Writer and television producer Sherri Smith Brown has been named editor-in-chief of the new real estate-oriented consumer magazine 20 South by the magazine's executive editor, Dan Langford.

Published bi-monthly, 20 South focuses on the residential real estate and building industries in 18 counties south of I-20, including South Fulton, Clayton, Henry, Fayette, Coweta, Spalding, and Butts counties. It is produced by Peachtree City-based Landau Publishing, LLC. The first issue will be distributed Jan. 2, 2006.

Brown is a resident of the region covered by the magazine, having lived in Peachtree City in Fayette County for 28 years. She was named Atlanta Press Club "Author of the Year" in 1997 for her work on the Riverkeeper's Guide to the Chattahoochee. She has written and/or produced numerous television documentaries, including biographies of Georgia Governors Carl Sanders and Zell Miller for the University of Georgia's Center for Continuing Education. She is a regular contributor of cover stories and travel features to Fayette Woman magazine.

"Sherri is a professional who brings a world of relevant experience to the magazine," Langford said. "Having grown up in Indiana, lived in California, Texas and North Carolina, as well as Georgia, and traveled widely, she can view the region with a national perspective. She has an intuitive sense of the pride residents of the region have in their homes, plus she can translate complicated real estate trends and developments into compelling human stories."

“The region covered by 20 South is one of the fastest-growing regions of Georgia,” Brown said. “Money Magazine and CNN recently ranked six cities in the region — Peachtree City, Fayetteville, Sharpsburg, Conyers, Douglasville and McDonough — among the most desirable U.S. cities in which to live. Because of the history of development in Metro Atlanta, this part of the state has an opportunity over the next 25 years to embrace a quality growth ethic that is unprecedented in Georgia and rare in the United States. I look forward to 20 South being an important part of that process.”

The magazine’s publisher is Mike Daughtry, president of Hilpine Builders, Inc. and vice president of the 650-member Home Builders Association of Midwest Georgia. He was formerly associate publisher of Boating World, a national magazine published by Billian Publishing, based in Atlanta.

Langford is the author of “A History of Brooks,” published in 2003. He is a former partner in the accounting firm of Rodl Langford de Kock. A native of Brooks, he has served on the Town Council for eight years.

Valerie Sowers is the 20 South art director; Elisha Wilson, Sharon Shank and Wayne Reynolds are advertising sales representatives, and Karina Langford is business manager.

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