â┚¬ËœSong of the Enotah' – growing up gay in1940s Georgia

Growing up anywhere can be difficult and confusing. But growing up gay in 1940s rural Georgia presented its own set of unique challengesâ┚¬â€challenges readers can explore in a new book by Sarasota resident J. Logan Nicholson.

Nicholson takes his readers through a coming of age saga through a collection of short stories, poems and photographs in his new book Song of the Enotah.  The book is about finding yourself as a gay child/man and about the valley and the mountain where he struggled to grow. Enotah is not about being gayâ┚¬â€it is about a gay man living his life as best he can.

Enotah is the Cherokee name of the highest point in the state of Georgiaâ┚¬â€the mountain now known as Brasstown Bald.

â┚¬Å”I started out writing the book for my son and grandchildren. Midway through I realized that I needed to write the book for myself,â┚¬Â says Nicholson. â┚¬Å”What I had to say was still something that needed to be saidâ┚¬â€for people who feel isolated and especially for those in rural areas who actually are.

I would like the reader to understand that no mater what the obstacle in your way, there is always a way around,â┚¬Â he continues.
Nicholson has some favorites among the selections.

â┚¬Å”The poem â┚¬ËœMaker of Music' is my favorite. It is a shortened version of what the whole book is about,â┚¬Â he says. â┚¬Å”My favorite short story is â┚¬ËœI will Survive.' It is a short version of my life. I put my favorite photograph on the front cover. It is a shot of the tallest point in the state of Georgiaâ┚¬â€and it looks down into the little valley where I was born and struggled to grow.â┚¬Â

Song of the Enotah describes the author's experiences from the growing of the family's food to his deciphering the religious beliefs of his isolated mountain community. The book has been described as a rare blend of quirky and humble, as Nicholson recounts events starting in the 1940s through the 1950s, 1960s and continues on to the present.

Enotah explores the concept of being different, wrestling with strong emotions and rebelling against the church and the religion he was born into. It is the tale of what life was like in the 1940sâ┚¬â€in the time before electricity came to the valley.

With life-skills and ethics better suited for the 1800s, he had to adapt to the 1950s and 1960s in warp speed. One thing that did not change was the Enotahâ┚¬â€Logan heard the song from the mountain as a young child and drew strength from that sound even as an adult.

Nicholson says his new publication is a tale about overcoming poverty, childhood sexual abuse, and community and personal expectations. The book flows effortlessly between short story, poetry and photos to highlight the world as seen by Nicholson. Readers will find themselves moving back and forth from past to presentâ┚¬â€learning what life was like for some not so many years ago while learning that love and kindness are precious gifts that grow with the sharing.

Nicholson lived the tale he talks about in the book, from growing the family food to battling the Independent Baptist Doctorine with which he was exposed. Despite the two room school house, poverty and all the things he struggled against, Logan finished high school, served three years in the U.S. Army and then graduated from Tri-County College in Peachtree, N.C.

Nicholson describes himself as a gay family man. He has three children and eight grandchildren. While this is the author's first book, he is an experienced writer.

â┚¬Å”I have written poems since my teen years to help get out my feelings and frustrations and I have written articles for Watermark for 5 – 6 years. I was once the editor of a weekly newspaper in Towns County, Ga.,â┚¬Â says Nicholson. It was as editor of the paper that he developed his love of photography. Poetry was a means of escape since his teenage years.

He combined the two and added the short stories to tell the story of the mountain.

Are things better for gay youth growing up in rural areas like those described in his book?

â┚¬Å”Thank goodness there is more education and more acceptance today than what I had to face in my day with absolutely no help from church, school or friends,â┚¬Â says Nicholson. â┚¬Å”Growing up is incredibly hardâ┚¬â€even if you are straight. Being gay just adds to that confusion. Putting it out there in print can help with that feeling that you are totally alone.â┚¬Â

Nicholson had a book signing at Bookstore1, in Sarasota in June. The Brasstown Valley Resort has the book in its gift shop in the Georgia Mountains, the Byron Herbert Reece Society has asked to have copies in their interpretive center now under construction, and the book is in local libraries in north Georgia

â┚¬Å”I love it when someone reads Song of the Enotah and really gets it,â┚¬Â says Nicholson. â┚¬Å”They come back to tell me what it meant to them and there is instant bonding. Many of the poems were created to entice a responseâ┚¬â€you need not feel the same way I doâ┚¬â€you have your own song. Sing it!â┚¬Â    

Nicholson is retired and lives with his partner in Sarasota. They maintain a home in Ellijay Georgia and they often visit friends and family in the Enotah Valley where the book is set.

Song of the Enotah is available is available for $20 with $4.95 for shipping. For more information or to order, contact Nicholson at 941-922-0883 or email foxhound548@yahoo.com.