Doug Porter revisits time in Albany in his latest book: 'Roaming, Rambling and Reminiscing'

AVONDALE ESTATES — When zookeeper/adventurer/writer J.D. (Doug) Porter left behind an Albany community that collectively claimed him as its own, he left a void that any such move inevitably creates.

It wasn't just that his run as executive director of the local Chehaw Parks and Zoo and as a frequent essayist for this newspaper endeared him with the community he comfortably settled into after retirement. It was more that Porter and his wife, Karen Liebert, had become one of those essential elements in the fabric of the community, folks who, just knowing they're around adds a subliminal element of comfort.

But then Doug and Karen, wanting to be closer to their son who lived in metro Atlanta, took off and settled into a new adventure, one that includes the pending birth of a grandchild, walking-distance pubs and microbreweries, and all kinds of bike and hiking trails. Like others before him who had moved on, many in the community assumed, sadly, that Albany would gradually lose its hold on Porter and slip away into that oblivion where such memories tend to fade.

But Porter has proved such doubters wrong with the publication of his fifth book, "Roaming, Rambling and Reminiscing: Musings from a South Georgia Mule Wagon," a collection of some 48 columns he initially published in The Albany Herald. (Full disclosure, I was asked to, and gladly wrote the book's forward.)

"I always kind of fancied myself as a writer, so in 1999, while working at the Toledo Zoo, I decided to give it a try," Porter said. "And over the years, as I've found myself in new circumstances and opportunities have presented themselves, I've taken the opportunity to write.

"With this latest book, three significant things occurred: First, I was fortunate enough that the Herald allowed me to publish these articles about a wide range of Southern culture topics; I like to poke around in local history, learn about local people and places; and the newspaper, which provides a valuable service to the community, let me have my say."

The 48 essays/columns in "Roaming, Rambling and Reminiscing" cover a wide range of topics that piqued Porter's interest, from indigenous area flora and fauna, how time has managed to stand still at south Georgia quail plantations, his never-relenting love for the creatures he tended in zoos across America and the ones who sought sustenance in his home garden. There are heaping bites of humor, educational material and even a touch of the nostalgia we tend to use to define things lost to the passage of time.

Porter's latest release fits in well with his four previous books: "The Dogcatcher and the Fox," "The Menagerie: A Zoo Story," "Lessons from the Zoo: Ten Animals That Changed My Life," and "The View from a Wagon: Five Lessons for Living Life in the Slow Lane."

"I've never done any marketing with my books before, never really spent any money to promote them," the author said in a phone interview. "I realize my writing is for a more niche market, but I'm going to an author's event in Newnan. And I wouldn't mind coming back to Albany to do some kind of event there.

"It made me feel good to go back and read these articles again. I'm pleased with the way they turned out; I'm pleased to revisit these topics. They're kind of a collective memory of my time in Albany."

Interested persons can order copies of "Roaming, Rambling and Reminiscing" by reaching out to Porter at his www.jdporterbooks.com website, via mail at No. 11 Lakeshore Drive, Avondale Estates, Ga. 30002, and at Amazon.com or Ingram Books.