Farmers, politicians and the “Duke”
by Jimmy Lee

Jimmy Lee is on the set of GFB’s Georgia Farm Monitor circa 1968. At the time, it was produced at the studios of WMAZ-TV, the CBS affiliate in Macon.

Having been in broadcasting for the past 51 years, I was fortunate to be able to meet and interview a host of great farmers and a number of celebrities and political figures. The list includes the famous, not so famous, and soon to be famous.

I did the Georgia Farm Monitor from 1967-1970 on a part-time basis while employed at WMAZ Radio & Television in Macon. I became a full-time member of the staff on January 1, 1970, when William L. “Bill” Lanier, who was GFB president at the time, hired me.

One distinction, of which I am most proud, is being the only person to do television interviews with every president of Georgia Farm Bureau, from Bob Stiles to Zippy Duvall. Of course not all of these interviews were done while they were president. I was only one when Mr. Stiles served as the first president in 1936! My interview with him came years later.

During my time at Georgia Farm Bureau, I served six GFB presidents. I found them to be honorable men, dedicated to the task of serving the Georgia Farm Bureau membership to the very best of their ability, each in his unique style. Two of them, Mort Ewing and Wayne Dollar, were fellow employees at one time. Both served as director of GFB’s Field Services Department.

Jimmy interviews Ronald Reagan in 1979. He was elected President two years later.

All in all, I did interviews with three U.S. Presidents, several governors, hundreds of politicians, seven U.S. Secretaries of Agriculture, and thousands of farmers. But in all these years, I only interviewed two Georgia Commissioners of Agriculture - Phil Campbell and Tommy Irvin.

One of my favorite interviews was Pete Fountain, a New Orleans jazz clarinetist, who I tried hard to emulate in my younger years but failed so miserably. He played for the American Farm Bureau convention one year, and I got the interview afterwards.

Another favorite was Bob Hope. That interview came under the same circumstances as Mr. Fountain. He was just a super nice gentlemen and a great interview.

Then there was Gov. Jimmy Carter. I asked him what he planned to do when he left the governor’s office, and he told me he was looking forward to getting back to Plains, putting on his jeans and boots, and getting out on the farm where he ought to be. I played that interview on the radio the day he was elected president, and commented that he must have taken a wrong turn somewhere getting back to the farm.

I interviewed Ronald Reagan one night in Macon when he was running for president thanks to my good friend and Bibb County farmer Oliver Bateman. Reagan was a very personable

Jimmy Lee interviews the “Duke” in 1972 at the Ga. Cattlemen’s Convention. John Wayne had a purebred Hereford cattle herd and sold some of his prize bulls to cattle producer George Berner, then president of the GCA.

man, and I enjoyed sitting down and doing a one-on-one interview with him.

But my all-time favorite interview had to be with the “Duke,” John Wayne. Mr. Wayne came to Georgia in the mid 1970s to address the Georgia Cattlemen’s Association annual banquet at Callaway Gardens. The GCA presented him with a very unique gift, a stuffed and mounted Georgia diamondback rattlesnake, for which he was obviously most grateful. That’s the kind of gift you’d expect a True Grit man to cherish.

When I shook hands with him, his hand felt like a catcher’s mitt. It clamped down on mine like a vise. He must have been eight feet tall, and he smelled like leather. With his square chin, I thought his face must have been made out of rock, but his manner was mild. He had a pleasant smile and a little twinkle in his eye. How tough was he? He said he was banned from bowling alleys because he had an overhand delivery.

His staff told me not to ask him anything about his cattle operation. So, naturally, being the crack farm reporter I was, that was the first question I asked him. Much to their amazement, he spent about 10 minutes talking about his purebred cattle operation in Arizona, and the fact that he sold many of his bulls to ranches in Georgia. I think he appreciated getting asked something other than “Who was your favorite co-star,” etc. I felt real proud podner, hittin’ it off with the “Duke” like that.

Yes, Mr. Wayne was my favorite. I haven’t washed that hand since then. It’s still crumpled the way he left it, pilgrim.

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Editor’s note: Jimmy Lee began producing Georgia Farm Monitor programs for the Georgia Farm Bureau Federation in 1967. In 1970, he joined the GFB staff as director of radio and television services. He left GFB in 1985 and founded Master Video Productions. From 1985-1997 he produced and hosted a weekly half-hour television program for the Georgia Peanut Commission and hosted a daily radio program for the Peanut Commission. He returned to GFB in 1997 as a commodity specialist and occasionally produces features for the Georgia Farm Monitor.

Lee retired from GFB on August 31, 2007 with 25 years of service. We asked him to reflect back on his years at Farm Bureau and recall his favorite interviews.