The Real Buddy Wayne
I based my Buddy Wayne Barefoot character on an actual person who once lived in Benson, North Carolina. He was listed in online telephone directories I saw from 1996 to 2000. After 2001, that name disappeared.
For years, I wondered what happened to the real Buddy Wayne Barefoot. So I went to Google to find out. Eliminating keywords related to my work, I found one entry, a PDF file called http://www.wemightbekin.com/Raynor.pdf. I clicked on it and found out, sadly, that the real B.W. Barefoot was dead. He had died before Randall Carrington Lee, Jr., his father, who passed away in 2006. I concluded that it was sometime in 2001 or 2002.
Eliminating the subaddress "Raynor.pdf," I was able to trace it back to a web site maintained by Deborah "Deb" Mason Holmes, a resident of Harnett County, North Carolina.
When I asked for more information, I received an obituary and several attachments from Holmes. I also learned that his real name was Alfred Wayne Barefoot and that his nickname was "Buddy."
Fayetteville Observer, The (NC)
January 27, 1999
BENSON - Alfred Wayne ''Buddy'' Barefoot, 44, of 1098 Shade Tree Road died
Monday in Betsy Johnson Memorial Hospital in Dunn. Mr. Barefoot worked for
Capital Ford in Raleigh. He was a member of Stone's Creek Advent Christian
Church. The funeral will be conducted at 3 p.m. today in Rose & Graham
Funeral Home chapel by the Revs. Bobby Smith and Glenn McCullen. Burial
will be in the Barefoot family cemetery.
Mr. Barefoot is survived by his wife, Carol M. Barefoot; a son, Bradley W.
Barefoot of the home; a daughter, Amanda C. Barefoot of the home; his
mother and stepfather, Alva B. and R.C. Lee of Benson; and a sister,
Phyllis B. Johnson of Benson.
[R.C. Lee is presumably Randall Carrington Lee, Jr.]
So "Buddy Wayne Barefoot" is the result of an apparently erroneous transcription from the people at BellSouth (now AT&T) that published the local phone book, which got picked up online!
According to Holmes, his widow Carol may still be alive. If so, and if I get contact information for her, I will offer Carol a copy of my book for her approval.
Again, my thanks to Deborah Holmes for her invaluable help in helping me learn more about the "real" Buddy Wayne Barefoot. I hope to someday be able to visit the Johnston/Harnett/Sampson county areas so that I can see the area which inspired my stories firsthand. Her website is http://www.wemightbekin.com
BY THE WAY: Holmes was recently involved in a fundraising effort for breast cancer in memory of her aunt, Sue Mason, who died of the disease. Click for a video tribute.
On June 11, 2008, another one of his relatives, Brian Barefoot, sent me an e-mail with more information about Alfred. Brian works for WST Industries of Sanford, NC, which is a building contractor. Here's what he wrote:
Our names are just a coincidence. [At first, I asked if he was Brian Barefoot, the longtime editor on the reality series Survivor.] I did in fact have a very good friend and family member named Buddy Wayne Barefoot. You could have actually written a best seller about him. Buddy was a car salesman from believe it or not, a little crossroads named Meadow N.C. It is located between Dunn and Newton grove. Buddy was a legend around the area that we grew up in, and was the “go to guy” if you wanted to buy a vehicle, or a Ford. Buddy bled Ford blue, even so that his favorite college team was Duke, because of the color. Buddy was a party type, loved a good basketball game, women, fast cars, and making money (any way possible). Buddy , ironically, was in to racing. He bought himself a racecar and farmed out some of the local racers to drive it at the local tracks. Now a bit more about myself. I was raised by a Southern family with southern values, however, my generation turned more towards the “Pepsi – Generation X” label, and I quickly learned that there was more to life than a tractor and Sunday school. I spent a good deal of my time racing, trying to get rich quick (never works), and keeping up my families good name. I spent a lot of time at racetracks, bars, and poker houses from the time I was 15yrs old until my late 20’s. Buddy was my hero. I would get some money together and hang out with him on the weekends, and Monday morning, I would have a new ride. This went on for years. Buddy was married and had two kids, and led a normal life at home, however on the weekends he would get out and play with his cars and do the usual things that people in our area do to piss off the Baptist community. I could go on forever about the stories that we have perfected in our youth, but that will be another time. In short to keep you hanging, in March of 1999, I got a phone call while I was working (I was then an engineer for Delta Airlines) to come home immediately. With questions in mind, I called my dad and asked what the rush was. Buddy Wayne had been found dead in his back yard, by gunshot wound. The local sheriff’s department had ruled the death suicide, and the case was closed. Those of us that were close to Buddy have always stuck to the story that he was murdered. I would love to take time to talk to you about the life of not just Buddy, but a lot of the stories that have been gathered on this wild ride that has been our lives. I myself have wanted for some time now to sit down and start writing my on book, but time has not allowed me to do so.
That's interesting! My character has some similarities to Alfred (worked in car industry, drove a race car, even liked to have a good time) and even some differences (let's just say that my B.W. is not a Ford driver). And Brian wants to write a book also. Good luck to him if it occurs.
In a reply e-mail, I asked Brian if either he or someone he knows can create a webpage that would be a tribute to Alfred W. Barefoot. If one comes up, I will be happy to link to it.