All too often, we don’t fully appreciate something, or someone, until they’re gone. Two folks with strong local connections left us in July, leaving big and small waves in the wake of their lives.
Ed Spivia grew up in Murphy before moving to Atlanta in 1965, the year I was born, and passed away on July 26 at age 78. He was Georgia’s first film commissioner in the early 1970s, and his friendship with Burt Reynolds during that period helped lure films such as Smokey and the Bandit and The Longest Yard to the state, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
While working with the Georgia Department of Industry & Trade, Spivia visited the set of Reynolds’ movie Deliverance, which was filming in Rabun County, to write a piece for Georgia Trend magazine. When Spivia observed the filming in person and saw all that went into a production, he had a lightbulb moment in which he understood the potential economic impact the film business could have on a community, the Journal-Constitution reported. He pitched then-Gov. Jimmy Carter on the idea of creating a state film commission to promote the state.
“Jimmy Carter said, ‘Do it,’ ” according to Barbara, Spivia’s wife.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Spivia, who became Georgia’s first film commissioner, considered the state’s geographic diversity a major asset and thought it would appeal to producers. He was right, as television shows like The Walking Dead film in the state today.
In 2004, Gov. Sonny Perdue tapped Spivia to head up a state film advisory board, which pushed for favorable tax incentives so Georgia could keep up with other states competing for Hollywood’s business. Over the next couple of years, the state adopted a series of incentive packages that helped lay the groundwork for today’s booming film industry.
While Spivia’s legacy will be talked about for generations, most folks live simple lives that don’t register on the national media scale. However, they can reverberate through eternity.
Tanner Lee Ivy, 30, left this world peacefully on July 14 in Peachtree, where he worked with Renewed Hope Ministries and attended MountainView Church. He played in the praise band with me at church, and the Sunday morning when we received the call that he was gone still feels like a bad dream.
“It is hard to sum up such a sweet spirit in a paragraph,” his obituary reads. “A man of few words, when he used them, he meant them, and his wit, humor and laugh will be deeply missed.
“He touched so many lives without ever knowing it – and had a special, quiet way that calmed and soothed others. His music and gentle nature embraced everyone he met like a warm hug.
“Tanner, we will continue your song, your light, your love in our hearts.”
Those words perfectly sum up the man I knew. While Tanner’s life on Earth was far too short, his afterlife will never end.
David Brown is publisher of the Cherokee Scout. Call him at 837-5122 or email dbrown@cherokeescout.com.
DAVID BROWN: Two lives that made a difference
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