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Return to Williamson County Authors
Return to Williamson County Authors
Max Sanders has used a variety of experiences in his life to inform and inspire his writing. As the son of a minister who served churches in several states, Max grew up moving around the American Southeast. He traveled throughout Europe while serving in the military in Germany. He graduated from Appalachian State University in North Carolina with a liberal arts education. He worked as a safety consultant specializing in property and fire protection. During his consulting years he developed an interest in music, the arts and literature. His creative work began to take form after his retirement. His daughter’s childhood imagination led him to write his first book. He hopes to continue to encourage a sense of wonder and confidence in children.
–Hippy the Happy Hippo, 2009
–Max's Cloud Critters, 2009
Phillip D. Sanders, from Shawnee, Oklahoma, graduated with a B.A. from Oklahoma Christian College and an M.A.R. from Harding Graduate School of Religion in Memphis. He came to the Concord Road Church of Christ in 1995. During his years of pastoring, he has found time to work in radio, including research for a nationwide program, “In Search of the Lord’s Way,” to write for periodicals, and to conduct seminars on marriage and parenting. His first book is sold out and is being revised for reissue, and his second book has been used as a textbook for a college class in hermeneutics. He is presently a candidate for doctor of ministry. His latest work, Adrift, is being published soon by Gospel Advocate Press.
–The Evangelism Handbook, 1995
–Let All the Earth Keep Silence, 1989
–You Don’t Have to Worry, 1981
Born in Maryland, Dr. John Sappington moved to Nashville and later to Franklin. He was one of the commissioners who laid out the town of Franklin in 1799. A physician by profession, Sappington practiced in Franklin until 1817, when he and his family moved to Missouri. There he became a leading advocate for the use of quinine in the treatment of malaria. He manufactured Dr. Sappington’s Anti-Fever Pills, which were used all over the South and West for malarial symptoms. Sappington wrote the first medical book, cited below, ever published west of the Mississippi River. It was released in Arrow Rock, Missouri, in 1844.
–The Theory and Treatment of Fevers, 1844
With a beginning in New York State, childhood in Florida, high school in California, and a degree in illustration from the Academy of Art College in San Francisco, Scott Sava went into the world with creative ideas. Once out of school and married, he lived in Los Angeles where he worked in animation for movies and television from his own studio which prospered. The Disney company asked that he write a pilot for an animated television show that he had created; with this project, he discovered his talent for and pleasure in writing. Writing screen plays led to writing children’s stories in book form. Living in Franklin, Scott continues writing books and creating films, often testing his work on his twin boys before sending it further afield. He sometimes shares authorship, sometimes illustrates his own work, and produces children’s books with a variety of characters and plots as well as his ongoing Dreamland series.
–Cameron and his Dinosaurs (with Andres Silva Bianco), 2009
–Gary the Pirate (with Tracy Bishop), 2009
–My Grandparents are Secret Agents (with Juan Saavedra Mourgues and Christian Gonzoles Valdez), 2009
–Dreamland Chronicles Book Three, 2009
–Dreamland Chronicles Book Two, 2008
–Ed's Terrestrials 2008
–Hyperactive, 2008
–Pet Robots, 2008
–Dreamland Chronicles Book One, 2008
–The Lab: Hey…Test THIS, 2005
–Teddy Bear Dreams (with Donna Lynn Sava), 2002
A native of St. Mary’s in western Pennsylvania, John Schlimm is a communications and public relations graduate of Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia. A college assignment that led to his
positive communication with Barbara Bush was the beginning of his collecting
autographs. His book includes projects for teachers to use with all grade
levels. A portion of the profits benefits ASAP. After working in Washington, D.C., as a publicist and as producer of the
radio show “Enterprising Women,” Schlimm came to Nashville to work with a local publicity firm. He
has written a monthly column called “The Book Collector” for Autograph Collector magazine and has
collaborated on children’s books.
