Farm of author Flannery O'Connor set to reopen in August

MILLEDGEVILLE - Fans of Flannery O&#39;Connor soon will be able to tour Andalusia, the farm that inspired much of the late author&#39;s writing. <br> <br> The farm where O&#39;Connor wrote many of her short stories has been closed to the public since O&#39;Connor&#39;s mother died in the early 1980s. O&#39;Connor died in 1964 at the age of 39. <br> <br> The Milledgeville-Baldwin County Convention and Visitors Bureau recently announced it will open the farm in late August for trolley tours of the grounds. <br> <br> The Flannery O&#39;Connor-Andalusia Foundation also plans to restore the farmhouse and other structures, but executive director Craig Amason said there are no definite plans to open the buildings to public tours. <br> <br> Still, Amason said, O&#39;Connor fans should be excited to see the farm, in part because the sense of place was so important in her writing. <br> <br> Amason said, ``People will visualize a lot of what they have read in her letters and short stories. The landscape has changed tremendously in the last 40 years, but still you get a sense of what she saw and how she translated that into her fiction.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> The tours will be available only for groups of 15 or more and must be booked through the visitors bureau. Amason said individual visitors or unscheduled tours will be turned away.