Frye Gaillard, the author or editor of more than thirty nonfiction books, is a native of Mobile, Alabama, and he currently resides there. However, he has not been “stuck inside of Mobile” (to quote Bob Dylan) for his entire life. Frye called Charlotte home for many years.
Frye spent nearly two decades at The Charlotte Observer, covering stories ranging from the school busing controversy to the role of religion in the life of the community. Frye started writing books during his Charlotte years, and several of his first books focus on the Charlotte area, such as The Dream Long Deferred: The Landmark Struggle for Desegregation in Charlotte, North Carolina (1988) and Charlotte’s Holy Wars: Religion in a New South City (2005).
After leaving Charlotte, Frye became the Writer in Residence at the University of South Alabama, and he held this position until his recent retirement. While at the University of South Alabama, he wrote many more books, including A Hard Rain: America in the 1960s, Our Decade of Hope, Possibility, and Innocence Lost, named by NPR to its list of best books in 2018. For more information about Frye and his books, please click on the following link: https://fryegaillardauthor.com
I am pleased to report that Frye will discuss A Hard Rain, which has been recently rereleased as an audiobook and in paperback, at Myers Park Baptist Church in Charlotte on the evening of June 5. This in-person event will take place at the Heaton Hall at the Myers Park Baptist Church (1900 Queens Road) on Wednesday, June 5, 2024, at 6:30 pm. No registration is required. Copies of A Hard Rain will be available for purchase at the event. For more information about this event, please click on the following link: https://myersparkbaptist.org/event/23380915-2024-06-05-a-hard-rain/
I am looking forward to seeing Frye during his upcoming visit to Charlotte. Frye and I share an interest in President Jimmy Carter’s books, and we just finished co-editing a collection titled The Literary Legacy of Jimmy Carter: Essays on the President’s Books, which will be published this fall by Rowman & Littlefield. Working with Frye on this book has been a tremendous pleasure for me. I have learned a lot from Frye, and I know that I will learn even more when I attend his upcoming talk right here in Storied Charlotte.