Seeing Southern
  • Seeing Southern
  • Seeing Southern People
    • Easy Like Sunday Morning | Jimmy Carter
    • Easy Like Sunday Morning | Jimmy Carter | Part 2
    • The Last Backyard Juke Joint in America
    • The Causeway Storyteller
    • A Love Letter to a Moonshiner
    • Her Story | Dolly Parton
    • An Author | A Dream Comes True
    • His Story | Andrew McCarthy
    • His Major League Story | Clint Frazier
    • Ann Chapin | Holy Inspiration
    • Her Story | Juette Logan Hill
    • His Musical Story | Brent Cobb
    • Her Story | Julia Elizabeth Synder Nobles
    • Florida Georgia Line | Georgia Theatre
    • His Story | Private First Class Lloyd Carter
  • Two Coots Travel
    • Seeing Southern | Where Can We Go Next?
    • Seeing Southern | Why We Travel
    • Seeing Southern | What's in Our Bag
    • With Gratitude | Top Travels >
      • With Gratitude | Our Top 5 Moments of 2019
      • With Gratitude + Our Top 5 Moments of 2018
      • With Gratitude + Our Top 5 Moments of 2017
      • With Gratitude + Our Top 5 Moments of 2016
      • With Gratitude + Our Top 5 Moments of 2015
      • With Gratitude + Our Top 5 Moments of 2014
      • With Gratitude + Our Top Moments of 2013
    • Seeing Alabama >
      • Make It Mobile, Mardi Gras
    • Seeing Arizona >
      • 6 Hours in Flagstaff
      • Postcards from Route 66
      • The Legacy of Route 66
      • Planes, Trains, Automobiles
    • Seeing Arkansas >
      • The Clinton Library
      • Rock Town Distillery
      • Moss Mountain
      • Tales from the South
    • Seeing Florida >
      • St. Augustine | What's Old is New Again
      • St. Augustine | Eat To Your Hearts Content
      • Happy New Year Road Trip
      • Heading West, Key West
      • People and Places of Key West
    • Seeing Georgia >
      • Hot Blues on a Humid Georgia Day | Blind Willie McTell
      • Thomasville Rose Festival + Due South
      • It's Who We Are: Storytellers
      • Telling Stories in Young Harris
      • A Colonel and a Governor
      • It's All About the Blues
      • Time for 'Shine in Dawsonville
      • Climbing Higher at Aska >
        • Favorite Aska Recipes
      • It's All About the Animals | Georgia Wildlife Center
      • A Walk to Remember
      • Boys and Their Toys | Tank Town USA
      • Apple Pickin'' at Mercier Orchards
      • A Family Affair | Georgia Mountain Fair
      • All Aboard | Blue Ridge Scenic Railroad
      • Shrimp (and Grits)
      • The Blues of Blind Willie | 2014
      • A Fresh Look at the Prince
      • Taking Home the Golden Onion
      • The Farmhouse Inn | Hundred Acre Farm
      • Tally Ho! | Belle Mead Hunt Club
      • An Inspirational Childhood | Gena Knox
      • Top Southern Chefs Dish Tailgating
      • Pure Southern Sweetness | Sorghum
      • Celebrating Gone with the Wind
      • When in (Georgia's) ROME
      • A Slice of Buttermilk Pie | Yesterdays
      • Mud, Sweat and a Few Tears
      • Georgia's Sunflower Festival
      • St. Mary's | Georgia's Pathway
      • Get Fired Up In Macon
      • A Splash in the Historic Heartland
      • Cakes & Ale
      • A Sweet Onion of a Time
      • The Old Sautee Store
      • Cumberland Island
      • Fun Behind the Lens | GAC
      • Monroe Girls Corps
      • The Destruction of Tara
      • Dawsonville Moonshine Festival
      • Oktoberfest in Helen
      • Blairsville Sorghum Festival
      • The Battle of Chickamauga
      • One Ball | Two Weddings
      • The Battle of Tunnel Hill
      • The Battle of Resaca
      • Happy Plus 2 | Father Luke
      • Jason Aldean | Night Train | Sanford Stadium
      • The Makin' of Round Here
    • Seeing Louisiana >
      • Here's What Hope Looks Like
