Today’s TTT is authors who live in my state/region! But first, a tease:
Hit `em where they ain’t, run when you really shouldn’t, keep going when you ought to stop. It was the modern age and his game was the baseball equivalent of modern art. It was at once a dramatic break from the past and a comment on it. It made people nervous. His game looked ugly until it looked bold and smart. (TY COBB: A TERRIBLE BEAUTY)
(1) Kathryn Tucker Windham. I have to begin with KTW because she’s a legend in Alabama and especially in Selma. KTW moved to the Selma area from Wilcox County in the 1970s, I believe, working as a journalist. She was a pioneer in that, and one of her books — Odd Egg Editor — has some of her early writing, as being both “The Girl” and “The New Kid”, she got only the scraps of news leads. She had a delight in folklore and oral history, and became famous for her collections of southern ghost stories. I had the good fortune to listen to her telling stories at Old Cahawba (Alabama’s first capital and now ghost town) as a kid, and plowed through all of her ghost stories. She also volunteered at the library after she retired from journalism, and was responsible for creating the Annual Tale-Tellers Festival in Selma, which features gifted storytellers. I’ve laughed myself sick every time I’ve gone.
(2) Rick Bragg. Bragg is one of Alabama’s most-read living authors, and like KTW began in journalism. Bragg is most known for his trilogy about growing up in Alabama’s northern counties, creating books that are both tragic and hilarious. My introduction to him was his The Best Cook in the World.
“I remember this time, up in Rich Bundrum’s barn loft, we found this case of dynamite,” Jack said, and then he paused and shook his head, as if realizing now what he should have then: that there are no good endings to stories that begin with ‘we found this case of dynamite’.
Beyond his family trilogy, Bragg has also released several collections of his newspaper columns, as well as other works.
(3) Harper Lee. Harper Lee is famous for To Kill a Mockingbird, so I won’t go into any details. She comes from a small town called Monroeville, which — because it was also the home of Truman Capote, her friend — styles itself the Literary Capital of Alabama.
(4) Truman Capote. I have not read Capote’s most famous work, In Cold Blood, but I can’t mention his friendship with Harper Lee and not mention him, can I? I did read his Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
(5) Wayne Flynt. Also in Harper Lee’s company is Alabama historian Wayne Flynt, whom I’ve had the pleasure of talking to on several occasions when he has given booktalks at the library. In addition to formal histories about Alabama or its working poor, he’s also done a couple of books on his relationship with Harper Lee.
(6) Eugene Sledge, aka The Sledgehammer. Gene Sledge’s memoir about World War 2, With the Old Breed, was part of the inspiration for HBO’s The Pacific. Sledge later taught biology at the University of Montevallo.
(7) John Sledge. John is Gene’s son, and has written numerous histories relating to Mobile, as well as a general history of Alabama in the Civil War.
(8) Fannie Flagg. Flagg wrote Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe, made more famous by a movie. The cafe was based on one operated by two women in Irondale, Alabama, and it still stands: I was there just on Sunday!
(9) Sean Dietrich isn’t really from Alabama, but we’ve adopted him as ours. “Sean of the South” writes a daily column and substack that’s chiefly human interest/humor/chicken soup for the soul kind of stuff, and has also penned several novels, all of which I’ve loved.
(10) Winston Groom. I’m not sure how eager we should be to claim this one, but the author of Forrest Gump is ours. I read this back in high school back when someone on the football team discovered that “Forrest Gump is a DIRTY book” and …well, at least half the class read it to find out how different it was from the movie. I don’t remember much, but I also read the sequel in which Forrest creates New Coke.
Reading Freely 
MUST we claim Winston Groom? Really, must we? That movie is the second worst movie I’ve ever seen. The Princess Bride being the first. Sean Dietrich – we can 100,000% claim….
If princess Bride is worst movie you’ve seen you have not seen a lot of movies. 🤣
I didn’t know Fried Green Tomatoes was (loosely?) based on real people. That’s cool! I hope the food at Irondale Cafe is good.
