A Country Boy from Sumter County, South Carolina: The Autobiography of Harry Lee Fulwood, Sr.

By Coach Harry L. Fulwood Sr.

I wrote this book to share my life story. I was prompted into writing this book because of so many people that heard me as a guest speaker, me telling different people real-life stories about myself, my stories about my twenty-two months in the army, and my coworkers and many of my former students telling me that I should be putting my stories and experiences in a book. So I decided to write it. For those of you that know me well and those that don’t know as well, you will find this book to be very interesting, downright hilarious, very entertaining, and thought-provoking. I believe you will have so much fun reading it while you laugh.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 21, 2014
• ISBN: 9781499075373

Coach Harry L. Fulwood Sr.

Coach Harry Lee Fulwood , Sr. was born and raised in Sumter, S.C. to the parents Daniel and Mary Fulwood. Coach Fulwood retired as an educator after teaching and coaching for 33 years in Sumter County (Sumter School District) on June 6, 2014. He has thoroughly enjoyed his years teaching and coaching. He approached his teaching profession the same way a medical doctor approached their profession in the medical field. He believed as a teacher, you have to find the right prescription to correct any deficiencies that a student in that classroom may have that will advance them to a higher level than the level they were at when they arrived in your classroom at the beginning of the school year or the beginning of a semester. Coach Fulwood has been named teacher of the year once and Coach-Of-The-year twice during his career. Some of his former students have gone on to become doctors, teachers, Law enforcement officers, and ministers. Approximately sixty of his middle school players have gone on to play college football on scholarship. All of his former students and players have made him so proud of them. Coach Fulwood played four years of college football for Clemson University. He graduated with a degree in Industrial Technology in 1980, the year before Clemson won the National Championship in football.

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Copyright © 2014 by Harry L. Fulwood, Sr.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

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Rev. date: 04/14/2022

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CONTENTS

FOREWORD

***ACKNOWLEDGMENT***

Chapter 1 Growing Up

Chapter 2 After High School

Chapter 3 College

Chapter 4 Teaching

Chapter 5 Coaching

Chapter 6 My Mentor

Chapter 7 Family

Chapter 8 Be Thankful—You Are Blessed

Chapter 9 My Favorite Quotes

Chapter 10 Questions That I Don’t Have an Answer

For (Help me) and Some of My Favorite Jokes

FOREWORD

I am particularly indebted to my father. God chose him for me before the world began. God also decided that I’d be his first born. I think that makes me one lucky girl. I appreciate all that he taught me and the value that those lessons have brought to my life. Some lessons I admit were tough but looking back I wouldn’t trade them for anything.

I am also thrilled to have given birth to his first two grandchildren. It is awesome to see them learn from and laugh at their grandfather. He creates memories with them whenever they are together. I believe one day they will share those memories with their own children.

Now, about this book. My father has been writing his life story for over half of my life. I can remember him writing in notebook after notebook and stacking them away for this day. He would say, Your daddy’s going to write a book about his life one day. Daddy has completed his book. While reading the book he will take you from the cotton fields of Sumter County, to the campus of Clemson University, and beyond. I pray the descriptions and stories about his upbringing and life will encourage and inspire you as they have me. You will laugh and perhaps cry, or laugh until you cry as you can imagine the book flows with Daddy’s humor. Some people may say after reading this book, I thought I knew Harry Lee, Sour Belly, Coach Fulwood or Mr. Fulwood. Whatever name you call him or whatever you thought you knew about him I think you’ll walk away with a better understanding of the man I am privileged to call DADDY!

Sandra Fulwood Graham

The greatest blessing of my life have been the births of my five children: I dedicate this book to them.

Jordan Chandler Fulwood

James Daniel Fulwood

Shonda Felisha F. Johnson (Andrew)

Harry Lee Fulwood

Jr. and

Sandra Alisha F. Graham (Eric Sr.).

This book is dedicated to them and also to my grandchildren:

Eric Jr. and

Shonciré Graham.