    • Seeing Maine >
      • Come for the Lobster Roll
      • The Soul of the Coast
      • Hugging the Coastline of Maine
    • Seeing MIssissippi >
      • Mississippi Sings the Blues
    • Seeing New York >
      • 24 Hours in New York City
    • Seeing North Carolina >
      • Tasting Sylva: Come for the Beer
      • The Super Bowl . . . of Sorts
      • A Total Eclipse of the Sun
      • The Great Smoky Mountain Railroad
      • Getaway to Bryson City
      • Running For The Pot Of Gold
      • Mama to Son | Harris Leatherworks
      • The Earthy Balance of the Yadkin Valley
    • Seeing South Carolina >
      • Old 96 District
      • The Lowcountry of South Carolina
      • A Taste of Gullah
      • Left Hand, Right Hand | Zipline Hilton Head
      • Siesta at Sonesta
      • A State of Euphoia 2013 >
        • Taste of the South | Euphoria
        • Find Euphoria in Greenville
    • Seeing Tennessee >
      • Watching Paint Dry | See Rock City
      • Soggy Bottom Boys Reunited
      • Graceland
      • The Magic in the Holler | Gatlinburg
      • Working Class Art | Robert Alewine
      • What Would Wilma Maples Think?
      • Storytelling Festival
      • Smoky Mountain Fireflies
      • Robert Tino's Appalachian View
      • Love's Farewell Tour | International Storytelling Festival
    • Seeing Virginia >
      • National DDay Memorial
      • For the Love of the Train
      • A Night with the Salem Red Sox
    • Seeing West Virginia >
      • Mountains Set to Music
      • Travel South in Charleston
      • Hitting the Trails in Logan
      • West Virginia in Black and White
    • Seeing the World >
      • Seeing Belize
      • Seeing Bermuda | Bermudiful Bermuda >
        • 10 Days | 2 Coots | 1 Paradise
      • Seeing Canada >
        • The Rising of Noelle-Ange
      • Seeing Costa Rica >
        • Pack Lighter, Travel Better
        • Outside the Box | Medical Tourism
        • Only on Osa
        • Eating My Way Down Calle 33
      • Seeing Europe | Viking River Cruises 2019 >
        • Amsterdam Ramblings
        • Travel Like a Viking | Rhine River
        • Travel Like A Vking | The Alruna's Allure
      • Seeing Greece 2018 >
        • Two Coots Go Greek
        • The Poet Sandlemaker
        • Heaven's New Address is Halkidiki, Greece
        • His Passion for Wine | Danai Resort
      • Seeing Grenada 2016 >
        • Aboard the S/V Mandalay | Windjammer
      • Seeing Ireland 2016 >
        • A Wee Little Travel for Two Coots
        • Day 1 | Dublin > Kilkenny
        • Day 2 | Kilkenny > Kenmare
        • Day 3 | Kenmare > Dingle
        • Day 4 | Dingle > Doolin
        • Day 5 | Doolin > Westport
        • Day 6 | Westport > Donegal
      • Seeing Ireland >
        • Five Star Luxury in Dublin
        • Belfast North
        • County Antrim & Giants Causeway
        • Walking Westeros with Hodor
        • Seeing Derry
      • Seeing Italy 2017 >
        • Salerno and the Amalfi Coast
        • Sicily
        • Castellemmare del golfo
        • Over my Shoulder | Suzanne's Journey
      • Seeing Mexico | 2015 Viceroy Rivera Maya
      • Seeing Spain 2019 >
        • Sagrada Familia in Barcelona
        • Pamplona and San Fermin
  • Southern Diary
    • The Road to Italian Citizenship
  • Len + Judy
    • Seeing Southern Photography >
      • 2021 | Behind the Lens
      • 2020 | Behind the Lens
      • 2019 | Behind the Lens
      • 2018 | Behind the Lens
      • 2017 | Behind the Lens
      • 2016 | Behind the Lens
    • North Georgia Moonshine
    • 100 Things To Do In Athens
    • Portfolio | Editorial & Photography
    • Media Kit
    • Words of Praise | Seeing Southern
  • Contact
  • Shop

