The city of Savannah, Georgia, the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, is frequently mentioned in popular culture. What follows is a list of Savannah, Georgia in popular culture and includes works of literature, music, film, and television.
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Savannah was established in 1733 and was the first colonial and state capital of Georgia. It is known as America's first planned city and attracts millions of visitors who enjoy the city's architecture and historic buildings: the birthplace of Juliette Gordon Low (founder of the Girl Scouts of the United States of America), the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences (one of the South's first public museums), the First African Baptist Church (one of the oldest black Baptist congregations in the United States), Temple Mickve Israel (the third oldest synagogue in America), and the Central of Georgia Railway roundhouse complex (the oldest standing antebellum rail facility in America). Today, Savannah's downtown area is one of the largest National Historic Landmark Districts in the United States (designated by the federal government in 1966).
Savannah in literature
The 1994 nonfiction novel Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt (known to locals as "The Book") is set in Savannah, and in 1997 was made into a film, directed by Clint Eastwood.
Savannah resident N.Y.W. Peacocke has completed two books of a trilogy that deal with the war of independence in Georgia, and particularly Savannah. Savannah Spell (ISBN 1-898030-51-0) and Mirror My Soul (ISBN 1-898030-61-8) weave a love triangle around the events of the Revolution in Georgia and Carolina.
E.L. Doctorow's historical novel, The March (ISBN 0375506713), is about Union General William Tecumseh Sherman's 1864 scorched-earth campaign in which he marched 60,000 troops southeastward from Atlanta to Savannah and then northward into the Carolinas during the American Civil War (1861–65).
Chris Fuhrman authored the book The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, which depicted his life as a Catholic schoolboy growing up in Savannah and attending a local parochial school. Fuhrman actually attended Blessed Sacrament School in Savannah and graduated in 1974. He was also a graduate of the University of Georgia in Athens, where his book was published. Fuhrman died in 1990 of cancer at the age of 30.
Fifth-generation Savannahian Murray Silver is the author of Great Balls of Fire: The Uncensored Story of Jerry Lee Lewis (Morrow, 1981), adapted to the big screen by Orion in 1989 and starring Dennis Quaid and Winona Ryder. Silver is also the author of the bestselling Behind the Moss Curtain and Other Great Savannah Stories (Bonaventure, 2002), now in its sixth printing and also the subject of a new motion picture. His latest book, When Elvis Meets the Dalai Lama (Bonaventure, 2005), is a collection of the author's favorite stories about starting out as a rock concert promoter and eventually becoming an assistant to the Dalai Lama.
The novel Velvet by Echo LaVeaux (ISBN 9781530910861) is a paranormal romantic drama set in the historic district of Savannah and features the city as one of its main characters.
Also the book Delirium of the Brave written by Dr. William C. Harris about the Benedictine Military School and Savannah.
Romantic Comedy Mystery novelist Mary Kay Andrews is the author of two books that take place in Savannah, Georgia and its surrounding areas. Savannah Breeze is about Southern belle BeBe Loudermilk has lost all her worldly possessions, thanks to a brief but disastrous relationship with the gorgeous Reddy, an "investment counselor" who turns out to be a con man. All that's left is a ramshackle 1950s motel on Tybee Island—an eccentric beach town that calls itself a drinking village with a fishing problem. Savannah Blues is her follow-up novel and is about An antiques picker, Weezie Foley combs Savannah's steamy back alleys and garage sales for treasures when she's not dealing with her loopy relatives or her hunky ex-boyfriend. But an unauthorized sneak preview at a sale lands Weezie smack in the middle of magnolia-scented murder, mayhem . . . and more.
The first 2 chapters of the 2011 book Dawn of Sorcerer's, are set in Savannah.
"The Shadow Man" (ISBN 978-1-938296-03-1), by Savannah native and newspaper columnist Dr. Mark Murphy, is a medical thriller about a Savannah surgeon who is framed as a serial killer. The novel made its debut in July, 2012.
Witching Savannah (47North, 2014), a new Urban Fantasy series by J.D. Horn, debuts with The Line (ISBN 1477809732) in February 2014. The Source (Witching Savannah #2) and The Void (Witching Savannah #3) are scheduled for release in July and December 2014.
Savannah in television
The following is based on a list assembled by the Savannah Film Commission [1], as well as the IMDb [2]
1988 ( 1969 The movie) Starring Robert Downey Jr., Keifer Sutherland
Savannah in film
The following is based on a list assembled by the Savannah Film Commission [3], as well as the IMDb [4]