Above, from top: George Jr. with the catch of the day, circa
1933. George Jr. with George Sr. and his mother, Sarah,
circa 1930. George and his sister, Sarah, on the beach,
circa 1934. Left: His fishing journals contain meticulous
records of his many excursions.
33
gEORGE CLARK JR. sits on
the couch in the living room
of his Waynick Avenue cot-tage,
flipping through an old
album. Each page contains a
black-and-white photo. Some
date back 90 years, to the time
he was born. Some are even a
little older.
These are not just photo-graphs.
These are memories.
Some are distant — “That’s
my daddy with … I can’t
identify the gal.” Some are
distinct. All are memories of
growing up at Wrightsville
Beach in a simpler time.
George Clark can look
back on a life filled with
accomplishments. He is
a former attorney, state
representative, legislative
counsel to the governor of
North Carolina, and New
Hanover County Board of
Education member. He’s
also a lifelong Wrightsville
Beacher.
“All of my life,” he
says.
“We always had a home here. It
wasn’t fancy, but we had it.”
He’s been in his current
house since 1968. He and his
late wife, Libby, bought it when
they moved back from Raleigh
after he served as counsel to
Gov. Jim Holshouser. It might
not be as fancy as some of the
mini-mansions in town —
Clark says a 50-year-old house
in Wrightsville Beach “is essen-tially
a teardown” — but it’s
home.
“It’s been good for me,” he
says. “Although I think I’m hav-ing
an elevator put out here. It
will cost a lot more than I paid
for the house and lot in 1968.”
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