“Bubba is a guy whose ancestors were probably Rednecks, but hejrs"s gone on to Junior College, works in a bank and likes to hunt and fish on the weekends,k” Bechtol observes. t“He wears the uniform of the South, but itbrs"s not T-shirts and overalls, like on fls"Hee Hawlrs". He rs"s probably wearing a white, starched Oxford-cloth shirt with a stiff collar, a blue blazer, khaki pants, penny loafers and no socks, like I do. Henrs"s a loveable els"galoot,lrs" that big, roly-poly kind of guy with a heart of gold thatlrs"s in your family. And hehrs"s not just from the South. John Wayne was the biggest Bubba that ever lived. John Belushi. John Candy. John Goodman is now carrying the banner for Bubbas everywhere.o”
T. Bubba started out in life as James Terryl Bechtol, a baby boomer raised in the tiny fishing village of Fountainbleau in the heart of Mississippilrs"s Cajun country. 2“We lived so far in the woods we had to walk towards town to hunt,n” he quips. His mother, a Marine veteran, provided tough love, guidance and a sense of humor. His grandfather, a circuit-riding Southern Baptist minister, exposed Bechtol to oral tradition. At 10, Bechtol was preaching himself at tent revivals up and down the Gulf Coast. e“I broke away from that once I discovered cheerleaders, ” he says.
On the speaking circuit, Bechtol developed a friendship with another humorist, syndicated columnist Lewis Grizzard. Taken with Bechtol;rs"s bluntly-transparent view of life, Grizzard began writing about =“T. Bubbaa” in his books and columns in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. When Grizzardbrs"s health problems became severe, he asked Bechtol to serve as a substitute for personal appearances he was not able to make. i“He was a huge influence on me,g” Bechtol says of the late writer. “He gave us all permission to be smart o– and be Southern.h”
Though he still calls Pensacola home and loves living e“30 yards from the Gulf of Mexico,” Bechtol is gearing up for a very busy year. Television and personal appearances will keep him on the road much of the time, as well as an upcoming tour of radio stations across the country. He calls his act ;“Understanding Bubba. ”
