Frank W. Seiler (born February 20, 1933) is a retired trial attorney from

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

, who had a leading role in the true-crime book ''

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil ''Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil'' is a non-fiction novel by John Berendt. The book, Berendt's first, was published in 1994 and follows the story of an antiques dealer on trial for the murder of a male prostitute. Subtitled ''A Savannah S ...

''. He is also the owner of the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

Bulldogs The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is of medium size, a muscular, hefty dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose.Uga, a series of successively numbered English

bulldog The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is of medium size, a muscular, hefty dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose.Porter-Gaud School The Porter-Gaud School is an Independent school, independent Mixed-sex education, coeducational college preparatory day school in Charleston, South Carolina, Charleston, in the U.S. state of South Carolina. Porter-Gaud has an enrollment of about ...

, in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

. He earned his bachelor's and law degrees from the

(1956 and 1958), where he was a member of the

Sigma Chi Sigma Chi () International Fraternity is one of the largest North American fraternal literary societies. The fraternity has 244 active (undergraduate) chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has initiated more tha ...

fraternity and the

Gridiron Secret Society Gridiron Secret Society, founded in 1908, is a secret society at the University of Georgia. Gridiron has been called "the highest honor a male student may receive on the University of Georgia campus.". It has also been recognized as one of the "T ...

and a founder of the Order of the Greek Horsemen.

Career

Seiler practiced law in Savannah, where he was a senior partner at Bouhan Falligant LLP. In 1973 he served as president of the State Bar of Georgia. He was featured in the true-crime book ''Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil'' as the lawyer who defended antiques dealer Jim Williams in a murder case. Because of his and Uga's role in the story, Seiler was cast in the movie adaptation of the book as Judge Samuel L. White, who presided over Williams' trial.

Jack Thompson Jack Thompson may refer to: Sports * Jack Thompson (footballer, born 1892) (1892–1969), English footballer who played for Sheffield United and Bristol City * Jack Thompson (1920s footballer), English footballer who played for Aston Villa and Brig ...

portrayed Seiler in the movie.) He has since appeared in two other movies filmed in Savannah, ''

The Legend of Bagger Vance ''The Legend of Bagger Vance'' is a 2000 American sports film directed by Robert Redford, and starring Will Smith, Matt Damon and Charlize Theron. The screenplay by Jeremy Leven is based on Steven Pressfield's 1995 book '' The Legend of Bagger V ...

'' and ''

The Gingerbread Man The Gingerbread Man (also known as The Gingerbread Boy) is a fairy tale about a gingerbread man's escape from various pursuers until his eventual demise between the jaws of a fox. "The Gingerbread Boy" first appeared in print in the May 1875, is ...

''. His firm's then-office, Armstrong House, was featured, along with other locations in Savannah, in the original 1962 film '' Cape Fear'', starring

Gregory Peck Eldred Gregory Peck (April 5, 1916 – June 12, 2003) was an American actor and one of the most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1970s. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Peck the 12th-greatest male star of Classic Hollywood ...

and

Robert Mitchum Robert Charles Durman Mitchum (August 6, 1917 – July 1, 1997) was an American actor. He rose to prominence with an Academy Award nomination for the Best Supporting Actor for ''The Story of G.I. Joe'' (1945), followed by his starring in ...

. The company moved to One West Park Avenue in 2017. Seiler is interviewed in the book ''Rebels, Saints & Sinners: Savannah's Rich History and Colorful Personalities'' (Pelican Publishing 2002) by Timothy Daiss, in the chapter entitled "Corruption Savannah Style." In this chapter, Seiler reflects on his early years as an attorney around the early 1960s and recounts the life of Savannah political boss John Bouhan, a major political player in Savannah from the 1940s to the late '60s. Daiss calls Seiler a "green attorney" at the time and not involved in politics himself but one who remembers the old political establishment. "One of Bouhan's main strengths was his organization – staying in touch with people personally," Seiler is quoted as saying. "Those days it was worth being in politics because you could give jobs out. You were in control, could hire policemen, appoint officials." Seiler retired in 2017.

Personal life

Cecelia, Seiler's wife of 59 years, died in June 2014 at the age of 80."Cecelia Seiler, 'mom of Uga,' dies in Savannah"
- ''Savannah Morning News'', June 5, 2014

UGA mascots

Since the 1950s, Seiler and his family have owned and maintained the unbroken line of live mascots of the University of Georgia sports teams, English bulldogs known successively as Uga I - X. The family received the first member of the line (today referred to as Uga I) in 1956, when Seiler was a second-year student at the

University of Georgia School of Law The University of Georgia School of Law (Georgia Law) is the law school of the University of Georgia, a Public university, public research university in Athens, Georgia. It was founded in 1859, making it among the oldest American university law sc ...

and newly married to the former Cecelia Gunn. He was given the bulldog by a former beau of Gunn's, who intended to insult Seiler. The new puppy was said to be the grandson of a white bulldog who traveled with the Georgia football team to

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

, for the 1943 Rose Bowl. On September 29, 1956, the Seilers brought Uga I with them to

Sanford Stadium Sanford Stadium is the on-campus playing venue for football at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, United States (also known as UGA). The 92,746-seat stadium is the tenth-largest stadium in the NCAA. Architecturally, the stadium is kn ...

for the first

Georgia Bulldogs football The Georgia Bulldogs football program represents the University of Georgia in the sport of American football. The Bulldogs compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Div ...

home game of the year, against the

Florida State Seminoles The Florida State Seminoles are the athletic teams representing Florida State University located in Tallahassee, Florida. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivis ...

. Dan Magill, the Sports Information Director for the UGA Athletic Association at the time, took notice of a picture of the dog from that game and suggested to UGA football head coach

Wally Butts James Wallace Butts Jr. (February 7, 1905 – December 17, 1973) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head coach at the University of Georgia from 1939 to 1960, compiling a record of 140– ...

that Seiler have Uga attend subsequent games as the official team mascot. This began a tradition of Uga or one of his descendants being present at every University of Georgia football game, home and away. His fifth successor, Uga VI, who, like his progenitors, was a pure white bulldog, maintained the tradition from 1999 until his death in 2008 at Seiler's Savannah home. Uga VII replaced Uga VI for the team's highly anticipated 2008 season; however, officials initially questioned the dog's readiness. Uga VII died on November 19, 2009, of congestive heart failure. In its April 28, 1997 issue ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

'' named Uga the nation's best college mascot.

References

External links

Bouhan Falligant LLP: Frank W. Seiler
*
Cecelia Seiler's obituary
at savannahnow.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Seiler, Sonny 1933 births Living people People from Savannah, Georgia University of Georgia School of Law alumni Georgia Bulldogs men's swimmers Georgia (U.S. state) lawyers Terry College of Business alumni