Blog 3709 – 01.06.2026

An All Too Common Tale, But True

I recently read the account of Hee Haw star Junior Samples’ rise to fame and financial success. Junior grew up in north Georgia and because he was not good at reading or math and the family needed him to work, he ended his formal education after the fifth grade to work and help provide for his family. His parents still had no indoor plumbing in 1968. Junior worked with his hands and drove a pulpwood truck. Yet, he developed a talent for story telling that was a highly valued skill in north Georgia.

The story goes that he found a discarded fish head on a lake shore and spun a tale about having caught the largest catfish ever. The story got around and when the state fish and wildlife folks came to interview him he regaled them with his by then epic tale. Junior’s story was recorded and played on the radio and a TV executive who was developing a new prime time country music and comedy program heard it and offered Junior a recurring spot on the show that he called Hee Haw.

Though Junior had trouble reading cue cards and was no great public speaker, his story telling and simple halting delivery resonated with audiences and he became an over night sensation. Earning more money than he ever had in his life, he was able to buy his folks a new home with all the modern conveniences including indoor plumbing. Not bad for a fifth grade drop out whose claim to fame was portraying a used car salesman holding a hand printed sign that directed people to call for a great deal on an automobile. Junior’s most famous line that he flubbed more often than not was, “Call BR549.”

My dad was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee and grew up in northern Georgia about the same time as Junior Samples. Dad’s mother’s brother Wes and his wife Maude had no indoor plumbing in their farm house in north Georgia. Dad made it to the tenth grade and earned his living driving a truck. He, too, like Junior was an expert storyteller though he never got a spot on nationwide TV, we always had indoor plumbing. Well, the first little brick duplex that I recall us living in did have an ancient toilet on the back porch that we shared with our neighbors till they moved out after a few months and we rented both sides of the duplex opening up a sealed door between the middle rooms. There was hot and cold running water in both kitchens, one we came to use for storage, but that is another story that I will share tomorrow.

Your friend, fellow traveler, and story teller,

David James White