Miss Fannie Mae’s Girls

"Don't start reading this book if you need to: go to work; run errands; make an appointment; left something on the stove; or are doing anything else that has a time-line. I started to read "Miss Fannie Mae's Girls" yesterday while on lunch break and had to work overtime to make up for the extra-long lunch break I took. That should have been a warning. Today, on my day off, I decided to read a few pages over breakfast before doing my to-do list. That started around noon, I finally finished the book about 5:30 p.m. (so much for the to-do list). The range of emotions that Larry's book incites goes from the sad familiarity of the funeral, to the joyous embrace of the family and the community coming together at the wedding. The interesting disbursal of historical and cultural facts, related to the evolution of the old South to the new South, are like hints of unusual spices in a good recipe. And speaking of recipes, there are at least a dozen gym-joining, resolution crushing, waist stretching, "good ol Southern-love givin" recipes at the end of this literary treat. They are an added bonus to those seeking nourishment for the body as well as the mind. Lastly, whenever this becomes a movie, and it will become a movie, the person chosen to play Marshall Tate, had better bring his A to Z game. It'll launch his career if he plays it like Mr. Batchelor wrote it. Yeah, I guess I'll have to get used to referring to my friend as "The author that wrote the book that movie was based on." His grandmother, Rosalie, would be proud." -Ron G.


"A very pleasant and enjoyable novel! Although the book's protagonist is deceased four words into the first chapter, you will probably find yourself smiling more often than not as you get to know the inspiring and colorful characters she left behind. Family matriarch Miss Fannie Mae Turner (who was inspired by the author's own grandmother) lived in small-town Georgia during the Jim Crow days of the South, and it is clear that the life experiences and tragedies that she and her family knew during these times led her to develop much love and wisdom that lives on through her five daughters and one grandson.
Once you begin reading Miss Fannie Mae's Girls, you will not want to put the book down. The author is a wonderful storyteller, and I lost track of time on more than one occasion while reading "just one more chapter" before I finally turned out the lights at night!" - D. Summers



"The death of the family matriarch always seems to bring a family together. That journey from the end of Fannie Mae's life into the paths of each surviving family member's reflection of life lived and life still yet to cherish was a rich one. I savored the one liners that personified each character and lost myself in the music of the times as it wove a tapestry through the story.
This story was very personal to me for a couple reasons; one being that my own mother passed just a few months before reading this, and the emotions kept me from being able to read much in one sitting. By I pursued and embraced the sisters, and respected the men in their lives for their support in the background of these very strong women.
By the end of the book, I was cheering on each sister as they did all they could to honor their mother in her passing. Yes, I laughed, I cried. And I can't thank the author enough for bringing this book into my life." -Nathaniel Hill

Author Bio:
The author was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Larry spent his formative years living in the city and spending his summers at his Grandmother Rosalie’s farm in Southern New Jersey. Down the road was her father Henry Kleckly’s farm. Larry’s great-grandfather Henry lived to be 106 years old; he was the oldest living resident of Atlantic County New Jersey at the time of his death. Old man Henry who nicknamed Larry “Grasshopper” and “Stinging Worm” once called his great-Grandson an “old man in a young man’s body.” Henry Kleckly was such a colorful and interesting man of African-American and Native-American descent that he easily became one of Larry’s earliest influences in character studies. His grandmother Rosalie who passed away in 1993 still remains a driving force in his life.
It was those summer trips to the country to visit his grandmother and great-grandfather, as well as vacation trips to the New Jersey shore that developed Larry’s thirst for adventure and travel. Many young people growing up in urban areas of Philadelphia at the time rarely strayed outside the boundaries of their own ethnic neighborhoods, but Larry was allowed to wander and explore a greater multi-ethnic world beyond. His independence and exploration opened up a world of imagination which led to his desire to write books. While attending Central High School for Boys, a college preparatory school for gifted students, Larry’s favorite classes were English Literature and Composition, World History, and Art History; and his favorite place to be on campus was the Barnwell Library; perusing through books, magazines, and newspapers from around the globe. His world continued to expand and broaden beyond his inner-city roots.
While traveling throughout Germany in 1987 he purchased his first journal in Berlin where he started writing his unpublished memoirs. Larry has written parts of his life’s experiences and has jotted down his many ideas for future books in faraway places, from the South of France to Russia, from Spain to St. Lucia, from Charleston in South Carolina to Brazil and Venezuela in South America.
Larry has enjoyed a very successful career in Marketing, Advertising, and Sales which has only allowed him to write in his spare time. He began writing his debut novel, “Miss Fannie Mae’s Girls in 2009.
Mr. Batchelor’s second novel is currently a work in progress.