A Love Letter to a Moonshiner

With thanks and gratitude to Carlos Lovell, liquor maker . . .

introduction

from North Georgia Moonshine: A History of the Lovells & other Liquor Makers
His view has not changed in sixty-plus years. Sitting plumb on a fourlegged waist-high stool, the elder gentleman balances his weathered frame, studying the crystal clear stream rolling from a sterling spout. He has followed its journey from a ten-foot-high, 175-gallon copper still and now watches it empty into a 3 -gallon stainless steel pot. As the pot fills to its brim, he transfers the full container to the right, placing another of the same size underneath the spout. The methodic transition occurs without a single drop of liquid escaping. His attention turns to the full one, scooping a little off the top into a hydrometer and tilting it upward toward the light. He knows the scientific ritual, but he prefers to pay attention to the beading, allowing hefty, plump bubbles to deliver the story of the liquid’s strength. When he is satisfied, he pours the sampling back into the full bucket, which he, in turn, dumps into a stainless steel 200-gallon drum, where liquid ripples and shimmers as it dances in the light. Placing the emptied container on the concrete floor within an arm’s reach of the stool, he sits back down, and in about six or seven minutes, he will do it all over again. Fixed on the spout once more, his eyes are vigilant as it delivers liquid gold that clocks in at about 130 proof.


It was a brisk autumn morning the first time I drove into the graveled yard of Ivy Mountain Distillery in Mount Airy, Georgia. I walked into the warehouse and you grabbed my hand, shaking it aggressively as any good mountaineer would do. Then, Carlene [your daughter] told you who my daddy was, and suddenly, the handshake became a hug, and the story became so much more. It was only later that she told you I was a writer and had come for an interview. Your turned all gruff-like, ordering me to put away my recorder; you didn't care who my daddy was at that point. I ignored you like any good Southern gal journalist would do, and we talked. That was the first of 87 times I pressed "record" on my little machine.

For the next three years, I listened, and we walked into your past, a journey for you (I believe) was a long time coming. It had been years since you revisited (in your mind as well as physically visited) the old home place, the rickety bridge that led to the fields, the barn where you magically made mason jars disappear, the field where fox hounds yelped and heralded dinner time. Oh, what sweet memories of a life so rich in family and mischievousness. It was time to remember; for as we both know, time is fleeting.

I never told you this, but I remember my mama telling me about "those Lovells. They make ‘shine. You stay away from them." Yes, my devout-to-the-core Southern Baptist mother would have never approved of our journey together but she would have been tickled pink at the book that was born. The story, the content - well, that was just wrong. I can't help but laugh because I see similarities in you and my parents. Strong mountain people. Hard-nosed. Stalwart. Unforgiving. Speaking your mind. Once in a blue moon, letting emotion trump common sense. What a generation you are! I already miss you in my life.
 
And your family . . . what a joy meeting your brother Fred and hearing stories about birthday parties with Ted Turner; your brother Dub and his fishing with governors Jimmy Carter and Lester Maddox; your sister Judy, mastering fox hounds as well as your mama’s sweet potato pie. And your daughter Carlene. It’s not often we, as adults, make new friends, share old memories, and celebrate identical passions. She is my most coveted surprise in this writer’s journey; I have a new friend, proving that surprises still are possible when you think the surprise world has given up on you.
 
Yes, North Georgia Moonshine is about moonshine, about making it, hiding it, toting it, and bootlegging it. You taught me about sour mash and that using the best white or yellow corn is paramount. Water, however, good spring water is the most important ingredient followed closely by your ability to keep your mouth shut. And then, there’s the element of trust, for if you didn’t trust someone, you didn’t do business with them. You didn’t have conversations with people you didn’t know, and for sure if you did, you watched what you said. You would do anything to take care of your family. Feeding the family was more than bottom lands full of corn or creek beds filled with trout; it took ingenuity and taking matters into your hands when the cupboard was getting empty, when school shoes were needed for the winter, when taxes needed to be paid or mattresses needed to be purchased. It was important to take risks, and if they turned out any way other than the way you wanted, don’t regret anything. Don’t look back. Move on.
 
