See Murder in Coweta County at courthouse

By Alyssa WilliamsThe J. Joel Edwards Public Library is proud to announce three individual screenings of a piece of Pike County’s own history, the acclaimed movie, Murder in Coweta County. This film is the account of a true story that occurred in Meriwether and Coweta counties in the 1940s. When ruthless and powerful estate-owner, John Wallace (Andy Griffith), unwittingly follows a man across the Meriwether county-line to deliver a fatal and unjust punishment, Coweta County Sheriff, Lamar Potts (Johnny Cash), is on the case and refuses to let Wallace’s powerful position stop him from seeking out justice. In 1982, this renowned movie was filmed in Pike County’s own courthouse and the Pike County board of commissioners have approved the library’s request to use the very same courtroom to show the Saturday screenings that will be hosted by the library in September. The library will provide three separate showings of the film. The first showing will take place at the J. Joel Edwards Public Library on Thursday, September 19, at 5:00 PM. The two additional showings will be held at the Pike County courthouse on Saturday, Sept. 21 at 9:15 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. In between these two showings, there will also be an 11 a.m. Question and Answer discussion session with the movie’s director, Gary Nelson, and producer, Dick Atkins. The Friends of the J. Joel Edwards Public Library will be selling t-shirts and other merchandise at the library and the courthouse before and after each showing.These showings, as well as the Q&A session, are free and open to the public; however, due to limited seating, they do require a ticket. For more information, or to reserve a ticket, call the J. Joel Edwards Public Library at 770-567-2014.