Squibs
Squibs
Author Fannie Flagg has a new book out, Standing in the Rainbow. Flagg, the author of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café, has written a sprawling gently comic novel (495 pages) of small town Missouri life covering the years from 1946, when, she said in an interview on WAMC radio, “everything seemed possible and hopeful for a child,” to the present.
Yup, there’s a gay character, an undertaker, no less, who becomes chief of protocol for the populist governor whose campaign he funded. Now there’s a great fit! But, from the review, that’s not what the title rainbow refers to – more like “somewhere over the ...”
Flagg, born Patricia Neal, tried six times to win the title of Miss Alabama (and was successful on the sixth try), wrote – and acted – for the original Candid Camera TV show, was in a number of movies (5 Easy Pieces, Grease) and was Barbara Eden’s sidekick on the short-lived sitcom Harper Valley PTA. She must be doing okay – commanding between $10,000 and $20,000 per speaking engagement. Fannie Flagg turned 58 last month on the 21st.
“New” Civil Unions Expert
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has announced their acquisition of the services of Vermont’s own Civil Union maven Beth Robinson. Robinson has joined HRC FamilyNet’s “Ask the experts” department. Robinson is co-founder of the Vermont Freedom to Marry Task Force, and she was co-counsel in Baker v. State, the groundbreaking court case that led to Vermont's civil union law. Congratulations to both parties. Check out the questions and answers at www.hrc.org/familynet/chapter.asp?chapter=154#robinson