In the March 2024 edition of the newsletter of the Bulloch County Historical Society, I found acknowledgment of a memorial gift to the society by Joe and Susan McGlamery in honor of Remer Tyson. Remer died Dec. 27, 2023, in Zimbabwe, Africa, where he had lived for decades. It reopened the recurring sorrow of losing my family and friends. During our time together as journalism students at the University of Georgia and members of the editorial team of “The Red and Black,” we were close friends. He was best man when Annette and I were married.

I was reminded of three remarkable men who were born in Bulloch County in 1934. Remer was one of the premier international journalists in the world, with special expertise in sub-Saharan Africa. His friend in Bulloch County and roommate at UGA, B. Avant Edenfield, had such a sterling career as attorney and federal judge for the Southern District of Georgia that a stretch of highway bears his name. Also born in Statesboro that year was Carrol Dadisman at the home of his maternal grandfather, Judge Samuel L. Moore. It was common practice for mothers to seek the comfort and assistance of home at time of delivery, as did Mary Lou Moore Dadisman and my own mother at the time of my delivery at her parents’ home near Cobbtown, also in 1934. (A couple of obituaries state that Carrol was born in Jefferson, Ga., which is where he grew up, but it is not where he was born.) I was blessed to have these three men in my life.

Remer began at Teachers College and edited “The George-Anne” before moving on to UGA and “The Red and Black.” I had been in place there since fall of ‘52 and Carrol came the next year with significant experience outside of collegiate journalism. Work on “The Red and Black” was demanding, so we three spent a lot time together, necessarily in coordination. Carrol was the first to serve as editor, fall ’54. I followed, winter ‘55, and Remer served in the fall of ‘55. Billy Morris of the Augusta newspaper family didn’t fit neatly with our plain folk trio, but we got along well enough for him to be editor spring ‘55. (Yes, the William S. Morris III, who amassed a newspaper empire.)

Early in Remer’s career, he joined the staff of “The Atlanta Constitution,” widely known for its crusading editor, Ralph McGill. It was a great place to hone one’s skills as a political reporter during the era of struggle for integration. He earned the honor of being named a Nieman Fellow, as most outstanding young journalist in the nation in 1967. He then moved to “The Detroit Free Press,” star of the Knight-Ridder chain, and later accepted the position of bureau chief for sub-Saharan Africa with Knight-Ridder. There he covered colonial revolutions and tribal warfare in sometimes life-threatening situations and wrote insightfully about the career of Nelson Mandella. In that world, he was without peer as a journalist, this Bulloch boy of 1934.

Carrol was the unflappable workhorse of our trio. He worked his way up through a series of Georgia newspapers, leaving Columbus in 1980 to go to Tallahassee, Florida, as president and publisher of “The Tallahassee Democrat.” There he earned praise for even-handed coverage in Florida’s state capital, for mentoring students from Florida A&M and for the paper’s community involvement.

My first encounter with Avant was memorable. Annette and I had married on Jan. 1, 1955, with little thought about how unprepared I was – little money, no car, no place for us to live, responsible for “The Red and Black” as editor. That was not smart, but we were two young lovers tired of being apart. Nevertheless, we made it through the quarter, in part because she was so adaptable, well, just plain gutsy. Sometime that spring, maybe April, we ran out of money, down to 35 cents, but Remer was coming to Statesboro in his decrepit ‘46 Ford and I latched onto the ride like a drowning man.

We left for home mid-afternoon or a bit later -- Remer, his roommate, Annette and I. Six miles south of Sparta on Highway 15, the Ford threw a rod all the way through the oil pan. He suggested that we call a friend from Athens to take us back, but I insisted that Annette and I could not stave off hunger on 35 cents. A good Samaritan gave us a ride to Sparta, where he called a girl to cancel a date and I called my father to come and get us. Then it was late in the day and the few travelers on 15 were not inclined to pick up two disheveled young men. So, we walked, except when we ran after it began to drizzle, all six miles, arriving in late twilight.

Annette had been left alone with a stranger. She told me later that he been a perfect gentleman, but rather quiet. Of course, he was Avant Edenfield. We came to know him well after we moved to Statesboro in 1970 to begin a career at Georgia Southern and “quiet” would not be an accurate descriptor then. He had already served in the Georgia state senate, was active politically and ranked among the top attorneys in the area. Later, as a federal judge, he publicly admitted our daughter Elizabeth to serve at federal bar in his district. There in his courtroom, he said some very kind things about Annette and me.

My Bulloch buddies from 1934 all retired with honor and accolades. Avant was the first to depart this realm in 2015. We lost Carrol two years ago. It is fitting that Remer was the last. He was always filled with curiosity, energy and zest for trying new things. Perhaps he still is. I can’t see him plucking a harp.

Roger G. Branch Sr. is professor emeritus of sociology at Georgia Southern University and is a retired pastor.