An Hour Before Daylight: Memories of a Rural Boyhood by Jimmy Carter; 284 pages, Hardcover; Published January 11, 2001 by Simon & Schuster; ISBN: 9780743211932 (ISBN10: 0743211936); ASIN: 0743211936; Language: English
What a surprise to rediscover this great man, an ex-president of the United States, just days away from turning 100 years-old. This book was so good, so interesting, and Jimmy Carter’s voice is present throughout the writing.
My wife and I recently returned from an epic summer camping trip out west that covered thirteen weeks, thousands of miles, and many days with temperatures reaching over one-hundred degrees. It was hellish. But on our return home we canceled plans to visit Elvis Presley’s Graceland in Memphis and decided to go to Plains, Georgia and show our respect to Jimmy Carter who is still holed up in his home under the care of hospice.
Plains, Georgia is basically a National Park. The charming downtown still looks the same. The train depot where Carter’s campaign headquarters was located is now a museum. Billy Carter’s infamous gas station is also a museum. The high school is the Jimmy Carter National Historical Park headquarters and is a wonderful museum. Jimmy Carter’s boyhood home in nearby Archery is also a part of the National Park and his own home in Plains will also be open to the public after Jimmy is no longer with us. Obviously both Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn will be buried at the only home they ever owned. We had no idea this town and the history here would be so interesting.
I was never a big fan of Jimmy Carter, the president. I did vote for Gerald Ford the first time due to my loyalty to the state of Michigan. But I did vote for Jimmy Carter in lieu of Ronald Rayguns as I am not a fan of war or bluster. I never realized all the good Jimmy Carter did for so many people. Visiting Plains and reading this book has completely won me over. There is just too much to report here so I am suggesting we all read this book and visit Plains, Georgia. The Carters have ensured that no one will ever have to pay an entrance fee to visit their hometown, the National Park and all it provides.
I have memories of Carter that are different from yours. I remember the rising gas prices, which a farmer could not afford. I remember the fall of the marine barracks and his lack of response.
He was one of those environmentalists before they were a thing. Everything he signed seemed to doom farmers to poverty instead of making a good living.
Other than that, I have no major complaints about him. He is a decent person and has done his part for Housing for Humanity.
Astonishing how great a soul Jimmy Carter has. I wonder if Ronald Reagan --originator of the neoliberal policies that have decimated the American middle and working classes and sown ignorsanty distrust of government action of ANY kind-- ever did a charitable tyhng in his life?