–Corresponding with History: The Art and Benefits of Collecting Autographs, 1997
Born and reared in Little Rock, Arkansas, Linda Schott met her husband at David Lipscomb University, where he later taught. He has served as minister of a Nashville church. In addition to her role as minister’s wife and mother of two, Schott has taught third grade at Crockett Elementary School and art at Edmundson Elementary. She has spoken to women’s groups at retreats and seminars. She has written poetry, painted, and published articles in both religious and educational periodicals.
–Theodore and the Town That Cried, 1999
–I Stand Amazed, 1992
-Going Through the Motions, 1991
–How to Triumph Over Trivia, 1989
–Spiritual Aerobics, 1987
When his young son, Taylor, was diagnosed with terminal cancer, Brian Schrauger knew that he would stay close to the boy through all the experience. Schrauger had grown up in Michigan, lived eighteen years in Dallas Texas, and moved with his family to Williamson County in 1997. Taylor was born in Texas but lived the last part of his life here. His father wrote both to commemorate his son and to help and inspire others in the same situation.
–Walking Taylor Home, 2001
James Hamilton Sedberry came to Thompson’s Station as a young man from Godwin Station in Maury County. He was a merchant, farmer, and grain
dealer and an ardent member of the Thompson’s Station Church of Christ. In
1905, he published the early science fiction novel cited below. It foretold a
21st-century war between Asians and Europeans in which a “super bomb” was used.
–Under the Flag of the Cross, 1905
John Seigenthaler was born and reared in Nashville. He began his journalism career as a cub
reporter at the Tennessean in 1949 and continued with the
newspaper until his retirement as editor and publisher in December, 1991. In
the early 1960s he became an assistant to Attorney General Robert Kennedy in
the United States Justice Department before returning to the Tennessean. He
has been affiliated with
–James K. Polk, 2002
–The Year of the Scandal Called Watergate, 1974
–An Honorable Profession: A Tribute to Robert F. Kennedy
–A Search for Justice (with contributions from James Squires, John Hemphill, and Frank Ritter), 1971
Born to a godly but reserved family, Gwen Shamblin learned early to turn to God in her loneliness. She holds a Master’s degree in dietetics from UT– Knoxville. As a registered dietician teaching at the University of Memphis but struggling with her own weight, she began studying the eating habits of thin people and became convinced that the key lay in eating only until she was full. Through prayer she gradually realized that spiritual hunger is often mistaken for physical hunger. She began her Weigh Down program in 1992. Her book has brought national media attention to the program.
–Out of Egypt: Inspirations for Conquering Life’s Strongholds, 2000
–Rise Above: God Can Set You Free From Your Weight Problems Forever, 2000
–Exodus: Daily Devotional, 1998
–The Weigh Down Diet, 1997
Born while his father was at Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, Tim Sharp grew up in his father’s pastorates in Kentucky and West Virginia. He attended Belmont College and Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville. He taught music in Indiana and at King’s College in New York. He and his wife, Jane, moved to Franklin in 1990 when he began his music publishing business in Nashville. Sharp has been coordinator of church music studies at Belmont University. In addition to writing a monthly column for Choral Journal, he has made frequent contributions to other publications. Sharp has written the program notes for twelve different CDs by the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields.
–Precision Conducting: The Seven Disciplines of the Masterful Conductor, 1996
–Up Front! Becoming the Complete Choral Conductor, 1993
Born and reared in rural southern Alabama, Clarence Sheffield was destined to become an observant educator and a talented gardener. He had his first advanced education at Daphne State Teachers College on Mobile Bay and some experience in teaching before World War II. Called up to serve in the army, he became a sergeant fighting under MacArthur in the Philippines. Thereafter, he was able to use his GI educational opportunities to earn his B.A. at MTSU and a Master’s degree from Peabody with further graduate courses to his credit. He spent his life as a teacher and principal in elementary schools in Georgia, Alabama, and mostly in Tennessee near Chattanooga. His book is a memory and comment on his long and observant life.