You learned all this from your daddy, Virge Lovell, and you never forget the lessons he taught. You might have deviated from his word when you thought you knew better, but you always came back. He would be proud of what you have accomplished, making his illegal brew, legal.
 
I never thought about how my life would change in the writing of this book, the lessons I would learn, the truths I would discover. For that matter, how would the reader feel? What about young ones reading the exploits of an old moonshiner, taking risks, and yes, doing what was illegal? What is your message – my message – to them?
 
As an old English teacher – someone who is firmly rooted in the power of words and literary might – here’s my criticism. In layman’s terms, here’s the lessons learned:

  1. Daddy is always right. Shortcuts make sugar liquor and sugar liquor makes money, but it doesn’t make good whiskey. Never take shortcuts.
  2. Do what you love. Even at 86, you knew what you loved and you did it. You’re never too old to follow your dreams.
  3. Everything real is rooted in trust. Whether it’s making ‘shine or making friends, you must trust the person in front of you. And yourself.
  4. Never be sorry. You admitted that some of the things you did might not have been right, but you did them anyway because you had to survive. Take ownership of your actions and move on.
  5. You can go home again. Remembering is healthy and going home is essential. There are stories to be told and places to revisit, if only in those stories. No matter how much time has passed, take that journey. Family is the most important thing. Period.
 
I cannot thank you enough for the time you have given me, the lessons you have taught me, the confidence you have instilled in me. You – Carlos Lovell – might simply be a liquor maker, but in my book, you’re superman. Shine on.
 
Picture

An excerpt from Chapter 3, North Georgia Moonshine: A History of the Lovells and Other Liquor Makers
 
“Whatcha going home, son?” Virgil asked Carlos in the fall of 1940. It was about dinnertime on the first day of Carlo’s seventh grade year.
            “I ain’t going back. I don’t like nothin’ about it.”
            “You gotta go to school,” replied Virgil. Listening to his father, Carlos returned but spent a total of only two days in the seventh grade at Providence School in Batesville; he had had enough.
            He wanted to make liquor. He wanted to make money.
            “You’re going to have to earn your keep.” Virgil laid the ground rules.
            Since Carlos has been old enough to balance a sugar sack on his shoulders, he had been toting and walking ingredients to and from the shacks. “There wasn’t no fun about it,” he bellows. “I made liquor to make money.” Just like his daddy.
            It wasn’t that Virgil Lovell was a big liquor maker; it’s that he was a good liquor maker. “Some people’d make more in one day than he’d make in ten years,” according to his son Dub. Supply and demand governed production. And when the demand was high, production and profits soared. He told them, “Boys, if you make liquor and put it in a fifty-gallon barrel and take care of it and don’t let the law get it, it’s like putting money in the bank,”
            And so they did . . .
 
In the early 1900s, moonshine was a way of life, and nearly every resident lived it. Out of the woods of North Georgia and Habersham County came Virgil Lovell, his boys, their recipe and their legacy. The family went from illegal to legal, and their product stands today as a testament to the determination of a region to hold on to its roots. Joining their story were hundreds just like them . . . liquors makers like Glenn Johnson . . . all professing theirs was the best. Through firsthand accounts from the Lovells and extensive research, author Judith Garrison revives the story of liquor making and a Georgia legacy.

Find your copy of North Georgia Moonshine on Amazon.com. Now available on Kindle.
Picture

Submit

What We Do

Storytelling
Photography
Seeing Southern Photography

Where We Go

Georgia
The South
The World

Who We Are

Our Story
Contact Us
Follow Us

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
©2013-2022 Seeing Southern, L.L.C. All images and text appearing on this website are the exclusive property of Judy and Len Garrison d.b.a. Seeing Southern, L.L.C. unless otherwise stated. Two Coots Travel, Judy Garrison Writer, Groceries and Grit, Seeing Southern Photography, and Full Circle Fotography are part of Seeing Southern, L.L.C.
All  images and text are protected under the United States and international copyright laws. Images and text may not be reproduced, copied, transmitted or manipulated
without the written permission of Seeing Southern, L.L.C.


