‘It is well with my soul’ Zell Miller’s rock foundation  BY BYRON MCCOMBS
Born poor, but raised rich in hope by his mother, Zell Bryan Miller has been driven to dare mighty things his entire life. “Work hard, play by the rules and you can be somebody,” his mother, Birdie Bryan Miller, would tell him. His mother’s words still echo with him, as does the old adage “To thine own self be true.” Many times during his political career, he found that living this lesson was uncomfortable if not downright painful. As a result, he’s experienced tremendous triumphs as well as agonizing defeats, but neither as a poor spirit, hiding away in the fog of indifference nor watching from afar for fear of failure. A firm foundation Miller’s father died when he was 17 days old, leaving his mother to raise him and his 6-year-old sister Jane. His parents were both teachers at Young Harris College and lived in a rented house on campus. Because of this, Miller’s mother was left with no land, no home and very few material possessions.  An art teacher at the college, Birdie moved beyond her misfortune and created a masterpiece as well as a monument in her son’s eyes. She gathered hundreds of beautiful, smooth rocks out of a neighbor’s creek and built a house in honor of her husband, Grady, and for her children. With about $700 and her own plans, workers were told to build until the money was used. They were able to lay the rocks, get the roof on, install the windows and finish one room. There was no bathroom and no plumbing. The house remained this way with few improvements until Zell was in college. He continues to make the “rock house” his home.
Everything about the house is a reminder of his mother’s determination to provide a home for her children, each rock a recollection of her unsurpassed work ethic. With a friend’s help, she dug out her basement. Later deciding the basement should be cemented, she stuccoed it into the red clay walls by hand. In certain areas, her handprints are still visible. Miller acknowledges that every area of his life bears the unmistakable imprint of his mother. Miller credits the Marines with molding the shy mountain boy into a self-disciplined man. That was his hope when he signed up in 1953. “I decided either to cure or kill myself by signing up for a three-year enlistment. The kill almost came before the cure, but it was the turning point of my life,” he says. While governor of Georgia, Miller wrote the book, “Corps Values: Everything You Need to Know I Learned in the Marines,” outlining 12 values that boot camp instilled in him, helping him achieve success later as a teacher, author and politician. This sense of duty landed him in Washington in August 2000 to fill the vacant spot left by the untimely death of U.S. Sen. Paul Coverdell. Peaks and valleys  At 75, Miller has seen plenty of life from both sides. He’s been a sergeant in the U.S. Marines, a mobile home salesman, a dishwasher, a bartender, a short-order cook and a college baseball coach. A middle school truant and a college dropout, Miller has also been a history professor in four different colleges and the author of two best-selling books.
Miller’s worked for three different Georgia governors. He’s spoken to less than a dozen people from the back of a pickup truck in the piney woods of South Georgia, and he’s spoken to millions via national television from Madison Square Garden in New York City. He’s been mayor of a town of 300 and governor of the 10th-largest state in the nation. He joins Richard B. Russell and Herman Talmadge as the only Georgians to have been elected as a U.S. senator and governor. He lived for years in a house with no electricity and only a fireplace for heat, and he’s spent the night in the Lincoln Bedroom at the White House. He’s also lived in the 24,000-square-foot Greek Revival Governor’s Mansion with a dozen bathrooms. Thankful for all he has experienced, more than anything he says, “I hope my fellow Georgians will remember me as a person who never forgot where he came from.” The lonely road of leadership Many times during Miller’s career, he’s kicked up the dust on a single-lane road with no place to turn around, determined to drive ahead regardless of the political consequences. Most recently was his time spent in the U.S. Senate, where he found himself caught between party lines. A lifelong Democrat, determined to die as one, but being guided by his conscience to vote with Republicans on many issues, he often found himself standing alone. Although his actions in Washington were played out before a larger audience, his performance of acting on conviction is nothing new. In 1961, while in the Georgia Senate during the volatile debate over integration of the University of Georgia, a bill was introduced to allow Georgia students to forego school if African-Americans were enrolled. Only four of the 54 senators spoke against it; Miller was one. Running for governor in 1990, he was alone in proposing a lottery to fund education. The lottery passed in a statewide referendum, and today, Georgia is still the only state with a full-time pre-kindergarten program. Miller put his personal convictions to the