was elected president. Gloria was probably the sibling who shunned the spotlight most during her brother's years in office. Prior to Jimmy Carter's achieving the presidency in 1976, Spann had participated in several campaigns for her brother. In his bids for the governorship of Georgia, she made countless phone calls and mailed numerous pamphlets in order to win votes for Carter. Spann maintained a relatively low profile as she and her husband, Walter, participated in cross-country cycling on their Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Spann began cycling in about 1967. In 1977, Span published a book of letters written by her mother detailing her mother's struggles and accomplishments during two years working for the Peace Corps in India. She and Walter were also members of Union Life, a religious brotherhood. Spann's son caused her great distress. He became a nocturnal wanderer and often disappeared for three or four days at a time, leaving Spann frantic. As her husband made good money, Gloria was not required to work, but since her son was continually expelled from schools, she began work as a secretary in order to send her son to a private school. Gloria discussed her trouble with her evangelist sister, Ruth Stapleton. At Ruth's cabin in the mountains, Gloria picked up material that encouraged the reader to give their problems to God. William Carter Spann moved to California in 1969 and Gloria credited his troubled life as the main factor that turned her back toward her faith. William Spann often said that his mother rejected him and used this as a means to justify his unconventional behavior. Gloria Carter Spann did not see her son even once during the last 21 years of her life. Though William had moved out to California and severed contact with his family, this did not keep him out of the spotlight. During Jimmy Carter's 1976 presidential campaign, the media's intense scrutiny found them at William's jail cell out in California. When interviewed about his uncle's success, he stated: "He's in the White House, I'm in the big house." Gloria also received a phone call threatening to reveal that "Jimmy Carter's got a nephew in jail" if she did not pay a sum of money to keep the caller quiet. In 1979, Spann was herself arrested for disorderly conduct when she refused to stop playing a harmonica in a McWaffle restaurant in Americus, Georgia. Spann was noted as