Stan’s guest this week is author and historian Keri Leigh Merritt, discussing her new book, An Inconvenient Woman: The Extraordinary Life of Lillian Smith, the Southerner Who Defied Jim Crow America (St. Martin’s Press, 2026). Smith, born in 1897, was a white Southern woman living in the Jim Crow South who defied all stereotypes: she passionately championed racial equality and integration while living openly with her partner, Paula, at their home on Old Screamer Mountain in Clayton, Georgia. Best known as the author of Strange Fruit (1944) and Killers of the Dream (1949), she continued to fight for both civil and human rights—all while receiving death threats—until her death in 1966.
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<img decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2538" src="https://www.deatonpath.georgiahistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Merritt-book.jpg" alt="" width="987" height="1500" srcset="https://www.deatonpath.georgiahistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Merritt-book.jpg 987w, https://www.deatonpath.georgiahistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Merritt-book-197x300.jpg 197w, https://www.deatonpath.georgiahistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Merritt-book-674x1024.jpg 674w, https://www.deatonpath.georgiahistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Merritt-book-768x1167.jpg 768w, https://www.deatonpath.georgiahistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Merritt-book-624x948.jpg 624w" sizes="(max-width: 987px) 100vw, 987px" />

Stan’s guest this week is author and historian Keri Leigh Merritt, discussing her new book, An Inconvenient Woman: The Extraordinary Life of Lillian Smith, the Southerner Who Defied Jim Crow America (St. Martin’s Press, 2026). Smith, born in 1897, was a white Southern woman living in the Jim Crow South who defied all stereotypes: she passionately championed racial equality and integration while living openly with her partner, Paula, at their home on Old Screamer Mountain in Clayton, Georgia. Best known as the author of Strange Fruit (1944) and Killers of the Dream (1949), she continued to fight for both civil and human rights—all while receiving death threats—until her death in 1966. https://www.deatonpath.georgiahistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/9-24-26.mp3

Stan’s guest this week is author and historian Keri Leigh Merritt, discussing her new book, An Inconvenient Woman: The Extraordinary Life of Lillian Smith, the Southerner Who Defied Jim Crow America (St. Martin’s Press, 2026). Smith, born in 1897, was a white Southern woman living in the Jim Crow South who defied all stereotypes: she passionately championed racial equality and integration while living openly with her partner, Paula, at their home on Old Screamer Mountain in Clayton, Georgia. Best known as the author of Strange Fruit (1944) and Killers of the Dream (1949), she continued to fight for both civil and human rights—all while receiving death threats—until her death in 1966.
<a href="https://www.deatonpath.georgiahistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/9-24-26.mp3" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.deatonpath.georgiahistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/9-24-26.mp3</a>

S10E7 Podcast: The Extraordinary Life of Lillian Smith

This week’s Off the Deaton Path podcast previews the action-packed College Football Season  that begins this Labor Day weekend. Stan inflicts on gridiron-loving fans his previews, predictions, half-baked ideas and inane commentary about the Dogs, Jackets, and other big games in September. Click and enjoy.

This week’s Off the Deaton Path podcast previews the action-packed College Football Season that begins this Labor Day weekend. Stan inflicts on gridiron-loving fans his previews, predictions, half-baked ideas and inane commentary about the Dogs, Jackets, and other big games in September. Click and enjoy.

This week’s Off the Deaton Path podcast previews the action-packed College Football Season&nbsp; that begins this Labor Day weekend. Stan inflicts on gridiron-loving fans his previews, predictions, half-baked ideas and inane commentary about the Dogs, Jackets, and other big games in September. Click and enjoy.

New Podcast: College Football Preview

Check out Stan’s first podcast on Off the Deaton Path, a new weekly feature. In the wake of the protests and violence in Charlottesville, this week he discusses a riveting new biography of Hitler.

New Podcast: Hitler

Off the Deaton Path is a podcast for anyone interested in lively conversation about American history and culture. Host Stan Deaton of the Georgia Historical Society explores the rich field of history through interviews with award-winning authors of some of the best contemporary works in history, biography, and non-fiction, as well as wide-ranging conversations about sports and popular culture, from movies to television, bourbon to beer, and Bigfoot to baseball.

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