test when he attempted to change Georgia’s flag. Even though a survey showed 55 percent of Georgians wanted to keep it, and calls ran 5-1 against changing it, he led the charge and suffered a defeat that he says, “almost did [him] in.” A ‘turtle on a fence post’ Throughout his career, whether speaking or writing, Miller consistently recognizes the countless individuals who have touched his soul. He takes to heart the North Georgia mountains saying, “If you ever see a turtle on a fence post, you know one thing: It did not get there by itself. Someone put it there.” A picture of a turtle on a fence post accompanied him to the governor’s office as well as his U.S. Senate office to serve as a reminder of the faithful friends who have helped him along the way. Nobody sacrificed more to help Miller succeed than his mother and his wife, Shirley. Miller says, “Men often look for wives like their mother. I’m sure I did and was doubly blessed to find one.” Of both women, he says, “It cannot be emphasized enough what my mother and wife have meant to me. They would have pulled a plow if they thought it would help.”  Miller’s uncle, Hoyle Bryson, was an ideal role model for Miller as a boy. Miller watched his uncle climb poles as a lineman for Blue Ridge Mountain Electric Membership Corp. in Young Harris in the early days of the co-op. He idolized him as an athlete who played minor league baseball. Soon to be 94, Uncle Hoyle still lives next door and Miller visits often, especially when Bryson’s tomatoes are ready in his garden. (His sister Jane also lives next to Hoyle.)
His English teacher at Young Harris College (YHC), Edna Herrin, swayed Miller to think about something other than playing baseball. “She taught me the love of the written and spoken word, continually pushing me and encouraging me to do my best,” Miller says. Charles Clegg, president of the college, gave him his first teaching job and allowed him to teach and participate in politics, Miller adds. “Countless family members, friends and extraordinary staffs have all contributed to put this turtle on a fence post,” Miller says gratefully. Gaining his own new vision While serving in the U.S. Senate, Miller experienced a life-changing event when his son Matt suddenly went totally blind. Matt had lived with diabetes since age 5, and the family knew the possibility of complications, but they were not prepared for the complete blindness that the 47-year-old experienced in February 2003. With his hands on his father’s shoulders, Matt was led around Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. During this time, Matt’s wife Katie spent 77 days in intensive care with acute pancreatitis. “Our world came crashing in,” Miller recalls. The experience drove him to his knees. He and Shirley prayed, and their prayers were answered. Matt’s sight was restored in one eye, and Katie, although not well, was able to come home. It became evident to Miller while leading his son down the hall at Emory that his son had opened his own eyes. “I realized not only had my son been blind, but so was his father. I had been straddling the fence, with one foot in the kingdom of God and the other in the secular world. I had just enough religion to make me feel safe.” No longer a “Sunday-morning Christian,” he says, “old things are passed away; all things are become new. I have been born again, my faith renewed. My only regret is it took so long.” Of all his accomplishments, Miller believes his mother would be proudest of his commitment to Jesus Christ. He adds, “There was a time if someone threw a rock at me, I would throw two back. Those days are gone; I have experienced a peace that passes all understanding as promised in the Scriptures. I can truly say, ‘It is well with my soul.’” No place like home Happy at home with his hero of a helpmate Shirley, Miller looks forward to spending as much time as possible with his most precious possession: his family. Relaxing walks through wooded trails with his yellow labs, Gus and Woodrow, remind Miller of magical moments spent as a child roaming the same rural countryside. And the glory of it all? It takes place in the sanctuary of his beloved mountains. Surrounded by all he loves, he counts his blessings one day at a time. After serving in an elective office in each of the last six decades, Miller is ready to rest from the rigors of public life. He says, “I still plan on doing some writing, and have just completed work on a book titled ‘The Miracle of Brasstown Valley.’ It’s a true story about the people and events surrounding the miraculous creation of a college in a remote mountain valley at the turn of the 19th century. “I’ve always had more stamina than sense, but some recent health problems have really slowed me down. However, it seems the weaker I get physically, the stronger I grow spiritually,” Miller says. He thanks the Lord for giving him the opportunity to savor each moment as the sun sets on what he joyfully proclaims has been “a truly blessed life!” —Byron McCombs, a former Georgia history teacher, is a staff assistant and newsletter editor with Blue Ridge Mountain Electric Membership Corp. in Young Harris. | 