P.O. Box 277, Farmington, Georgia  30638 | SeeingSouthern@gmail.com | SeeingSouthernPhotography@gmail.com
  • Seeing Southern
  • Seeing Southern People
    • Easy Like Sunday Morning | Jimmy Carter
    • Easy Like Sunday Morning | Jimmy Carter | Part 2
    • The Last Backyard Juke Joint in America
    • The Causeway Storyteller
    • A Love Letter to a Moonshiner
    • Her Story | Dolly Parton
    • An Author | A Dream Comes True
    • His Story | Andrew McCarthy
    • His Major League Story | Clint Frazier
    • Ann Chapin | Holy Inspiration
    • Her Story | Juette Logan Hill
    • His Musical Story | Brent Cobb
    • Her Story | Julia Elizabeth Synder Nobles
    • Florida Georgia Line | Georgia Theatre
    • His Story | Private First Class Lloyd Carter
  • Two Coots Travel
    • Seeing Southern | Where Can We Go Next?
    • Seeing Southern | Why We Travel
    • Seeing Southern | What's in Our Bag
    • With Gratitude | Top Travels >
      • With Gratitude | Our Top 5 Moments of 2019
      • With Gratitude + Our Top 5 Moments of 2018
      • With Gratitude + Our Top 5 Moments of 2017
      • With Gratitude + Our Top 5 Moments of 2016
      • With Gratitude + Our Top 5 Moments of 2015
      • With Gratitude + Our Top 5 Moments of 2014
      • With Gratitude + Our Top Moments of 2013
    • Seeing Alabama >
      • Make It Mobile, Mardi Gras
    • Seeing Arizona >
      • 6 Hours in Flagstaff
      • Postcards from Route 66
      • The Legacy of Route 66
      • Planes, Trains, Automobiles
    • Seeing Arkansas >
      • The Clinton Library
      • Rock Town Distillery
      • Moss Mountain
      • Tales from the South
    • Seeing Florida >
      • St. Augustine | What's Old is New Again
      • St. Augustine | Eat To Your Hearts Content
      • Happy New Year Road Trip
      • Heading West, Key West
      • People and Places of Key West
    • Seeing Georgia >
      • Hot Blues on a Humid Georgia Day | Blind Willie McTell
      • Thomasville Rose Festival + Due South
      • It's Who We Are: Storytellers
      • Telling Stories in Young Harris
      • A Colonel and a Governor
      • It's All About the Blues
      • Time for 'Shine in Dawsonville
      • Climbing Higher at Aska >
        • Favorite Aska Recipes
      • It's All About the Animals | Georgia Wildlife Center
      • A Walk to Remember
      • Boys and Their Toys | Tank Town USA
      • Apple Pickin'' at Mercier Orchards
      • A Family Affair | Georgia Mountain Fair
      • All Aboard | Blue Ridge Scenic Railroad
      • Shrimp (and Grits)
      • The Blues of Blind Willie | 2014
      • A Fresh Look at the Prince
      • Taking Home the Golden Onion
      • The Farmhouse Inn | Hundred Acre Farm
      • Tally Ho! | Belle Mead Hunt Club
      • An Inspirational Childhood | Gena Knox
      • Top Southern Chefs Dish Tailgating
      • Pure Southern Sweetness | Sorghum
      • Celebrating Gone with the Wind
      • When in (Georgia's) ROME
      • A Slice of Buttermilk Pie | Yesterdays
      • Mud, Sweat and a Few Tears
      • Georgia's Sunflower Festival
      • St. Mary's | Georgia's Pathway
      • Get Fired Up In Macon
      • A Splash in the Historic Heartland
      • Cakes & Ale
      • A Sweet Onion of a Time
      • The Old Sautee Store
      • Cumberland Island
      • Fun Behind the Lens | GAC
      • Monroe Girls Corps
      • The Destruction of Tara
      • Dawsonville Moonshine Festival
      • Oktoberfest in Helen
      • Blairsville Sorghum Festival
      • The Battle of Chickamauga
      • One Ball | Two Weddings
      • The Battle of Tunnel Hill
      • The Battle of Resaca
      • Happy Plus 2 | Father Luke
      • Jason Aldean | Night Train | Sanford Stadium
      • The Makin' of Round Here
