Meet the Author with Mark Clegg

Georgia Writers Museum announces the September Meet the Author presenter will be Mark Clegg and his new book, The Crimson and Gold. The event will be held at the museum on Tuesday, September 1st, at 7pm (doors open at 6:30pm). Tickets are $45 ($40 each for two or more).

The Crimson and Gold is a comprehensive narrative detailing the struggle for integration in Athens, Georgia, in the context of highly competitive football. All-white Athens High School and African American Burney-Harris High School were forced to merge, becoming Clarke Central High School. The proud sports traditions of two high schools eventually become inextricably linked with the larger battle for equal rights during the tumultuous 1960s and early 1970s. The Crimson and Gold was awarded the 2026 Historic Athens Preservation Award.

In addition to stories of the University of Georgia’s integration in 1961, author Clegg details “Freedom of Choice” transfers in the early 1960s, desegregation of businesses like the iconic Varsity restaurant, violence perpetrated by the KKK, the first athletic competitions between Burney-Harris and Athens High, and the often violent first several years of Clarke Central’s existence.

Clegg conducted extensive interviews with a number of Black and White Athenians, including Horace King, Richard Appleby, and Clarence Pope (Burney-Harris and Clarke Central football players who were three of the first five Black football players at UGA); former Athens mayor and Athens and Clarke Central High School football player Doc Eldridge; former DeKalb County CEO and Georgia labor commissioner (and Burney-Harris and Clarke Central football player) Michael Thurmond; the first Black scholarship athlete at UGA and Athens High School alumnus Maxie Foster; and local writer, journalist, and publisher (Flagpole magazine) Pete McCommons.

Mark Clegg is the winner of the 2025 GHRAC Award for Best Local History Book. A resident of Athens, he has published two previous books: Mountain Miles: A Memoir of Section Hiking the Southern Appalachian Trail and The View from Hadrian’s Wall: Two Friends Hike Along the Ancient Roman Frontier. Contact Georgia Writers Museum (www.georgiawritersmuseum) to register and pre-order your copy of The Crimson and Gold.