Sunday school class with Jimmy Carter: What it was like

PLAINS, Ga. — It never got old. No attempts at conversation beyond a brief “good morning” or “thank you.” Carter, consistently in sports jacket, slacks and bolo tie, would start his lesson by moving around the sanctuary, asking with a straight face if there were any visitors — that always got a laugh — and where they were from. After a 2018 profile by The Washington Post told of the Carters having regular Saturday night dinners at friend Jill Stuckey’s house, which included one glass each of “bargain-brand Chardonnay,” I asked Carter how many glasses of wine he’d had the night before. “Actually, since I’m in church, I better say I’ll be willing to have photographs made with all of you.” For my family, those pictures show a son growing from boy to man with Mr. Jimmy and Ms. Rosalynn filling out the frames. ___ Paul Newberry, an Atlanta-based national sports writer and columnist for The Associated Press, traveled to Plains, Georgia, with his family and friends about 20 times to attend Carter’s Sunday school classes.