Beyond the Gradies begins in the spring of 1971. The young Dr. Telfair and his nurse-wife are now completing the final months of his Air Force assignment, one located in the small town of Oscoda, Michigan. They mutually fall in love with their first-ever exposure to small-town living; however, both absolutely detested the long winters in Oscoda. Still in Oscoda and the Air Force, the professional couple begin their search for a similar small Southern town, one that would have mild winters. They subsequently find a town that seems just right for them both: Statesville, Georgia. In Statesville, They find exactly what they'd mutually sought in life: a comfortable place to live and enjoy life while carrying out one's chosen work. Totally unexpected, however, was the abundance of Statesville's humorous happenings and its endless bounty of riotous characters ... all of which were found among their coworkers, patients, and other local folks swimming around in small-town social undercurrents.