The Interview: Newnan Mayor-Elect James Shepherd
From Staff Reports
This month, The Paper visited with Newnan Mayor-Elect James Shepherd for its January Q&A.
Briefly describe yourself and what you do/did.
I’m James Shepherd, and I’m the mayor-elect of Newnan. My family moved to Newnan in 1998 when my dad got out of the Air Force and got a job with Delta, and I’ve had a home here ever since. I graduated from Newnan High School before earning a history degree at the University of Georgia (Go Dawgs), then worked for 6 years in various consulting roles before going to Columbia Law School to get my JD. Since then I’ve worked primarily as a corporate attorney. I live in downtown Newnan with my family, and am deeply grateful for the opportunity to serve the city I love.
Best piece of advice you’ve received.
You’re going to have to spend your whole life with yourself, so make sure you’re becoming someone you like spending time with.
If I had it to do over …
In early 2016 I had a colleague who tried to sell me on the future of Bitcoin as an investment. At the time I thought it was way overpriced at nearly $600. Definitely should have listened to that guy.
You are going on an extended solo trip. What three albums and three books would you take?
Records would have to be After the Party by The Menzingers, Scarecrow by John Mellencamp, and What’s Going On by Marvin Gaye.
For books I’ll go with two favorites and my current read – Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke, and the book I’m currently reading, There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America by Brian Goldstone.
Tell us one thing about yourself that few people know.
I’m a lay delegate to the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church.
You are hosting a dinner party for six. What five people, living or dead, would you invite and why.
1. William F. Buckley – I still watch old episodes of Firing Line, and don’t think there are many pundits today who come close to Buckley’s rhetorical talent. He was a forceful defender of the status quo, and I feel like he would have been a fun guest to have at any party.
2. Lee Kuan Yew – Lee was the man who took Singapore from a backwater port city that got kicked out of Malaysia to the global powerhouse it is today. He was also a deep thinker with strong political opinions, which he exercised over decades as the quasi-dictator of his country.
3. Nelson Mandela – My undergraduate thesis was on colonial and postcolonial southern Africa, so Mandela was a figure I spent a lot of time reading about. I can’t imagine working together with people who imprisoned me for decades to make a new and better country, but his ability to do just that is what makes him such a historical giant.
4. Russell Means – Means was both an actor and an outspoken activist for American Indian rights. Besides being thoughtful and committed to his ideals, he just seems like he would have been a fun party guest.
5. W.E.B. Du Bois – Nobody wrote as incisively about America at the turn of the 20th century as Du Bois. His thoughtfulness and clear moral vision stand out in his writing, and I would love to be able to both speak with him and hear him bounce off the other people on this list.
Name an as yet unfulfilled dream.
I’ve always wanted to take a trip through the far north and see the aurora borealis.
If you weren’t doing what you are, you would be …
Cartoonist. I learned to read from Calvin and Hobbes, and I’ve always been fascinated by animation.
Your go-to food.
Chick-fil-A. I have an embarrassing number of points on their loyalty app.
Favorite movies(s).
Forrest Gump, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and Gangs of New York.
Dogs or cats?
I prefer the average cat, but my favorite pets have all been dogs.
Your favorite quote and why.
“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they will never sit in.” As a millenial, it feels like we’ve been raised by generations of lumberjacks. We owe it to our descendants to build institutions that sustain them, and I hope to do that.
Name something that you are extremely glad you did or accomplished.
I was both a participant and coach for Columbia’s Native American Law Students Association moot court team. The team I coached took second place at the national competition, but the process of learning more about the intricacies of Federal Indian Law was incredibly rewarding both years. I still encourage every law student I meet to take any Native American law classes they can.
What advice would you give your younger self just starting out on their own.
Don’t be afraid to throw yourself at what you love
