Sweet Tea: Larger than life

Happy Independent Bookstore Day! The right bookstore is like a good friend who just gets you. You can stay in their company all day, not saying a word (because you’re reading, obviously), and feel completely at home. If you’re in the Atlanta area, here are a few indie gems around town that invite you to sit and stay a while.

OUTSTANDING ANDRE THE GIANT LORE

Andre the Giant (right) in 1976. The French-born actor loved the South.

Wrestler and actor Andre the Giant, given name Andre Rene Roussimoff, was beloved for his kind ways and gentle strength. Quite a feat when you stand 7-foot-4! As it turns out, the French-born icon had a beautiful connection to a little town in North Carolina, and they recently honored him with a roadside marker.

• Roussimoff fell in love with the South when he toured the region while wrestling with the WWE.
• He bought a ranch in Ellerbe, North Carolina and raised cattle there, eventually becoming an important part of the community.
• Now, in the South, the words on a commemorative marker could go one of two ways: florid poetry that winds like kudzu vines, or something restrained, almost elegant in its simplicity. Richmond County chose the latter.
• “Andre The Giant. 1946-1993. Actor and professional wrestler,” the marker reads. “Was born Andre Roussimoff. Known for role in The Princess Bride in 1987. Lived nearby.”

To the point, indeed.

A CITY OF MURALS

Atlanta-based muralist Corey Barksdale designs the mixed media mural at the intersection of 17th Street and Northside Drive.

Did you know Atlanta has more than 2,000 murals? Art, like love, is a wild thing. You can’t stop it from growing. That’s one of the ways we ended up with so many vertical masterpieces.

• One person’s graffiti is another person’s art: It makes sense, doesn’t it? Some of the earliest mural work in the city was created by graffiti artists. Graffiti is a constant problem for city leaders across the world, but no one can deny the talent the goes into the creations, or the unsung cultures that are often represented.
• Legal areas became thriving creative spots: Everyone in Atlanta knows about Krog Street Tunnel in the city’s Cabbagetown neighborhood. It’s alive with kaleidoscopic, ever-changing paintings. It became a legal graffiti spot in 2003. After that, other initiatives like Living Walls provided safe outlets for street artists.

🎨 READ MORE: ArtsATL talked to some giants of the genre, including a member of the United Kings, the crew that introduced the highly skilled graffiti genre of style writing to Atlanta in 1984.

SIPS FROM AROUND THE SOUTH

🐼 Atlanta, GA: The Atlanta Zoo is getting new pandas! The black-and-white balls of joy will be welcomed under a new International Cooperative Research Agreement on Giant Panda Conservation between Zoo Atlanta and the China Wildlife Conservation Association. Their names are Ping Ping, a male, and female Fu Shuang. More from Zoo Atlanta

🛝 Raleigh, NC: As much of the South deals with drought conditions, some public spaces like Gipson Play Plaza at Dix Park are able to keep their kid-friendly water features open because of sustainable water management systems. Wouldn’t it be great if more parks devised such solutions? More from WRAL

🐢 New Orleans, LA and Biloxi, MS: A team from NOLA’s Audubon Aquarium recently released 26 endangered sea turtles into the Gulf of Mexico along Biloxi’s beaches. Turtles can become incapacitated in especially cold water, and these turtles were sent to Louisiana for medical attention after a cold-stunning event in Massachusetts last fall. More from the Audubon Nature Institute