Valerie Boles

Valerie Aiken Boles ( Fennell; November 8, 1932 – May 8, 2009) was an American root doctor. She came to prominence after becoming the inspiration for one of the main characters in John Berendt's 1994 true-crime book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Boles, of Gullah tongue, was renamed "Minerva" in the book, and was portrayed by Irma P. Hall in Clint Eastwood's 1997 film adaptation. with Percy H. Washington (1890–1973), a root doctor known as Dr. Eagle (renamed Dr. Buzzard in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil) with whom she had one child: Anthony Ray Fennell (1954–2019). Boles took over Washington's practice, which doubled as their 1950-built 1408 Congress Street home in Beaufort, South Carolina, after his death in 1973. The "garden" in the book's title is Citizens Cemetery in Beaufort. In the film, Savannah's Bonaventure Cemetery was used to represent the "colored cemetery down the road".

A recluse, Boles rarely allowed her photograph to be taken (there were only two known occurrences), much less allow people to touch her, due to her belief that she would become jinxed by a curse. "When you gave her money, she didn't want you to hand it to her," John Berendt said at the time of her death. "You had to put it down on a table or on the floor, because that way you can't 'work' with her hands. If you touch her, you're 'working her hand.'" played Judge Samuel L. White in the film (his own role being filled by Australian actor Jack Thompson). Seiler explained that he would meet with Boles on a bench in Savannah's Monterey Square. "We'd sit out there a few minutes, but she'd never say anything. She didn't trust me."

In 2004, Boles was featured in Life magazine. aged 76. She was interred in Jerusalem Baptist Church Cemetery in Cummings, South Carolina, along with her father and son.