Cousin Beedie and Cousin Hot: My Life with the Carter Family of Plains, Georgia

Hugh Alton Carter was a first cousin to Jimmy Carter and was four years the President's senior. In a small town like Plains two first cousins that close to being the same age will almost always end up being the best of friends and this was the case with Hugh and Jimmy. Both Carters had nicknames, which explains the name of the book, Cousin Beedie is Hugh while Jimmy is cousin Hot. The close friendship that developed between these two Carters was still in evidence when this book was written and I would imagine it endured until Hugh's death in 1999. Of course, while reading this book one has to keep in mind that it was written in 1978 so it barely covers a full year of the Carter Presidency. There was a co-author of this book but I'm not sure if she used Hugh's words verbatim or if she changed his words into a more literary style. If she was supposed to do the latter, she did a poor job. A few times, sentences in this book make no sense at all, no matter how many times you go back and re-read the sentence or whole paragraph. Worse than this are the numerous occasions when the subject changes so suddenly that you are left thinking there must have been a misprint. The author will be discussing a subject and will get the story to a point where the reader wants to know more and then poof, a new paragraph and subject. It makes one wonder if maybe the White House didn't do a little editing without taking the time to smooth out the edits. Still, this is a book any fan or student of Jimmy Carter will want to read. It is a little hard to find but the stories to be found within its pages are well worth the effort. Many stories will be found that are also told by the former President in some of his books, but Hugh adds some things that Jimmy doesn't tell. For example, Jimmy often tells of the fight he and Rosalynn had when he decided to leave the navy and move back to Plains. Hugh gives us the reason for Rosalynn's reluctance to go back to Plains. She didn't want to have to put up with Jimmy's mother Lillian. Miss Lillian had said from the beginning that Rosalynn wasn't good enough for her son and the two most important women in Jimmy's life apparently never did get along. Apparently Lillian didn't get along with a lot of the locals including the author of this book. Throughout this book the reader will pick up on stories like this and many others that will lend themselves to a fuller understanding of the Clan Carter. If you remember the Carter years and remember the famous split of the Plains Baptist Church you will find a full explanation of the split in this book. At least you will get the Carter side of the story for Hugh left Plains Baptist before Jimmy. If you can overlook the writing errors, and there are many, this is a superb look at the Carter's of Plains, Georgia. Hugh spends a little too much time talking about himself but sometimes that is as interesting and informative as his Jimmy stories. This book could have been much better, but as it is, it