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Fannie Flaggs

The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion

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Copyright 2015 by DailyBooks.All Rights Reserved.

First Published in the United States of America 2015

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EVERY GOOD BOOK CONTAINS A WORLD FAR DEEPER THAN the surface of its pages. The characters and their world come alive through the words on the pages, yet the characters and its world still live on. Questions herein are designed to bring us beneath the surface of the page and invite us into the world that lives on. These questions can be used to:

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T HE ALL-GIRL FILLING STATIONS LAST REUNION, WRITTEN BY FANNIE Flagg, brings to light the unsung heroes of World War II (WASPS), American women who flew military planes during the Second World War. In the book, Flagg gives these independent, innovative, and empire-building women their due recognition. The women featured in the novel were ahead of their time in that they were in charge of their own lives and businesses without any help from men. The book revolves around the lives of Sookie and her mother, and Sookies relationship with FritziWillinkaJurdabralinski. In the midst of the story about Sookie, readers learn about the one thousand women that worked for the U.S. military during World War II. Most readers will discover the accomplishments and sacrifices of the WASPS for the first time because of Fannie Flaggs research.

Just like most of Fannie Flaggs novels, this novelis set in her home state, Alabama. Although this novel takes place in Point Clear, Alabama, Sookies journey takes her to Wisconsin and California. The novel is primarily set in the present day but briefly travels back to the 1940s.

At the beginning of the novel, Sookie is nearly sixty years old and has a husband named Earle; they have four children. One day Sookie opens an unregistered letter that tells her that Lenore Simmons Crackenberry III is not her birth mother. Thus begins her search for her real birth mother, and she eventually learns that her birth mother is FritziWillinkaJurdabralinski.

Lenore Simmons Crackenberry III, Sookies mother, is a true Southern matriarch. She is considered by everyone around her to be the life of the party, but Sookie sees her mother as overbearing.

FritziJurdabralinski is of Polish-American descent and worked at her familys Philips 66 gas station in the 1930s and 40s. She also served as a part of the WASPS during World War II. The gas station was transformed into an all-girl filling station when Fritzi and her sisters were forced to run the gas station by themselves.

Fannie Flagg based most of the characters in the book on real people. Fritzis character was inspired by a WASP named Nancy, and Lenore Simmons Crackenberry III was based on Fannies grandmother. Many of the other characters were inspired in part by different people in Fannies life. Sookie and her mother, Lenore Simmons Crackenberry, have also previously appeared in another Fannie Flagg book, Welcome to the World, Baby Girl!

F ANNIE FLAGG WAS BORN PATRICIA NEAL BUT DECIDED EARLY IN HER career to use a stage name because, at that time, there was an Oscar-winning actress named Patricia Neal. Fannie was raised in Irondale, Alabama by her grandparents. She was very young when she began her acting career, joining the Birmingham Theater Troupe when she was just fourteen years old.

Fannie Flagg moved to New York in 1965. While doing stand-up comedy, she got her first big break when someone offered to buy her material. After that, she became known as an actress and comedian, on both Broadway and television. Fannie Flagg is known for her 1970s and 80s appearances on the game show, Match Game . Fannie has appeared on talk shows such as Good Morning America , The Rosie ODonnell Show , and The Johnny Cash Show . She has also starred on the big screen in Crazy in Alabama , Grease , and Stay Hungry .

Fannie Flagg is not only a talented actress but has also written successful books, including Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Caf, whichwas made into a film in 1991 and was nominated for two Academy Awards.

Fannie Flagg never thought she would be a successful writer because she was a terrible speller, which is why she took up acting. She later learned that she suffered from dyslexia. In the 1970s, she took a break from writing because of her disability, but eventually overcame her struggle and decided to become a writer. She now talks openly about her dyslexia and the struggles it has caused her.

Fannie was influenced by writers like William Kennedy and Alan Ayckbourn. Her favorite book is Travels with Charley , which she rereads before she begins new work of her own.

In 2012, Fannie Flagg received the Harper Lee Award for distinguished Alabama writers. She considers it her greatest award because it came from her home state. Harper Lee showed up and surprised Fannie by presenting her with the award.