This book is also dedicated to my nieces and nephews:

Burnie Fulwood

Jr. (Njerie) Lauren

Matilda Fulwood–Richardson (Harry) Torrie

Michelle Fulwood–McDowell (Marcus) Keyera,

Hilton

Daniel Fulwood II and

Tara Toney (Keymonia, Kalisha, Kolitha, Keith, Kameron).

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The greatest teachers of my life have been my

parents Mary and Daniel Fulwood.

***ACKNOWLEDGMENT***

Thanks to my only sibling, my brother, Burnie Fulwood, Sr., for the motivational talk along Highway 378 east out of Columbia, South Carolina, that stopped me from dropping out of Clemson University.

Thanks to Rev. George Wright, my seventh grade PE teacher and high school coach. He was my mentor. He was the greatest motivator in my life. I emulated him every day and to this day. I got all of my humor from Reverend Wright.

Thank you Rev. Ellie Palmer for hiring me on to my first teaching job right out of college. Thanks for your spiritual inspiration.

Thanks Willie Anderson, my high school football and basketball teammate. Thanks for paving the way for me to get into Clemson University. No one fought harder for me to get in and out of Clemson than you. Thanks for pushing me to get through it all and for yelling out my name loudly over all the hundreds of people in attendance at my graduation ceremony when that degree was placed in my hand from the president of Clemson University. I am forever indebted to you. You taught me what intestinal fortitude was all about.

Thanks to Rudy Wheeler, my brother in Christ. You have been one of the biggest influences in my life. Thanks for taking over as my mentor when our mentor Rev. George Wright passed away. Thanks for all the wisdom and for loaning me your ears to vent whatever was on my mind when I needed someone to listen to me. Thanks for hiring me on to my very first coaching job at Mayewood High School in Sumter, South Carolina.

Thanks to Col. Rick Robbins, my academic advisor at Clemson University, for not giving up on me and many others who would not have made it without your help. You made a tremendous impact on my life. Continue to rest in peace.

Thanks to Dr. Clearance Coker Manning, S.C., my family doctor. Thanks for everything. (Clemson Tiger)

I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.

Philippians 4–13

The road to success is not straight. There are curves called failure, pot holes called confusion, speed bumps called friends, red lights called enemies, and caution lights called family. You will have flats called jobs. But if you have a spare called determination, an engine called perseverance, an insurance called faith, and a driver called Jesus, you will make it to a place called success.

—Unknown

CHAPTER 1

Growing Up

My name is Harry Lee Fulwood, Sr. I was born and raised in a rural section of Sumter County, Sumter, South Carolina. I was one of two sons born to Daniel and Mary Fulwood. I grew up on 109 acres of farmland that my parents own. We worked our land until my parents retired from farming.

I can remember the long hours I spent working on our farm planting crops, chopping cotton, cropping tobacco, milking cows, and feeding the livestock. Those were just some of the many things that I did growing up on the farm.

We lived almost exclusively from the garden: corn, tomatoes, squash, okra, peas, beans, sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, cabbages, watermelons, and the list goes on. Things from the garden were all natural and fresh. We raised our chickens and hogs for meat. We certainly didn’t rely on processed meats and vegetables like most people do today. Some of our chickens were used to produce eggs. My daddy would butcher a hog from which he made sausages, bacon, ham, fatback, and cracklings or pork rinds. When Mama fried some of that bacon or sausage, you could smell the aroma of it cooking throughout the neighborhood. Unlike today, the sausage and bacon you buy from the market, you can hardly smell it while it’s cooking right in the kitchen.

I loved the country. You had space to move around without being on someone else’s property or someone being on yours.

I am a member of Mt. Sinai AME Church, in Lynchburg, South Carolina. My parents made sure Burnie and I went to church on Sundays. We learned a lot of valuable lessons from the church and from our parents. Mama and Daddy were Christians. They taught us that the Ten Commandments were not multiple choice.

My parents were disciplinarians. Trust me, they didn’t believe in the phrase sparing the rod and spoiling the child. Burnie and I were not spoiled, and the rod was definitely not