    • Seeing Louisiana >
      • Here's What Hope Looks Like
    • Seeing Maine >
      • Come for the Lobster Roll
      • The Soul of the Coast
      • Hugging the Coastline of Maine
    • Seeing MIssissippi >
      • Mississippi Sings the Blues
    • Seeing New York >
      • 24 Hours in New York City
    • Seeing North Carolina >
      • Tasting Sylva: Come for the Beer
      • The Super Bowl . . . of Sorts
      • A Total Eclipse of the Sun
      • The Great Smoky Mountain Railroad
      • Getaway to Bryson City
      • Running For The Pot Of Gold
      • Mama to Son | Harris Leatherworks
      • The Earthy Balance of the Yadkin Valley
    • Seeing South Carolina >
      • Old 96 District
      • The Lowcountry of South Carolina
      • A Taste of Gullah
      • Left Hand, Right Hand | Zipline Hilton Head
      • Siesta at Sonesta
      • A State of Euphoia 2013 >
        • Taste of the South | Euphoria
        • Find Euphoria in Greenville
    • Seeing Tennessee >
      • Watching Paint Dry | See Rock City
      • Soggy Bottom Boys Reunited
      • Graceland
      • The Magic in the Holler | Gatlinburg
      • Working Class Art | Robert Alewine
      • What Would Wilma Maples Think?
      • Storytelling Festival
      • Smoky Mountain Fireflies
      • Robert Tino's Appalachian View
      • Love's Farewell Tour | International Storytelling Festival
    • Seeing Virginia >
      • National DDay Memorial
      • For the Love of the Train
      • A Night with the Salem Red Sox
    • Seeing West Virginia >
      • Mountains Set to Music
      • Travel South in Charleston
      • Hitting the Trails in Logan
      • West Virginia in Black and White
    • Seeing the World >
      • Seeing Belize
      • Seeing Bermuda | Bermudiful Bermuda >
        • 10 Days | 2 Coots | 1 Paradise
      • Seeing Canada >
        • The Rising of Noelle-Ange
      • Seeing Costa Rica >
        • Pack Lighter, Travel Better
        • Outside the Box | Medical Tourism
        • Only on Osa
        • Eating My Way Down Calle 33
      • Seeing Europe | Viking River Cruises 2019 >
        • Amsterdam Ramblings
        • Travel Like a Viking | Rhine River
        • Travel Like A Vking | The Alruna's Allure
      • Seeing Greece 2018 >
        • Two Coots Go Greek
        • The Poet Sandlemaker
        • Heaven's New Address is Halkidiki, Greece
        • His Passion for Wine | Danai Resort
      • Seeing Grenada 2016 >
        • Aboard the S/V Mandalay | Windjammer
      • Seeing Ireland 2016 >
        • A Wee Little Travel for Two Coots
        • Day 1 | Dublin > Kilkenny
        • Day 2 | Kilkenny > Kenmare
        • Day 3 | Kenmare > Dingle
        • Day 4 | Dingle > Doolin
        • Day 5 | Doolin > Westport
        • Day 6 | Westport > Donegal
      • Seeing Ireland >
        • Five Star Luxury in Dublin
        • Belfast North
        • County Antrim & Giants Causeway
        • Walking Westeros with Hodor
        • Seeing Derry
      • Seeing Italy 2017 >
        • Salerno and the Amalfi Coast
        • Sicily
        • Castellemmare del golfo
        • Over my Shoulder | Suzanne's Journey
      • Seeing Mexico | 2015 Viceroy Rivera Maya
      • Seeing Spain 2019 >
        • Sagrada Familia in Barcelona
        • Pamplona and San Fermin
  • Southern Diary
    • The Road to Italian Citizenship
  • Len + Judy
    • Seeing Southern Photography >
      • 2021 | Behind the Lens
      • 2020 | Behind the Lens
      • 2019 | Behind the Lens
      • 2018 | Behind the Lens
      • 2017 | Behind the Lens
      • 2016 | Behind the Lens
    • North Georgia Moonshine
    • 100 Things To Do In Athens
    • Portfolio | Editorial & Photography
    • Media Kit
    • Words of Praise | Seeing Southern
  • Contact
  • Shop