FLATWOODS AND LIGHTERKNOTS is a cameo peek into Southern culture as experienced by a young boy growing up in Southeast Georgia during World War II and the tumultuous times that followed. The young boy's experiences are captured in a series of stories that treat people of different cultures with tender remembrances of their special contributions to a world being changed by the demands of technological and social progress. As America moved forward after a long war and subsequent advent of a mobilized society, many people had to change their lives in ways that were often inconvenient yet necessary in a new age of mass communications and mass confusion. Old ways and beliefs gave way to new methods as people, steeped in old customs and traditions, began remodeling their lives to meet the challenges of a new era. Yet, there still lingers a deep respect and admiration for the contributions of those who came before us, plowing the furrows of progress.