Andy Griffith (1926-2012) is one of North Carolina\'s most beloved exports, capturing America\'s heart as Sheriff Andy Taylor.
It is through Smith\'s telling of Griffith\'s life that he finds his own story, one that is both informed by and freed from the legacy of one of North Carolina\'s most famous sons..
This is an exploration on celebrity and the self, on home and what that means when you leave it, and why we love and admire the people we do--even if we\'ve never met them--all told through the entwined lives of iconic actor Andy Griffith and writer Evan Dalton Smith.
Even after he left the state, Smith always felt the pull of home and the lingering ghost of Andy alongside it.
For Smith and many generations in North Carolina, Andy Griffith was like the air--everywhere, all the time, a part of daily life.
But for both, there was darkness, crushed hopes, and tragedy, hidden just below the surface.
Both were small-town boys who grew up in similar places, where the counties were dry and the churches plentiful.
Evan Dalton Smith was born in the North Carolina Piedmont over four decades after Andy, just an hour south of Griffith\'s hometown of Mount Airy.
Andy Griffith (1926-2012) is one of North Carolina\'s most beloved exports, capturing America\'s heart as Sheriff Andy Taylor
