Q&A
MEET THE AUTHOR
By Olivia Wakim
CL: How did the idea for “Georgia
Made” come about?
NY: I grew up in the 20th century,
mostly. So I decided I would write
about famous people in Georgia,
from the 20th century. And so that’s
where I started writing the book. I
wanted to do 100, so over two years,
I would write about famous people in
Georgia. That’s like Ted Turner and
Martin Luther King, and then local
people in Cobb County. So that’s
how I got into writing the book and
slowly I became where I could
speak.
CL: What can readers expect from
“Georgia Made”?
NY: Well, I think they would learn a
great history of Georgia. … But I
would say instead of having a
narrative about how great Georgia
was … I wanted to let people read about
these famous people and people you
don’t know and wouldn’t have known,
and let their accomplishments stand …on
their own. And so all the history, not only
just in politics, but we’ve got authors,
famous authors, Alice Walker is one, and
I have philanthropists, business people,
musicians, I have James Brown…
CL: How does inspiration strike you?
NY: I thought people would enjoy this,
and it’s a dierent kind of book, it’s an
easy read, and the young people and
older folks would like this. We’ve already
sold 2,000 copies. A lot of people who
grew up especially in the latter part of
the century would like this book and
their history and what happened to them.
… A lot of these people came from hard
times or had incredibly dicult and
abusive parents. Pat Conroy, he was
famous. And he just wrote a book called,
“The Prince of Tides,” sold a million, but
he suered from both physical and
mental abuse from his father.
CL: Do you have any rituals/best
practices for writing?
NY: Well, being a columnist for Georgia
Trend.… I’m just like a column writer, so
as a writer, I would do research. I had a
column every month and I used to write
three columns a week in my newspaper
days. So when I got to Georgia Trend … I
said, ‘Gosh, I can do this once a month,
Writing can be healing and
transformative, something that
author and journalist Neely Young
can attest to. As a man who had
spent the better part of his career
writing for magazines and
newspapers around the country,
writing was always a large part of his life. After developing a benign brain
tumor that caused Young to have trouble speaking and writing, he had a
daunting recovery process ahead of him. Although it was dicult, Young’s
therapist helped him practice writing sentences and reading them back to
her until he was able to speak and write again. Creating his most recent book
“Georgia Made” helped Young heal his speaking and writing abilities while
drawing on his ample knowledge of influential Georgians from the 20th
century.
Born and raised in Cedartown, Young graduated from the University of
Georgia with a degree in business and began working at the family-owned
Valdosta Daily Times as a photographer. After leaving the Times, Young held
positions from editor to publisher at newspapers around Georgia, and
frequently wrote columns castigating politicians, which he found more fun.
More recently, Young worked as editor-in-chief and publisher of Georgia
Trend magazine until he retired in 2018. During his time at Georgia Trend,
he wrote about famous historical Georgians, a role that inspired him to
compile his knowledge and write “Georgia Made.”
Young’s debut novel recounts the stories of 89 great men and women
who hauled Georgia up from its poor, agrarian roots, making it into the
diverse, prosperous state that it is today. Drawing on ample research as well
as personal connections with some of the featured individuals, Young
includes figures who fought for freedom, served in the statehouse, excelled
at sports, founded institutions and more. They are famous, obscure, colorful,
outrageous and saintly, all with fascinating stories and all consequential.
They include Martin Luther King Jr., Jimmy Carter, Ted Turner, Alice
Walker, Juliette Gordon Low and Vince Dooley. Many are no-brainers, while
others may surprise, but all deserve recognition as the most influential
Georgians of the 20th century.
Young lives in Marietta with his wife, Kathy Young. To purchase a copy
of “Georgia Made,” visit arcadiapublishing.com or find it on Amazon.
Cobb Life Writer Olivia Wakim asked Young to share some of his
insights as a writer and talked the nitty gritty about recognizing your
roots, overcoming obstacles and being Georgia Made.
46 COBB LIFE | SEPTEMBER 2022
/arcadiapublishing.com