Skip Keller
Scaly Mountain, North Carolina
“I’m a part of the oldest family in Florida. My grandfather was born in 1889 and got his first pair of shoes the day he turned sixteen. My father was a pillar of the community. He was a home builder. I worked in the family construction business, heavy equipment, hauling stone and gravel, big state contracts. Then I discovered photography and built that up really good. Hell, I’d go anywhere in the world to make a family portrait.
“I was extremely arrogant. I should have had more humility, but things were good. Portraits, weddings, events. Then I made this picture, kind of a retro throwback to the forties, with a girl in a military uniform holding a Coke with a flag and damn, didn’t it take off! I got the blessing of the Pentagon and I just gave them away to the troops. I had signings where hundreds of soldiers got signed copies. I spent over $1 million on wardrobe and printing. I did a whole series of them.
“I started giving talks to the troops about patriotism, traveling all over. It was the Pro America Tour. Then came the radio and TV interviews. Politicians wanted me to appear for them. Let me show you this picture of me with Jeb Bush. I know for a fact I could have had a $100 million deal if I had wanted to sell out. I was invited to be in the International Who’s Who.
“I don’t like communists, socialists, or fascists. I gave one talk where I told the plain truth that our government has been corrupt for the last ninety to one hundred years and that Barack Hussein Obama was a socialist. Anyway, this talk got some press and a few days later I got a call from a friend in government, no names mentioned, and he told me, Skip, you have thoroughly pissed off the White House.
“The next thing I know, no one will return my call. Not from the Pentagon, not Congress, no radio, no TV, nobody. And worse yet, every single mention of me on the internet disappeared. Gone. They scrubbed every bit of my history. Then I had two heart attacks, one stroke, and I lost everything.
“When I arrived in these hills, I had two $100 bills and half a tank of gas. I ate one meal every few days. I lived in a trailer and over time managed to save a little money. I found families that had handed seeds down and grew old seed line tomatoes. I searched them out all over. There’s nothing like them. Go ahead, taste one. Best you ever ate, right?
“Don’t mix those tomatoes in the same bag with that onion. It’ll ruin the tomato.”