An inspirational story'
By John Fox Sullivan Special to the Rappahannock News
The Ben Jones we know . . . and didn't know
Many of us have been fortunate enough to get to know our Rappahannock neighbor Ben Jones and his wonderful wife, Alma Viator.
He is, of course, the famous actor "Cooter" from the TV show the Dukes of Hazzard; the former two-term congressman from Georgia who also took on Eric Cantor for Congress; the impresario of Cooter’s in Sperryville; and, of course, the man whose missives electrify political debate on Rappnet. Jones is a force of nature - high energy, magnetic, funny, provocative and in-your-face.
Like so many of us, the couple drove west on Route 211 and succumbed to the enchantment of Rappahannock, fell in love with our peaceful Blue Ridge world, and settled not so quietly into their log cabin up Harris Hollow.
But, my goodness, Jones' trip to Rappahannock was surely quite a ride.
His just published autobiography, "Redneck Boy in the Promised Land,” details a life of childhood poverty, alcoholism and drugs, constant fighting, thrashing about with his professional career and almost always carrying a big chip on his shoulder.
In short, he gives us a life history that gives new meaning to the word dysfunctional. As Jones writes, by the time he turned 36, he had "been through three marriages, and countless fractured relationships . . . jailed for being drunk and disorderly, assaulting an officer . . . criminal trespass, resisting arrest and 'failure to move on.'” He was broke, "on the verge of death . . . and had long been spiritually bankrupt.”
When sober he was "one jolly young soul, full of jokes and song and stories” and when drunk” something would trigger a sudden rage, an explosion of senseless anger that seemed to come from nowhere.”
Jones' candor, his “confessions” as he calls them, are direct, honest, no cutting of corners. In short, he was a very, very bad boy.
And yet, this is a wonderfully uplifting, inspiring, and yes, absolutely fun, book to read. His "life is not a story about falling down. It is a story about getting up.” It’s about a man, fighting every step of the way, who overcame his demons, found an inner strength and above all is a survivor. This is a story to be read, and enjoyed, by all.
Jones' story begins in a section hand house along the railroad tracks where electricity and plumbing belonged only to those living on the other side of the tracks. On the one hand Jones proudly introduces us to his hardworking, hardscrabble poor Southern family and, on the other, he is always looking across those tracks and imagining “a different life than the one I had.”
In his twenties, he discovers a passion for acting matched only by his passion for drinking; lives on the edge through the 1960s and 70s at East Carolina College, the University of North Carolina and the theater circuit. He immerses himself in the civil rights movement (“it was time to take a stand”); his life held together by rock, country and folk music (“If you see me there is a song in my head”). Jones saw himself as some kind of blend between a Marlon Brando tough guy, the writer Thomas Wolfe and Hank Williams.
For me, the best aspect of Jones' book is his own emancipation from "a 'Redneck' Southern boy raised in the strict segregation of the times" who became a convert . . . a man who not only chose to believe, but also to act on his beliefs, that "the South, my South, must thoroughly integrate . . .and to address the terrible legacy of Jim Crow."
Overcoming alcoholism in 1977, Jones' life and career take off . . . or at least hit some new peaks.
Fame and some fortune come with the unexpectedly successful TV series, the Dukes of Hazzard. Jones' description of dealing with the Hollywood phonies is laugh out loud funny. After television success, there is a new stage for Cooter, politics. Soon he is fighting all sides of the political establishment. A Redneck “Mr. Smith” goes to Washington kind of story - and a fun one at that.
And then we have the Rappahannock years and the Ben Jones we know.
What’s fascinating and illuminating about this book is learning about, and from, the man we didn’t know and the helluva ride that got him here. This is an inspirational story, a great read and a lot of fun.