Mr. Alan Donnell Gibson: Obituary

Alan Donnell Gibson age 76, of Jasper, Georgia, died Friday, April 14, at his home in Bent Tree.

Alan was born November 11, 1940, in Huntington, West Virginia. He played on the high school basketball team and tennis team. He graduated from Vanderbilt University with a BA in sociology, Cum Laude. There he was in ROTC and upon graduation served six years in Army Intelligence in Germany, a Captain supervising field agents.

After the military, Alan lived in North Palm Beach where for many years he owned and ran Brooks Travel Agency. There he also wrote a travel column for the Palm Beach Post.  In the 1970’s Alan moved to North Georgia where he concentrated further on his passion for writing. To his credit are several plays performed in area theaters, two nonfiction books, screenplays, and humor. As a moderator, Alan hosted a Comcast TV public affairs panel and the “The Civility Hour” on Cherokee TV. For over 25 years Alan led a weekly discussion group about culture, politics, history, with doses of severe trivia.

Alan also authored “The Essential Bad Attitude,” a column for the Pickens County Progress for which he received First place in the Georgia Press Association’s 2013 humorous category for weeklies.

Alan is survived by two sisters, Linda Zelenka of Orange Park, Florida and Carol Frey of Norcross, Georgia; nieces Jennifer LaSala and Sarah Humphrey; and nephews David Zelenka, Jonathan Frey, and Brian Frey.

A celebration of Alan’s life followed by a reception will be held at 11:00 Friday, April 21, at Fellowship Presbyterian Church, officiated by Reverend Ben Laughlin. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Mountain Conservation Trust of Georgia conserve@mctga.org.

Arrangements are entrusted to the staff of Roper Funeral Home & Crematory in Jasper, Georgia.

Online condolences can be made at www.roperfuneralhome.com.