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We’ve Lost Okefenokee Joe

Duncan Dobie remembers his friend Dick Flood, loved by many and who will live on forever as Okefenokee Joe.

Duncan Dobie | January 12, 2023

Dick Flood, famously known as Okefenokee Joe, pictured with his hound “Gator,” doing what he has always been so good at—strumming his guitar and composing lyrics. Dick Flood died Jan. 9, 2023 in the Veterans Affairs medical center in Augusta.

In April 2022, I had a booth selling books at the Blue Ridge Trout Festival in Blue Ridge. The popular one-day event had been put off for a couple of years because of Covid, and I was excited to see it return. Lo and behold, while I was setting up my booth, a man in a wheelchair rolled up to the empty booth next to me with several helpers and began setting up his own shop. At first I was preoccupied and didn’t pay much attention to my neighbor, but even in a wheelchair, this man had a presence and a very recognizable voice. I did a double-take when I heard my name.

“Hi Duncan!”

I looked over and saw a pair of bright eyes, a beaming face and a mischievous smile that always hinted of someone trying to pull a prank on you. My face lit up. It was my friend Dick Flood, better known as “Okefenokee Joe.” Even at almost 90 years of age, he always viewed the world with a boyhood-type wonder and enthusiasm that was contagious. I knew he had been in poor health. It’d been three years since I’d seen him back at the 2019 Georgia Outdoor Writers Conference held in Richmond Hill, and he was having plenty of health problems then. During that conference Dick was inducted into the Georgia Outdoor Writers Hall of Fame, an honor he truly deserved. Despite the fact that he could barely walk, he entertained the crowd with a song he had written about a tree. The lyrics were haunting. After all, what is the value of a single tree? When it’s gone, does the world miss it? Does anyone really care?

Okefenokee Joe: The SwampWise Legacy

Dick had a way with words and a gift for writing lyrics. Needless to say, my attendance at the outdoor writers conference was memorable because I got to have dinner with and spend time with a living legend. It was a thousand times better at the trout festival because I spent most of that Saturday talking to him. That is, when he wasn’t posing for photos with many of the attendees who remembered him from his popular programs on Georgia Public Television.

My first question to him was, “What are you doing all the way up here in the north Georgia mountains?”

“Trying to peddle a few tapes and books just like you,” he answered gleefully. “I’ve got to do something to make a living.”

Dick Flood was the type of man who was never going to give up. His incredible talent has been highly underrated. He spent the last 50 years of his life promoting conservation and teaching respect for the earth. Interestingly, if you look up his bio, it’ll say something like: American singer, songwriter, entertainer and environmentalist.

No question he was a talented singer, songwriter and entertainer as mentioned, but environmentalist? He scoffed at that title. Somewhere along the way while doing thousands of nature-oriented programs with school children and other groups he had picked it up and it stuck. He knew full well that the definition of today’s so-called “environmentalist” usually means one thing—substituting solar and wind power for fossil fuels, as in, doing away with the fossil fuels because of “climate change” and in essence destroying the American way of life. That wasn’t Dick Flood in any way, shape or form.

This 1973 photo shows Okefenokee Joe holding a beautiful Eastern indigo snake while giving one of his many exciting and informative demonstrations at the Okefenokee Swamp.

Dick Flood was no phony. He was a man who loved the natural beauty of this earth and all of the living things we share it with, but especially snakes, swamp critters and the always mysterious Okefenokee Swamp. He loved his country and he loved the military. He advocated for all types of conservation and taking care of the earth as in preserving and protecting all of its incredible wildlife. He also advocated for American Indians everywhere whom he deeply revered and loved. He was an outdoorsman extraordinaire. He loved to camp, gather his own food, live off the land. He loved to watch wildlife, and he studied everything from ants to black bears. He was a naturalist, and he understood wild animal behavior. He loved this earth as few men ever have, and because of his musical talents, he was able to translate that love into many amazing songs and stories.

When the trout festival was over that day and it was time to pack up and go home, my heart was heavy. I had enjoyed my time with Okefenokee Joe so much. It was a gift. I knew I might never see him again, and I was right. But he left me with something special. He had that eternal spark in his eyes. The flame that burned in his heart can never be extinguished. He was larger than life. I thank my lucky stars I knew him for a little while.

Note: Every school-age child in Georgia, and for that matter, anyone who cares about nature and conservation, should listen to Okefenokee Joe’s incredible audio series:  “Swampwise – Secrets, Songs and Stories from the Land of the Trembling Earth.” The four-disc series, along with his books and tapes, can be ordered from [email protected]   

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2 Comments

  1. dopeshooter on February 18, 2023 at 8:28 am

    A lost human treasure for sure, and one that many Georgians unfortunately didn’t know. I was fortunate enough to be in the audience when Okefenokee Joe visited my middle school in Thomasville in the late 80s. I’ll never forget the reaction when he pulled a 5-6′ Eastern Diamondback out of a barrel. Kids down front went scrambling for cover like he threw a live grenade out on the floor, lol, it was great! I got to meet him years later as an older teenager when I was visiting the Okefenokee with family. He remembered that trip to Thomasville and the kids reaction and we both laughed about it. A great spokesperson and rep for the Okefenokee and protection of wild places in general. Highly recommend a visit to the Okefenokee if you haven’t been, and do the guided boat tour. I recommend February or March to visit, unless you are a heat and bug sadist. Back to stardust Mr. Flood.

  2. Hunt2871 on January 12, 2023 at 4:00 pm

    There is zero indication from years of talking with Mr. Flood, reading his writings or listening to his presentations that he would “scoff” at the title of environmentalist, given that he used the title, among others like conservationist, to describe himself repeatedly. Most recently he sold tote bags to raise funds for schools with the words “Tote Me- Save a Tree” on them. He once wrote song entitled “Keepers of the Earth, Shepherds of the Land”. Finally, he owned a business through 2020 called Power Reduction Systems of South Georgia which provided energy conservation consultations as well as renewable energy and reduction of fossil fuel consumption. He said of this business “”Conservation is the interest,” …. “What I do with wildlife has everything in the world to do with conservation. Now wildlife is America’s renewable resource, and energy conservation is the same as any other type of conservation. I don’t like waste.” At every presentation I ever heard him give he would give the message that “every day is earth day”….and has included that message on his website.
    That certainly sounds like the words of a man who would balk at being called an environmentalist. Where the idea came from that he would eschew the title environmentalist who was opposed to renewable energy technology is beyond me but I suspect it is a point of view of the writer and GON, given the info that is passed around on the GON forums, and has nothing at all to do with a great man who was an icon in the state and a great loss to anyone who loves the outdoors and the ENVIRONMENT.

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