From this list I’ve read Harper Lee and Fannie Flagg. Both seem to be quintessential Southern Lit.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
From this list I’ve read Harper Lee and Fannie Flagg. Both seem to be quintessential Southern Lit.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
From this list I’ve read Harper Lee and Fannie Flagg. Both seem to be quintessential Southern Lit.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
From this list I’ve read Harper Lee and Fannie Flagg. Both seem to be quintessential Southern Lit.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
From this list I’ve read Harper Lee and Fannie Flagg. Both seem to be quintessential Southern Lit.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
From this list I’ve read Harper Lee and Fannie Flagg. Both seem to be quintessential Southern Lit.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
From this list I’ve read Harper Lee and Fannie Flagg. Both seem to be quintessential Southern Lit.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
From this list I’ve read Harper Lee and Fannie Flagg. Both seem to be quintessential Southern Lit.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
From this list I’ve read Harper Lee and Fannie Flagg. Both seem to be quintessential Southern Lit.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
From this list I’ve read Harper Lee and Fannie Flagg. Both seem to be quintessential Southern Lit.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
From this list I’ve read Harper Lee and Fannie Flagg. Both seem to be quintessential Southern Lit.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
From this list I’ve read Harper Lee and Fannie Flagg. Both seem to be quintessential Southern Lit.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
From this list I’ve read Harper Lee and Fannie Flagg. Both seem to be quintessential Southern Lit.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
From this list I’ve read Harper Lee and Fannie Flagg. Both seem to be quintessential Southern Lit.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
From this list I’ve read Harper Lee and Fannie Flagg. Both seem to be quintessential Southern Lit.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
From this list I’ve read Harper Lee and Fannie Flagg. Both seem to be quintessential Southern Lit.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
From this list I’ve read Harper Lee and Fannie Flagg. Both seem to be quintessential Southern Lit.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
From this list I’ve read Harper Lee and Fannie Flagg. Both seem to be quintessential Southern Lit.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
From this list I’ve read Harper Lee and Fannie Flagg. Both seem to be quintessential Southern Lit.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
From this list I’ve read Harper Lee and Fannie Flagg. Both seem to be quintessential Southern Lit.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
From this list I’ve read Harper Lee and Fannie Flagg. Both seem to be quintessential Southern Lit.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
From this list I’ve read Harper Lee and Fannie Flagg. Both seem to be quintessential Southern Lit.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
From this list I’ve read Harper Lee and Fannie Flagg. Both seem to be quintessential Southern Lit.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
From this list I’ve read Harper Lee and Fannie Flagg. Both seem to be quintessential Southern Lit.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
From this list I’ve read Harper Lee and Fannie Flagg. Both seem to be quintessential Southern Lit.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
From this list I’ve read Harper Lee and Fannie Flagg. Both seem to be quintessential Southern Lit.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
From this list I’ve read Harper Lee and Fannie Flagg. Both seem to be quintessential Southern Lit.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
From this list I’ve read Harper Lee and Fannie Flagg. Both seem to be quintessential Southern Lit.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
From this list I’ve read Harper Lee and Fannie Flagg. Both seem to be quintessential Southern Lit.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
From this list I’ve read Harper Lee and Fannie Flagg. Both seem to be quintessential Southern Lit.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
From this list I’ve read Harper Lee and Fannie Flagg. Both seem to be quintessential Southern Lit.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
From this list I’ve read Harper Lee and Fannie Flagg. Both seem to be quintessential Southern Lit.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
You REALLY wanted this comment to go through. XD Did you read Lee’s “Go Set a Watchman”?
LOL! Yeah, that’s the drawback of trying to blog hop while at work. I did read “Go Set a Watchman,” but not sure it was really needed.
Pam
It wasn’t, though the uncle was an interesting character!
Capote’s In Cold Blood is a must-read. After reading it for the first time in 1966, I have read it again a few times. The Philip Seymour Hoffman-starring film adaptation is also very good.
Anything with PSH must be good!
Actually, the film I was referring to was “Capote”, which highlighted Capote’s trip to Kansas with his best friend, Harper Lee, and his writing In Cold Blood. Other PSH films I enjoyed include “Doubt” and “The Master.”
you are rich in authors and lucky to claim Harper Lee! ~Carol @ ReadingLadies
Alabama has such a rich history of fabulous authors! I’m next door in Georgia with My TTT
I never knew there was a sequel to Forrest Gump and now I’m curious 😅
I love Fannie Flagg’s books!
I haven’t read any of these authors, but I’ve seen movies! Does that count? Great list, though. Many classics.
Fried Green Tomatoes is an awesome movie if it’s the one. 🙂 It’s the reason my dog is named Idgie.
I’ve read books by half of these authors: Groom, Bragg, Flagg, Capote, and Lee. You have some great storytellers in your state.
TKAM is my favorite novel of all time! Surprisingly, I didn’t hate GO SET A WATCHMAN. I didn’t love it either and, like Pam said (a few times), I don’t really think it was necessary. TKAM is perfect all on its own 🙂
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
I didn’t know Harper Lee and Truman Capote were friends – that’s a cool fact!
It is really fun to stop and think about favorite authors and where they are from. Harper Lee, Truman Capote, Fannie Flagg…what a trio of greatness.
I was surprised to see who all came from Alabama, though I have only read two of them: Harper Lee and Truman Capote. But thanks for the list.And thanks for visiting my post.
I forgot to add that I want to be e-mailed new comments. Sorry.
Great list. I’ve read Fannie Flagg, Harper Lee, Truman Capote (Sunday at Tiffany’s), and Sean Deitrich. Being Canadian, I claimed authors born in Canada, or those who moved there and live there now. Sometimes I had to admit to sharing them with another country.
I have read Fannie Flagg, Harper Lee, and Truman Capote. I love the book TKAM. My son’s middle name is Atticus, because of Atticus Finch. 🙂
Oops, I’m only familiar with 3 and 4!