If you cross-checked Capital Investment Advisors’ client list with a roster of extraordinary citizens who stand out in their respective communities, there would be plenty of overlap. Today’s spotlight shines on one such happy retiree—Chris Jones.
Born in Alma, the blueberry capital of Georgia, his first job was as a high school radio DJ, which led to a stint as a news and sports reporter. In what he now refers to as a forty-year detour, he spent most of his career in corporate public affairs. Retiring from that world of politics and legislation in 2015 finally freed him up to rediscover his journalistic roots.
Now living near Athens, Georgia, with his wife Toni, Chris reignited his burning desire to write when helping a friend convert an out-of-print book into an eBook. Next, he wrote a regional magazine article about the oft-overlooked early days of the Athens music scene. White Fraternities and Black Music in the Early 60s went viral and was reprinted in a UK music magazine. In 2024, the National American Mature Publishers Association recognized it with an award in the Feature Writing Division A category.
Turning Passion into Print
Most recently, Chris debuted as a book author, co-writing THE EMBERS: The Bobby Tomlinson Story with Bill Benners and Skip Crayton. The book brings to life the story of drummer Bobby Tomlinson and his time playing music with Embers, one of America’s most prominent purveyors of beach music in the 1960s and beyond.
Chris Jones and the book cover for The Bobby Tomlinson Story
Jones (left) with Tomlinson at a Myrtle Beach Book Signing
Embers 1968 Promo Photo
Chris’s journey illustrates the joyous adventures happy retirees can embark upon once they’ve put themselves into a position to do so. His passion for writing was there from a young age. That first job as a radio DJ in high school fostered a deep love not just for Southern beach music but also for the stories behind the songs. It laid the foundation for his work as a news and sports reporter, where he further honed his skills of conveying the essence of the human experience through the written and spoken word. His primary career may have diverged from this original path, but he never lost his sincere love for crafting narratives and uncovering underappreciated stories, especially in the Southern music scene.
Telling stories gives Chris a sense of purpose, and retirement provided the opportunity to pursue this lifelong, relentless curiosity for bringing attention to a genre that he feels deserves more recognition. He finds fulfilment in uncovering neglected plotlines of everyday people who made extraordinary contributions, especially within the realm of Southern culture and music history. Borrowing from the lessons he’s learned along the way, Chris’s writing blends journalism and nostalgia, and explores how music often intersects with social and cultural change in the South.
Advice for Aspiring Writers
Many retirees have enduring passions that had to be put on the back burner to make time for a career, raise a family, or both. Chris’s account demonstrates that echoes from the past can become new conversations in retirement. He says to start small. Whether it’s a personal essay, blog post, or even a letter to a friend, just get started. Try to quiet that heavily critical voice we all have and start strengthening your writing muscle. Pick topics that excite or move you because zeal and wonder are highly contagious. Be open to feedback, but don’t let criticism, even your own, thwart your momentum. Chris says everyone has something worth sharing, and that includes you.
While Chris’s words of wisdom are explicitly geared to writing, they can apply to whatever unfinished symphonies you may have in your own life. He reminds us that rather than being an ending, retirement is a recalibration. Most folks don’t have it all figured out on day one, so give yourself time and space to rediscover devotions that might have been dormant for quite some time.
Creating a Retirement Worth Celebrating
There is no wrong core pursuit to choose, as long as it generates genuine fervor. It might be creative. It might be community-focused. It might be personal. It might be popular. It might be something no one’s ever tried before. Stay curious, engaged, and open to trying new activities. Just because something is outside of your comfort zone today doesn’t mean it will be tomorrow.
Chris Jones walked away from a lengthy career to return to his first love. That doesn’t mean he felt confident at every step. He just took out a blank page, started writing, and never stopped. His happy retirement is worth celebrating, and we feel grateful to be the ones who get to celebrate it.
Please note, Chris has given us permission to share his background, story and photographs. He has not been paid or received any other compensation for making these statements. As a result, he does not receive any material incentives or benefits for providing his story. We do not endorse or have any affiliation with the companies mentioned in this content. Any references to specific companies are for informational purposes only.
