Stuart Gorrell

Stuart Gorrell (b. Knox, September 17, 1901 - August 10, 1963) -- One-time Lyricist. Born in the North end of the state in Knox. Gorrell was a roommate of Hoagy Carmichael at Indiana University. He collaborated with Carmichael on the lyrics of “Georgia on My Mind,” although he later went into banking and never tried his hand at lyric-writing again. As the story goes, Gorrell heard Hoagy playing the melody of the newly-composed “Georgia on My Mind” at a party in New York city, and the two stayed up all night working on suitable lyrics for the tune. Carmichael claims that Gorell wrote nearly all of the words; however, no writing credit was given to him. After the song became a big hit, Carmichael sent Gorrell royalty checks, which paid for his daughter’s college education.