S-Town John B McLemore and why to never judge a book by its cover.

I am currently listening to the podcast S- town. Or Shit-town. It is about a man who rang up the makers of worlds most popular investigative podcasts' Serial ' and 'This American Life'. He complained how his town was corrupt and that a murder happened and it was covered up. Brian Reed the investigative journalist with the show was inundated with emails from John B McLemore about his shit-town called Woodstock in Bib County Alabama. So Brain finally picked up his phone and rang John B. Brian recorded everything as he does with all his podcasts. I have listened to the previous series this one is different . All because of John B. Brian unknowingly got the most unique, interesting , intelligent man.

Now I don't want to give away what unfolds in the podcast. I would more like to focus on the man himself John B. Here is a man lived in this small backward town in Alabama in an old house with 10 dogs. He was a redneck with tattoos and nipple piercings(even though he hated people with tattoos). But there was alot more to John B. that meets the eye. First of all he planted a maze out his back garden with 69 possible combinations. He had gates within the maze and he would move these to change the combination of the maze.

He fixed clocks for a living. He made sundials also which is no easy feat. He made these to make sure he was able to do the maths behind it. As the podcast goes on we learn that John B was didn't just fix clocks, he was one of the worlds re-owned horologists. People used to bring their antique clocks from all over America to Woodstock to be fixed by John B. His peers called him a genius. If other horologists could not fix an antique clock then they would send them to John. They would warn the dealers or owners of the clocks( the clocks could be worth anything between 100k and 2 million) that John was a bit different and expect profanities 😂😂. One horologist went around to his house because he spent a year trying to fix a clock. John knew what was wrong and iron filed out a piece in 3 hours and restored the clock. The horologist could not believe it.

I was really amazed by this man. With his conversations with the podcast maker he used to ramble on about , geometry, physics , social problems, chemistry, maths , you name it. John looked after stray dogs that people in Woodstock left on the side of the road. He used to help some of the locals out especially a young man called Tyler who John B described as the product of the shittown. John was like a father figure to Tyler and he always helped Tyler out with money and lawyers when Tyler got in trouble. So why did he get tattoos if he hated them. He knew the people in the local tattoo parlour and they had a back room where John B would go and spend time. These guys were considered black sheep so John B felt at home here. When he found out they were having financial problems John B used to come in and get a tattoo. Bill paid for another couple of months. So John ended up covered in tattoos by indirectly saving their business.

John B is the epiphany of never judging a book by the cover. I found him compelling and I can see a film coming about this guy because he is a film makers dream. Add in a treasure hunt and you got a film right there.

I highly recommend listening to this podcast on i-tunes. Its free. Its brilliant. I put them on in the car on the way to work. In one of the episodes I actually cried. I never cry during films or anything but this was different and I am not even half way through.