The South/economy & Business: Clinging Fast to the Land

Until 1970, LG Frix, now 49, acted out a familiar Southern story: leaving the land. The son of a sharecropper LG (his actual name) quit school in the fifth grade because he along with his six brothers and three sisters, "had to work at home too much" on the farm just outside Atlanta. Eight years later, at 19, he struck out on his own, working first at a factory job, then in a chicken plant, then jobbing vegetables. But all the time, he says, "I still had that farming in my mind. It was like somethin' was botherin' me."

So six years...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!