‘Sold’ for a pint of whiskey: Lonnie Holley’s mythical life, part 1

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Artist Lonnie Holley’s life feels like an American myth: raised in a whiskey bar next to the state fairground in Jim Crow-era Alabama, he wandered the ditches and creeks of the surrounding landscape, experiencing beauty and brutality in equal measure while the greats of Hollywood’s golden age played out on the giant screen of the drive-in movie theatre next door. This episode, part 1 of Lonnie’s story, follows him from his earliest days, to the search for his biological family that would lead to his incarceration in an infamous Alabama reform school. In the next episode, Lonnie realises he is an artist. Presenter: Andrea Kennedy Producer: Laura Thomas (Photo: Lonnie Holley. Credit: David Raccuglia)