How does a peanut farmer become governor of Georgia and President of the United States?

Only in America could such a story be true.

Georgia Writers Museum is proud to announce theApril Meet the Author, featuring Dorothy “Dot” Padgett on Tuesday, April 2, at the Plaza Arts Center atnoon (doors open at 11:30a.m.). Tickets are $40 and available by contacting Georgia Writers Museum (www.georgiawritersmuseum.org). Padgett willspeakabout her book, “Jimmy Carter: Elected President with Pocket Change and Peanuts,” and signing books following her presentation.

Padgett, a native of Douglasville, spent her young adult days working in the P.T.A., Scoutsand Sunday School. However, she is probably best known for her part in helping Pres. Jimmy Carter get elected. She was instrumental in organizing a unique campaign effort known as the “Peanut Brigade.” This was a group of 600 or more volunteers, most of them paying their own expenses, traveling in 18 states during the 1976 presidential primaries and general election. This proved to be very effective to have personal friends of Jimmy Carter knocking on doors and asking people to vote for their candidate. Southern accents were part of the appeal.

Padgett says she had heard of Jimmy Carter and had heard good things, but as a young mother with a large family, donating her time wasn’t something she had planned.

“I thought to myself, ‘What will you tell your grandchildren one day that you did with your life?’ This was an opportunity to do something,” said Padgett. “He walked into my yard one morning and I thought, ‘I’m a busy woman with four children but, yes, I’ll help.’”

During the Carter administration, she was appointed assistant Chief of Protocol at the state department. Padgett is a former member of the Democratic National Committee, the Georgia Council for the Arts, and the Metropolitan Mental Health Association. She presently serves on The Carter Center Board of Councilors. Padgett lives in historic downtown Douglasville, Georgia, and just celebrated her 96^th birthday.