor Collections
Grizzard authored or compiled around 25 books, many based on his columns or live performances. His works include:
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If I Ever Get Back to Georgia, I'm Gonna Nail My Feet to the Ground
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Chili Dawgs Always Bark at Night (a collection of columns)
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They Tore Out My Heart and Stomped That Sucker Flat
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I Haven’t Understood Anything Since 1962 and Other Nekkid Truths
His books often oscillated between humor and poignancy, reflecting on aging, love, regret, and the contradictions of Southern identity.
Public Appearances & Stage Work
Beyond print, Grizzard was active as a speaker, stand-up comedian, and lecturer.
He made a brief acting appearance on the TV sitcom Designing Women in 1988.
Style, Themes & Influence
Grizzard’s writing was deeply Southern in sensibility: he invoked regional dialect, cultural touchstones (like food, football, small towns), and the tension between tradition and modern change.
He was known for being critical, sometimes controversially so, of social trends he found alien or discomfiting, including shifts in gender dynamics, political correctness, or changes in Southern life.
Grizzard famously resisted modern writing tools—he preferred to write on a typewriter, saying, “When I write, I like to hear some noise.”
In 1993, he underwent a surgical procedure for a heart valve condition. Complications from a later surgery in 1994 led to his death.
He was cremated, and by his wish some of his ashes were scattered at the 50-yard line of the University of Georgia’s Sanford Stadium.
A museum dedicated to Lewis Grizzard now operates in Moreland, Georgia, housing memorabilia including his typewriter.
Historical Context & Cultural Significance
Grizzard rose to prominence during a time when the American South was undergoing economic, cultural, and social transformations. The civil rights movement, suburbanization, migration, and globalization reshaped Southern identity. In that milieu, Grizzard’s voice served both as a nostalgia for “old values” and a critique of change.
His humor offered readers a way to reconcile affection for tradition with awareness of modern pressures. He tapped into generational anxieties about change—loss of small-town life, erosion of cultural signposts, and the sometimes uneasy assimilation of new norms into Southern life.
Because of his strong regional identity, Grizzard became emblematic for many Southerners who felt their experiences and perspectives were underrepresented in national media. He offered a kind of cultural mirror: funnier, more forgiving, but also more critical, of Southern life than outsiders often portrayed.
Legacy and Influence
Though Grizzard died relatively young, he left a lasting mark on Southern literature, journalism, and humor. His columns continue to be reprinted in collections and anthologies.
The museum in Moreland ensures his legacy remains locally rooted.
Tributes and theatrical portrayals, such as performances based on his writings, help keep his voice alive to newer generations.
While some of his remarks are now critiqued through modern perspectives (especially on social issues), his ability to combine humor, vulnerability, and cultural criticism continues to influence writers who aim to speak regionally but resonate broadly.
Famous Quotes of Lewis Grizzard
Below are some representative quotes that illustrate Grizzard’s wit, humility, and Southern sensibility:
“Life is like a dogsled race. If you ain’t the lead dog, the scenery never changes.” “The public, more often than not, will forgive mistakes, but it will not forgive trying to wiggle out of one.” “I don’t know how I do it, but I’ve written about everything. I’ve written about my shoes.” “I write 200 columns a year, you know. That means I have to have 200 opinions a year. Sometimes, I don’t give a damn one way or the other, but that’s my job, so I got to take a side.” “It’s difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato.” “If you want something sweet, order the pound cake. Anybody who puts sugar in the corn bread is a heathen who doesn’t love the Lord.” “I get letters from people who say, ‘What have you got against women?’ What could I possibly have against women? I’ve married three of them.”
These lines show his ability to turn domestic, relational, or mundane observations into broader reflections laced with humor.
Lessons from Lewis Grizzard
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Write where your roots are, but aim to speak universally
Grizzard’s deeply Southern voice reached beyond the South because the emotions he touched—love, loss, frustration, humor—are widely shared. -
Humor can be a bridge to deeper truths
His comedic style often masked or softened poignant truths about aging, grief, and identity. -
Embrace limitations and constraints
Grizzard’s decision to stick with old tools (typewriter) and his discipline to deliver frequent columns reflect how constraints can define a strong voice. -
Don’t shy from complexity
He acknowledged paradoxes in himself and his culture, even those that might cause backlash—his views on tradition, change, gender, and race were not always unambiguous. -
Build legacy through craft and connection
His legacy is sustained not merely by popularity but by the care he invested in his voice, and by the communities (readers, Southern culture) that felt he spoke for them.
Conclusion
Lewis Grizzard remains one of the most celebrated Southern humorists and columnists of his era—part storyteller, part cultural critic, part sentimentalist. His work is sometimes warmly nostalgic, often wryly critical, and always attuned to the textures of everyday life in the American South.
For readers today, Grizzard offers both a window into a region’s changing identity and an example of how a writer can turn personal voice into cultural resonance. His wit endures, his observations still resonate, and his example invites writers to root themselves in place even as they reach outward to a broader audience.
Explore more of his writings and quotes, and revisit the humor and heart in the Southern stories he left behind.