MACON, Ga. — Folks in Macon are remembering Mama Louise Hudson, the adopted matriarch of the Allman Brothers Band and former co-owner of the popular soul food restaurant H&H. She died Tuesday, October 8 at the age of 93.
"The real legacy of Louise Hudson is that she brought people together by breaking bread together," says Jessica Walden, president of the Macon Chamber of Commerce.
Some of Walden's favorite memories with Mama Louise are when she came to her wedding and when she held Walden's son.
"When I had my son, the first place we ever took him as a baby was H&H. That's how Macon I am," Walden adds.
She says when she talks about Macon, much of it is routed in Mama Louise's legacy.
"They were groundbreaking pioneering business women who decided to open a restaurant during a time of deep segregation and their goal was to feed people," Walden says
Feeding people is what she did. From the Allman Brothers to Oprah Winfrey to Walden herself, she says Hudson set an atmosphere of love and peace.
"That is what we crave these days. We want to go where it feels like home. If Macon had a kitchen, and a place that felt like home, it's where Mama Louise set the table," she says.
Walden says she wanted to feed everyone, but unlike the Allman Brothers, it wasn't always free.
"One day I asked Mama Louise, 'Why do you have to pay your bill in the kitchen?' She said, 'If you look, the register is right next to the dish pit, so if you can't pay your bill, you can wash the dishes.' Brilliant business woman, right?" she says.
Now, after her death, the restaurant says they have seen more people coming by, even from out of town. Shannon Holt, says she is from Carroll County and all her friends told her she can't stop in Macon without stopping at the restaurant. She says she rates her experience a 10.
"The place is amazing. The people there are so sweet and so nice and helpful, and you got to try this, you got to eat that, so it was really good," says Holt.
She says Mama Louise's recipes are so good, she says she has to come back.
"Usually, sometimes I can't finish. I'm like, 'Do I really want to finish eating this food?' But I wanted more. I finished everything on my plate," she says, adding, "Believe me, I will be back, even if I have to drive 2 hours for H&H, but it was a very nice restaurant. Very nice."
Walden says Hudson's legacy exceeds just Macon.
"One time I was in LaGuardia Airport, and I saw Chris Robinson from the Black Crowes, who doesn't necessarily have a Macon tie. I was able to introduce myself and I told him I was from Macon, Georgia. He said, 'Tell Mama Louise I said hi,'" recalls Walden.
Like her recipes, Mama Louise's spirit will forever live inside the H&H walls.
A wake for Louise Hudson will be held Friday, November 18, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Richard Robinson Funeral Homes on Pio Nono Avenue. Her funeral will be November 19 at noon at Macedonia Church on Eisenhower Parkway. She'll be buried at Macon Memorial Park.