TV host, author’s ties to Macon chronicled in new book that has ‘universal’ value
John T. Edge has become known for his ability to tell stories and share history through food, particularly in the South.
He’s reinforcing that ability in his newest book, “House of Smoke: A Southerner Goes Searching for Home,” which is a memoir. The book released Tuesday, and Edge will make an appearance in Macon on Sept. 23 to discuss the new release.
Originally from Clinton, Edge has made a prolific career showcasing the stories of the region he calls home. Currently, he writes for Garden & Gun and hosts the television series “TrueSouth,” a show on the SEC Network that tells the history and culture of the South, often through food.
His previous book, “The Potlikker Papers,” more specifically covered an expansive Southern food history. This new release takes a wider perspective as it centers around his own story. The author said he hopes he’s “able to give and return this story to readers who might see some of their own South in mine.”
Edge said “House of Smoke” shares how integral the food, culture and history of the Southeast have been in shaping his life, as well as that of those around him.
Edge says he grew up in a house steeped in a complicated history, causing him to set out to find home and a sense of belonging. Edge has shared in his TV show that he left his hometown to go to school in Bibb County. After graduating high school, he attended the University of Georgia.
He has left a footprint in the greater Southeast, founding the Southern Foodways Alliance at the University of Mississippi.
“Until I wrote this book, I never recognized why I had to leave home in the first place, why I was searching for another home,” he said.
In the book, he retells how his curiosity to fully understand the flawed but beautiful story of the South motivated his academic efforts and is portrayed in his work today.
“What I aim to do with my writing for Garden & Gun and with this book is to actually reflect the South back to television viewers and readers, so that they get to see themselves in as honest a way as possible, so they get to see the full expanse of who Southerners are,” Edge said.
Edge uses all of the intricacies of Southern history and traditions to tell readers his own story. By traveling throughout the region and knowing it well, he has come to love the place he calls home and encourages his audience to do the same.
“The audience we’ve built through TrueSouth, it’s as if I’ve begun a conversation with them through the show, and this book will deepen that conversation,” Edge said.
On Sept. 23 at the Hay House, Edge will meet with Josephine Bennett of Georgia Public Broadcasting at Macon’s Hay House to discuss his story and the book. Those interested in hearing from Edge can buy tickets at the Bear’s Books website.
Bennett said she’s excited to get to have the discussion with Edge.
“It’s quite a journey and I’m looking forward to talking with him about it,” she said. “I’m really interested to talk about his journey from Jones county and the life he had here to where he is now and some of the changes and challenges.”
The new book is available on Amazon, as well as from several other sellers that are featured on Edge’s website.
“To step into the stage of the Hay House, with a book that has my mother’s kitchen on the cover, and to tell our family story and our story of the South, surrounded by friends and old classmates and writers I admire, that’s a beautiful gift,” Edge said.
His show, “TrueSouth,” has brought him to revisit Middle Georgia before amid other ventures around the region of the Southeastern Conference.
But he said the stories in this memoir are applicable to any region.
“This is a very particular story about my life and Clinton, and Jones County, and Macon, Georgia, and how much they matter to me. People are finding it, in a way, universal, across geographies and experiences … I think in all of us there is a drive to belong somewhere to someone, and my search for home, I think, I hope, echoes other people’s search for home.”