This is the final part of a series. Paula Deen’s full story appears in the fall 2018 issue of Shrimp, Collards & Grits magazine. 

That river called Life rolls on, and Paula is in a good place. 
“My furniture line is still very successful. My magazine is alive and well. I’ve got the number 1 mostwatched show on Evine, the shop-at-home network. We’re building multi-million dollar restaurants all over the country, so, yes, I’m in a good place. God does not miss blessing me a day.”
She even has her own brand of pet food. “Someone got in touch with me—they knew how I feel about dogs, animals, and my cat, and said, ‘We’d love to come up with a dog food for you.’ Well, that fizzled out.” 
Then Paula met a man at a dog show. “He’s the second-largest dog food purveyor in the US and I really liked him, so we reformulated the dog food and it is the best – Paula Deen’s Home Cooking.”
There’s a lot more Paula Deen wants to do. “I would love to be a voice in an animated movie, the voice of a Southern crab – a Southern crab!” 
Her grandchildren would get a kick out of that, of whom she says, “I’ve got so much to live for ... my grandchildren.” 
She’s working on a Christmas book for 2019. “It’s been about ten years since I did my last little Christmas book and it was a huge seller; that’s what I’m working on.” 
But what about the woman herself? Success hasn’t really changed her, has it? 
No, the little Paula Hiers that swam in her grandparents’ pool and the Flint River is still with us. 
She’s gracious and genuine, and you can thank her parents for that. “My mother was very quiet and ladylike. My daddy had this huge over-the-top personality and a laugh that was contagious. 
“I remember one day I came in from school and they had company. I didn’t speak to anybody. I just went straight to my room.”
Her dad made her come back into the room and speak to the guests. 
“I made terrible grades in high school but I had one helluva good time. I’d bring home Fs, and Daddy would say, ‘Oh honey I know. I had a hard time with math, too.’ 
“But the one thing he told me was, ‘Girl, I will get you if you’re ever unkind to anybody or if you think you’re better than the next man because you are not.’ He could forgive those bad grades but not bad manners or treating someone unkind.”
She paused while petting the dog that had just jumped into her lap. “You know, I truly care about other people. It’s not an act.” 
During our interview Paula told me she would be leaving immediately afterwards to go to the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville. Her very sick brother, Bubba, was there. 
That escaped my mind at the interview’s end, and I asked her if my sisters Brenda and Debra, and family friend, Teresa, might meet her. We were all vacationing at nearby Tybee Island, and they were out on Wilmington Island Road waiting to pick me up.
“Absolutely,” she said. “Tell ’em to come right in.”
She spent an hour with them. 

Watch Paula Deen On Evine. Find out where it airs and what time at 
www.positivelypaula.tv