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Jesup, Georgia 31545

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

75

On the day we visited Zirkle, I was mesmerized by the magic sound and flow of the Southeast Georgia river that snakes 260 miles to reach St. Andrew Sound on the coast. And Wayne Morgan was busy with his Nikon D-80, moving up and down the bank of the Little Satilla River.

Jerry Js in Nahunta is more than a country-cuisine establishmentits also an art gallery for Wayne Morgans photography, featuring the wildlife and scenes in the Satilla River basin.

Photography helps Wayne Morgan focus on relaxation

Wayne Morgan had the good fortune to diefour timeseven it was for just 15 seconds. He was very lucky that hitting-thefloor bumps restarted his heart. DINK I will say NeSMITH that again. Chairman Wayne didnt know it, but he had died on four occasions. He knew something weird was happening. Without warning, hed pass out. Doctors suspected seizures. But when he strapped on a heart monitor, he got lucky and went to the floor, again. The gadget telegraphed heart failure. They told me that I actually died, Wayne said, but the thumps on the floor started my heart back to beating. Today, the 48-year-old railroad machinist is full of life and grateful that the near-death experiences inspired him to open a new chapter in his lifephotography. That was 1999. Thanks to a pacemaker, Waynes heart is in rhythm as he focuses his Nikon D-80. And thanks to the sizzling sales of his coffee-table book, Satilla Solitude, Wayne is boosted to rock-star status in his hometown of Nahunta. When he walks into Jerry Js for a plate of breakfast and a glass of sweet tea, everyone knows his name. The walls of the restaurant are draped with his jaw-dropping wildlife and scenic how-did-he-do-that photographs. As I glided from one framed picture to the next, Wayne explained the background of each. His passion was as evident as his humble gratitude about the effusive praise I offered, time after time. Waynes warning bell rang at age

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35. Besides adding a pacemaker, he added a relaxing hobby. Putting down his backyard-shop wrenches, he picked up a camera. Brunswick Colleges three-night photography course got him started. His favorite subject is the mirror-like Satilla River that snakes 260 miles through Southeast Georgia on its way to lick the salt in St. Andrew Sound. Fishermen dont usually need a GPS to find their honey holes. And Wayne doesnt need help finding his favorite spot in the Satilla River basinZirkle. After our art-gallery breakfast, his Toyota pickup almost guided itself to the Brantley-Pierce county line on Highway 32. Like a boy hoping for a Christmas pony, he couldnt wait to get there. Not far from the asphalt, tucked behind planted pines, is a snaggletooth steel dam. Thats all you find of the once bustling sawmill village that boasted 300-plus houses and the hubbub of workers cranking out mountainous tons of lumber a day. In 1926, Zirkles population evaporated to zero. Eventual rot erased the buildings. In 2012, the buzz of wood-eating saws is silent. Instead, you hear the whine of blood-sucking mosquitoes that swarm the tupelo and cypress-

Over the course of the year, thanks to digital photography, Wayne Morgan snaps thousands of images. This time, he jumped in front of his camera at Pollys Lake. To view more, see: www.waynemorganphotography.com. studded banks of the Little Satilla River. The mosquitoes arent always this bad, Wayne joked. Sometimes, they are worse. I didnt mind the distraction because the main attraction was calmingly hypnotic. While I stared at the tea-colored water sluicing through the dams rusty teeth, Wayne sauntered aboutclick, click, click. Standing on sugar-white sand, he professed devotion to purity. Digital technology has revolutionized photography, but he refuses to enhance his images. Knowing that, and looking at Waynes work, I felt my jaws drop. Satilla Solitude is almost soldout. (See www.waynemorganphotography.co m.) His wife, Bonnie, is encouraging another project. Wayne is focusing on his next dream: the Okefenokee Swampall 402,000 acres of it. He let me sneak a peek at sample photos. I tried to not drool. Ill take a case of that book, too, I gasped. Pulling away from Jerry Js, I hinted, Im dying for you to do an Altamaha River book, too. I wish I had snapped a picture of Waynes 200-watt smile. dnesmith@cninewspapers.com

After 1926, the sawmill village at Zirkle on the Little Satilla River vanished. Today, tea-colored water sluices through whats left of the snaggle-tooth steel dam, off Highway 32 on the Brantley-Pierce county line.