Paul Hemphill

Paul James Hemphill (February 18, 1936 – July 11, 2009) was an American journalist and author who wrote extensively about often-overlooked topics in the Southern United States such as country music, Evangelicalism, football, stock car racing and the blue collar people he met on his journeys around the South.

Early life and education Hemphill was born in 1936 in Birmingham, Alabama, where his father was a truck driver. While in college, he worked as an intern at the Birmingham News, working his way up from covering little league to writing about high school sports.

Reporter He was a sports reporter for papers in Augusta, Georgia and Tampa, Florida before being hired in 1964 by the short-lived Atlanta Times. His writing led to a spot as a featured columnist in the Atlanta Journal shortly thereafter, where he became a reader favorite for his reporting on people and places from the South. He resigned despite all his experiences and opportunities with the paper, having felt that "with the next column due by dawn, I had run out of gas".

Personal Hemphill died at age 73 on July 11, 2009, from throat cancer that had metastasized to his lungs. He was survived by his second wife, Susan Percy, as well as three children from his first marriage, a daughter from his second marriage and six grandchildren.