The Coastal Georgia Foundation is excited to announce one of its newest funds: the Eugenia Price/Joyce K. Blackburn Charitable Fund. The Fund’s purpose will be to permanently carry on the artistic influence and philanthropic legacy of both authors, and to benefit Coastal Georgians.
“The reason for the Price/Blackburn Foundation initially was to perpetuate the legacy, the writing and the philanthropic work of both authors,” says Eileen Humphlett, former executive director of the Price-Blackburn Foundation and Eugenia Price’s trusted friend and colleague. “Now, the Fund is set up to continue forever with the support and direction of the Coastal Georgia Foundation, and I think this is something Genie and Joyce would dearly love.”
The Fund holds the copyrights for over 50 book titles, including the popular St. Simons Trilogy: Lighthouse, New Moon Rising, and The Beloved Invader. Other transferred assets include publishing contracts with Turner Publishing Company, including movie rights, and other investments.
“This is huge news for Coastal Georgians,” says Paul White, CEO and President. “We will be sure that these book titles and the stories of Eugenia Price and Joyce Blackburn’s generosity continue to be relevant and popular.”
“I often give the St. Simons Trilogy to my new homeowners at our real estate closings,” says Pat Hodnett Cooper, owner of Berkshire Hathaway Hodnett Cooper HomeServices, and also a Coastal Georgia Foundation Board member. “They are so representative of this area, fun to read and meaningful.”
“Genie’s characters are very real,” says Humphlett. “You can relate to them and they become part of your life because they were part of her life.” Humphlett notes that Price did meticulous research for all of her books, including timelines of actual historical events that she could weave into the stories. She also described Price to be the most disciplined person she knew, preferring to be at her typewriter over anything else she did.
That typewriter can be viewed at the Coastal Georgia Historical Society’s Lighthouse Museum as part of its permanent exhibits. There are other archival items of Price’s available to view by appointment as well.
“Readers of all ages are still discovering Price’s books, and they come to the Lighthouse Museum because of them,” says Mimi Rogers, curator for the Coastal Georgia Historical Society. “This is exciting news for our community.
The Fund will be supported by royalties derived from book sales, and will begin its grantmaking through the Coastal Georgia Foundation in early 2020. “Genie Price adopted Georgia from the time she discovered St. Simons Island – it was then she became a Georgian,” says Humphlett.