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As former President Jimmy Carter remains in hospice care, stories of his time at the White House, and as governor of Georgia, are as popular as ever.

LaGrange’s Kaye Minchew authored a book named “Jimmy Carter: Citizen of the South” in 2021 and was asked Tuesday to discuss it at LaGrange College’s Rotaract Club.

The presentation was a part of the club’s celebration of the Rotary area of peace and conflict resolution.

Andrew Cunningham, Rotaract president, said he was excited to have Minchew speak as a part of National World Rotaract Week.

“I’ve been wanting to do more with the local Rotary Club, and she’s a member. Through National History Day and other things that we do here on campus, it led me to go, ‘Hey, we need to bring her in as a speaker,” Cunningham said.

“I had been able to see her presentation on peace and conflict resolution before and thought bringing in Mrs. Minchew would be a great fit.”

Minchew said the inspiration for her book came from wanting to write a book on Carter, who is a Georgia native, and his impact on Georgia. 

“My first book was about [ Franklin D. Roosevelt] in Georgia. I was at the Little White House doing the first book signing, thinking about what to do for another project when it came to me that I needed to do a project on the man from Georgia who was a full-time president — Jimmy Carter,” Minchew said.

During her presentation, Minchew spoke of Carter’s early life, political pursuits and even the time he and his wife spent the night at the president’s house at LaGrange College after building houses with Habitat for Humanity.

Carter went into hospice care in February. Minchew said she feels Carter should be remembered for his peaceful negotiations and efforts in affordable housing.

“Carter’s work with the Camp David Accords, the Panama Canal — how much he’s worked with other countries for peace, election results, the elimination of disease and helping the common man with helping provide better housing, showed his character and how much he cared about the people of this nation,” Minchew said.