The Pinkest Party on Earth

In 1952, William Arthur Fickling, Sr, discovered the identity of three mystery trees in his front yard in Macon, Georgia. That same year, his future daughter-in-law, Neva Jane Langley, won the title of Miss America. The trees had been planted by a landscaper who had mistaken them for dogwoods. They were Yoshino cherry trees, not native to Middle Georgia. An avid gardener, Fickling began rooting them. He gave away more than 120,000 trees in his lifetime and became known in the community as Johnny Cherryseed. The breathtaking blossoms inspired Carolyn Crayton, of the Keep Macon-Bibb Beautiful Commission, to start a festival honoring Fickling for his contributions. In his ninth book, The Pinkest Party on Earth, Macon newspaper columnist Ed Grisamore tells the story of how a city wraps itself in pink each spring and has become the cherry blossom capital of the world, with more than 300,000 flowering cherry trees.