Diane Durham Stephenson Diane was born to Mary and Jacob Durham on July 20, 1930 in Birmingham, Ala. and died on Saturday, June 8, 2013 at her home in Dahlonega. She was married to Robert Stephenson in 1954 and lived in Atlanta. She moved to Lumpkin County in the late 1980s, desiring to live in a more peaceful area. After attending Stephens College, she earned her B.A. and M.A. degrees from the University of Alabama with a major in Anthropology. Her early work years focused on research in health care delivery, carrying out federal contracts throughout the U.S. Spending a number of years in teaching and research at the University of Georgia, she led the women’s rights movement on campus during the 60s. This led to early termination of her contract! Thereafter she began a life long career as a general contractor in home construction, the only woman in that profession in the Atlanta area at that time. Diane helped start many human service organizations including the Atlanta Gay Center, Kidney Foundation of Georgia, NOA, Community Helping Place, and the Lumpkin Literacy Coalition. She was a founding member of the Georgia Mountains Unitarian Universalist Church in Dahlonega, having been a member of that church all of her adult life. Survivors include her life partner of 16 years, Betty Greene; her children Fred Stephenson, Donna Stephenson and partner Bill Shepherd, and Randall Stephenson; her step-children Jennifer Greene, Chris and Amy Greene; and grandchildren Lindsey and Ella Greene; and her brother John Durham. A Celebration of Life honoring Diane and her many friends will be held at the Dahlonega Funeral Home Saturday, June 29 at 4 p.m. Visitation will take place one hour prior to the service, .with a reception following at the Georgia UU Mountains Church in Dahlonega. In lieu of flowers, Diane requests that donations be made in her name to the Georgia Unitarian Universalist Church in Dahlonega. --- Donald Ray Gooch Retired Major U.S. Army, Donald Ray Gooch, age 74, of Dahlonega, died June 12, 2013. Don was born in Brawley, California to the late Gordon and Martha Justus Gooch. He was a helicopter pilot in the United States Army in which he was Commander five times; once with the missile site in Olathe, Kan., twice in Germany, and twice in Vietnam. He retired from his military duties to Dahlonega with his wife of 56 years. Mr. Gooch was a member of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Lumpkin County. He is also preceded in death by many brothers and sisters. He is survived by his wife, Mary Lou Jones Gooch; son and daughter-in-law, Don and Killian Gooch, Austin, Texas; daughter, Deborah McGrath, Oakwood, Ga.; daughters and sons-in-law, Brenda and Brian McCrary, Carrollton, Ga., and Kimberly and James Hickman, Germany. Six grandchildren and a number of other relatives also survive. Funeral services for Don were held Friday, June 14, 2013 at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Lumpkin County. Rev. Michael Rogers officiated. Interment followed in the Jones Chapel Cemetery with full military honors. In lieu of flowers, please make a contribution to the Wounded Warrior Project at www.WoundedWarriorProject.org Online condolences may be made at www.banisterfuneralhome.net Banister Funeral Home of Dahlonega was in charge of the arrangements. --- Donna Grainger Mrs. Donna Grainger, age 55, of Flowery Branch, Georgia, passed away Sunday, June 9, 2013. Funeral services were held June 13, 2013 at Memorial Park South Funeral Home Chapel. The Reverend Bill Compton officiated. Donna was born on December 11, 1957 in Gainesville, Georgia. She was a member of the First Baptist Church of Flowery Branch. She worked at Crossroads Deli in Gainesville as a cashier. She enjoyed creating and viewing art, tending to her bountiful garden and was a friend to all. She was preceded in death by her father, William Larry McNeal; and husband, Daniel Cleveland Grainger; sister, Lisa McNeal. Donna is survived by her mother, Rebecca (Barber) McNeal of Flowery Branch; son and daughter-in-law, Andrew and Judith Grainger of Dahlonega; daughter and son-in-law, Samantha and Paul DeBoer of Flowery Branch; close companion, Mike Denier of Flowery Branch; grandchildren, Hayden Grainger, Audrey Grainger and Delia Anne DeBoer. In lieu of flowers the family has requested donations be made to Good News at Noon, 810 Pine Street, Gainesville, Ga. 30501 or Set Free Cleveland, P.O. Box 1419 Dahlonega, Ga. 30533. Memorial Park South Funeral Home 4121 Falcon Parkway Flowery Branch, Ga. 770-967-5555 was in charge of arrangements. Or for those who wish online condolences at http://www.memorialparkfuneralhomes.com/.

I have harbored a secret fantasy for several years now. I want to write a rap song. I don’t recall when or why this strange notion first popped into my head. For most of my life, I detested rap music, and didn’t really think of it as music at all. I considered it noise with a few rhyming words thrown in. But for some time now, my musical horizons have been broadening, thanks largely to technology and the Internet. Back in the days of Napster (who remembers that one?) I managed to collect a whole lot of music, hours and hours and hours of it, that stays stored on my computer. Then I went through my Pandora phase. Pandora is one of several streaming audio services available for free on the Internet. All you do is enter a song or artist you like, and Pandora will serve you up other songs and artists that are similar. It’s like creating your own personal radio station. The really neat part is that if you take the time to tell Pandora when you like or don’t like a particular song, it gets pretty doggone good at playing songs you are going to enjoy after awhile. My current go-to music app is Spotify. It’s like having your own personal jukebox with almost every song ever recorded at your fingertips. Somewhere, in the midst of playing with all these gadgets, I began to be exposed to different forms of music than what I had been accustomed to. I found new artists I had never heard of that became some of my favorites. And I actually found some rap music that is kinda cool. I don’t like the raunchy stuff, or the songs that seem to advocate social anarchy or anything along those lines. Lil’ Wayne and Ludicrous never make my playlists for the above-cited reasons. Drake, Jay-Z and Kanye West sometimes do, though. Which amazes even me. I don’t know a single other person of my age demographic that confesses to liking “some” rap music. I call it evolution. Most of my friends are still stuck somewhere in the 1970s musically. Apparently they would rather listen to Free Bird for the millionth time than try some of the newer musical artists. It’s for those too old to rock and roll but too young to die that I will dedicate my first rap song when I get around to writing it. So far, all I have is: My name is Wayne, I have music on my brain. You may think me a fool Someone who is uncool And trying to sound dapper By pounding out a rap song like some washed up, broke down white rapper. But yo, you can spare me the disrespect I have a reputation to protect So I will keep it classy Even though my singing sounds like Lassie Barking for the Ranger to come, ‘Cause Timmy’s in the well No one can hear him yell And my singing may not be swell But only time will tell Okay, so it is now obvious I will not be quitting my day job anytime soon. But I don’t think Vanilla Ice has anything on me, either.