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I’m pretty devastated tonight… having just learned that Miss Julia Sugarbaker, Dixie Carter, passed away Saturday morning. She, and her iconic Designing Women character, was a hero of mine. From her epic tirades to her cool, collected charm she was the epitome of Southern class mixed in with a pinch of fiery heroics. Enjoy this moment as we wave goodbye to her. Goodnight Julia!
Julia (on the phone): Yes, you can give him a message. You do take shorthand, don’t you? Good, we take it in the South too. Anyway, just tell him that I have been a Southerner all my life, and I can vouch for the fact the we do eat a lot of things down here… and we’ve certainly all had our share of grits and biscuits and gravy, and I myself have probably eaten enough fried chicken to feed a third world country – not to mention barbecue, cornbread, watermelon, fried pies, okra, and… yes… if I were being perfectly candid, I would have to admit we have also eaten our share of crow, and for all I know – during the darkest, leanest years of the Civil War, some of us may have had a Yankee or two for breakfast. But… speaking for myself and hundreds of thousands of my Southern ancestors who have evolved through many decades of poverty, strife, and turmoil, I would like for Mr. Weaks to know that we have surely eaten many things in the past, and we will surely eat many things in the future, but – God as my witness – we have never, I repeat, [shouts] never eaten dirt!
Tommy Karr 