Bragg family memoir released in time for Bragg Jam’s 20th anniversary

For the past 16 years, Julie Bragg has spent the winter months documenting the events that occurred in her life after her sons’ deaths.

Her book, “The Brothers of Bragg Jam: A Mother’s Memoir,” was released in March, months before the anniversary of the Bragg boys’ deaths and the 20th incarnation of the Macon music festival that started in their memory. The Bragg Jam concert crawl takes place this weekend.

The memoir follows the life of the Bragg family after the deaths of Braxton “Brax” and Taylor “Tate” Bragg. Brax, 28, and Tate, 17, were headed home from a road trip when they were struck on a Texas highway in July 1999.

Bragg’s experiences after her sons’ deaths inspired her to document it for people to understand how to deal with grief in a positive way.

“It wasn’t the sad parts that I wanted to share,” she said. “I wanted to share what all we had learned.”

Almost immediately after losing the two brothers, Bragg said she and her family began experiencing supernatural events.

A few weeks after the brothers’ funeral, a woman went to Bragg’s daughter’s salon and asked to talk to her about her brothers. The woman didn’t know the men but said one of them had been with her since July 4, the day after their deaths.

This started a series of meetings with the woman, who said she was a medium. Bragg said this led to her understanding of the afterlife.

“(Spirits) are very alive and intelligent and humorous, and they bring memories to us that we didn’t realize were important,” she said.

The memoir, available through Mercer University Press, Barnes & Noble, Amazon and Golden Bough, will be on sale at Bragg Jam’s Arts and Kids Festival this weekend. Bragg will sign her book at the kids festival, which is 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday at Cherry Street Plaza.

The Arts and Kids Festival is just part of the festivities, which kick off Friday and continue late into Saturday. Bands will play 92 sets over the two-day event.

Although the Bragg family has preferred for the celebration to stand alone as a community event, Bragg Jam remains close with the family, and all the proceeds go to causes that the brothers supported, said Leila Regan-Porter, Bragg Jam marketing co-chair.

This story was originally published July 25, 2018 at 4:32 PM.