CHASING THEIR DREAMS: Marsha Fort Herren’s new book is ‘Golden’

Published 3:10 pm Thursday, June 13, 2024

Never let it be said that Marsha Fort Herren and her late husband Darryl ran from change.  

They embraced life — and later death — and all that it offered.

For Marsha, born in 1941 — seven days after Pearl Harbor, following her dreams meant:

— Marrying Darryl when she was 17, a week after graduating from high school and being named Queen of the GAs (Girls Auxiliary) at her church.

— Having her first child when she was 19. 

— Raising three sons — Darryl Jr., Ande and Gus — while inching along in her college education.

— Moving from her hometown of Atlanta to Cleveland, Ga., to Milledgeville while Darryl pursued new opportunities.

— Earning her undergraduate degree and master’s before becoming the director of the Baldwin County Training Center (now called the Life Enrichment Center), making her the youngest and only female in the position in Georgia.

— Sleeping on the floor for many years — first out of necessity, then because of the relief it gave her aching back.

— A five-year plan to save enough money to buy property for their own herb farm, which meant eating sardines just about every meal because it was the cheapest, most nutritious option.

— Seeing her dream become a reality with Olive Forge Herb Farm, the only licensed herb farm in Georgia. It drew travel writers and tourists from all over the country and world.

— Writing her life story at the age of 82 in the new book “From My Perspective . . . It was all Golden.”

For Darryl, following his dreams meant:

— Marrying Marsha when he was 22 and working at Sears. They met at the Second Avenue Baptist Church in Decatur, where both families attended regularly.

— Managing the Peachtree Health Club, where the clientele included professional wrestlers and strippers from Atlanta nightclubs. The Health Club was raided and closed by the FBI for tax fraud. Darryl was unemployed but was allowed to keep his unicycle, which he would later ride from Milledgeville to Haddock in a fundraiser.

— Being ordained as a Baptist Minister. His first sermon was on love and giving.

— Moving to Cleveland, Georgia, where they could both continue their educations at Truett-McConnell College. They left Atlanta in a Chevrolet station wagon with three babies, a dog, a cat and a goldfish, pulling their U-Haul with all their earthly belongings.

— Taking a job at a hardware store — he always had a talent for fixing almost anything — while being mentored by the pastor at the Cleveland First Baptist Church. 

— Moving to Milledgeville to become pastor at Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church and enrolling at Georgia College to finish his degree just about the time the school began accepting men.

— Taking a job at Central State as a social worker. Advancing up the ranks, he was eventually in charge of several counties. 

— Giving up his job in mental health care to become a full-time blacksmith after reading a book that Marsha had given him. He named his blacksmithing business Olvie Forge, after their friend Oliver Silvey.

— Reading The Union-Recorder, he saw an ad for a piece of property off Highway 22 near Brown’s Crossing. He bought the land over the phone, sight unseen. Olive Forge Herb Farm would soon be born. 

XXX

Who is Olive Silvey? She was the mother of Selma Erwin, “the best second-grade teacher in the world,” Herren said. Darryl Jr. was in Erwin’s class at Peabody Elementary, and Marsha did some student teaching under Erwin.

Erwin was one of those wonderful people who came into the Herrens’ lives over the years. 

Herren had told Erwin that she and Darryl wanted to raise their boys in the country. Owning 200 acres south of Milledgeville on Vinson Highway, Erwin made the Herrens an offer they could not refuse: A 100-year lease on 10 acres for $5. The only stipulations were that they would not cut any trees and would never plant wisteria (which grows on trees and can kill them.) 

Erwin, a naturalist and a teacher, was also pivotal in another aspect of the Herren’s future. From her herb garden, she broke off a plant and said to Marsha, “Root this and you’ll always have medicine, food, insect repellant and fragrance.”

It was rosemary, and the Herrens took it home and rooted it. “We were hooked,” Marsha said. “We were herbalists from then on.”

The Herrens had always wanted a simpler life. 

“We just knew we didn’t want the see-how-much-you-can-get kind of lifestyle,” Marsha said. 

They were hippies before people even knew what hippies were. They had long hair, but did not use drugs.

Olive Force Herb Farm was perfect for them for more than 30 years. Darryl built a house — from a book he ordered from Mother Earth News — and three big greenhouses.

They had the usual plants — parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme — as well more exotic and medicinal herbs from all over the world. 

Visitors were served herbal tea and lavender cookies or rosemary cake. They had a special Christmas open house in December, adding big pots of chili and other herbal refreshments. 

Newspapers, magazines and TV stations came to do stories on the herb farm, as well as on Darryl’s blacksmithing. 

Everybody became their friends.

“I had lost my parents as a young adult. They adopted me, thankfully,” said local historian Sara Brantley. “They were super encouragers. They were like medicine. They were listeners and encouragers to so many.”

Today, Marsha lives with one of her sons. She has a place for an herb garden, but she said her arthritis is so bad it’s hard for her to bend over. 

Darryl took his own life seven years ago after a long battle against a painful disease. 

“I didn’t know it was coming, but I understood why it came,” Marsha said.

The Herrens always were driven to be doers. Marsha still is. 

She grows plants indoors. She paints. She goes places with friends such as Brantley, Harriett Whipple and Debra Watts.

And, of course, she writes . . . observations, beliefs and dreams.

There’s plenty of good, common-sense wisdom in her book “Golden.”

It’s Marsha’s turn to give advice, just like the Herrens got from Olive Silvey.

Life is short. Follow your dreams.

—“From My Perspective . . . It was all Golden” is available on Amazon or Kindle.