–The Wonder of It All: An Old Soldier Remembers, 2005
Holly Sherwin is an award-winning writer and nature photographer from Franklin. She is an avid canoeist and naturalist who spent twelve years as a canoe guide and outdoor educator in Southwest Florida before moving to Tennessee with her husband, Lanny. She is an American Canoe Association certified flatwater canoe instructor and participated in the Finlandia Clean Water Challenge marathon race, paddling five days and 150 miles of the Hudson River on a surf ski. She still leads canoe excursions into the Everglades and is an active member of the Tennessee Scenic Rivers Association. Holly, an active outdoor writer with numerous publishing credits, is a field reporter and writer for PBS’s award-winning TV show, “Tennessee’s Wildside.”
–Canoeing in Tennessee, 1996
Howard Shirley was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and grew up in Florence, Alabama. His dramatic work has been influenced by his experience as a writer
for his high school newspaper and at Vanderbilt University where he studied playwriting, directing, and set design. A former advertising copywriter,
he writes monologues and short dramatic sketches,“ all intended to introduce messages on a variety of topics.” He also writes young adult and
middle-grade novels.
–Acts for God: 38 Dramatic Sketches for Contemporary Services , 2005
Nolensville author Peter Shockey is a screenwriter and an inspirational author. Raised in Bethesda, Maryland, he majored in film at the University of Maryland and then interned at PBS with an emphasis in special effects. He then spent twelve years with an internationally syndicated television graphics company, based in Nashville, Tennessee. While there he developed his trademark style of special light effects to depict spiritual phenomena which Guideposts magazine featured as an article called “Heavenly Visions for Earthly Eyes." These effects, and his interest in spiritual phenomena, led to writing and producing several documentaries for Discovery’s TLC. He received a New York Film Festival Award for Life After Life. Shockey’s Doubleday book, Reflections of Heaven, is an outgrowth of the television documentaries Life After Life, Angel Stories, and Miracles Are Real. However, the book includes material which he thinks is better rendered in print than on the television screen.
–His Miraculous Ways, 2000 or 2001
–Reflections of Heaven, 1999
Though Steve Simms started life in Jackson, his family moved frequently, and most of them now live in Williamson County. He has a degree in education from UT–Martin and a Master of Divinity from Memphis Theological Seminary. He worked in sales and as a part-time pastor before developing his current business, Attitude Lifter Enterprises. He has spoken to groups on self-improvement, personal selling power, and professional development and has written for magazines, including Top Performance.
–Your Sperm Won: Experiencing Your Value as a Championship Human Being, 1997
–Mindrobics: How to Be Happy for the Rest of Your Life, 1995
Simpson-Giles grew up in Nashville, graduated from Dupont High School, and entered a lifetime of daily and eventful experience–work, marriage, childbearing, divorce, work, child rearing, re-marriage, widowhood, work–which prepared her well for later having her own business, a public relations and advertising firm. She moved to Franklin in 1998. She was requested to write her book as part of the Gentle Manners series, a Rutledge Hill project by several authors.
–How to Be a Lady: a Contemporary Guide to Common Courtesy, 2001
Dr. Skelton’s lively interest in history led him to write with a variety of historical settings. He was born and raised in McKenney, Texas, and went to Baylor University for a B.A. and Southwestern Baptist Seminary for his M.A. and Ph.D. After five years as a military chaplain during World War II, he served as pastor in various western churches for 35 years, and went to Nashville to work for the Baptist Sunday School Board. While writing several books on Sunday school administration, he also was interested in children’s literature and wrote over 200 stories for Adventure, a Baptist children’s publication—stories which led him to work on longer children’s works. His ideas usually grew from visits to historic settings which he then amplified with research. In the last years of his life, he lived in Brentwood and wrote with the Wordsmiths.
–A Walk in the Light, 1980
–The Ten Largest Southern Baptist Sunday Schools, 1978
–Where Action Is, 1976
–Meet the Prophets, 1970
Nancy Sladek was born in the Oak Park area of Chicago and remained there for her education, marriage, and first six years of teaching. Since 1976, she has lived in Williamson County. While teaching at Scales Elementary School, she wrote units for use with upper elementary grades in the work cited below. With Barbara Depp, she also co-authored The Guide to the Scales Nature Trail. Sladek enjoyed teaching writing to her fifth-graders and encouraging students with special talent.
–Creative Pathways: A Curriculum Guide for the Talented and Very Able Child (with others), 1983
Carole Moore Slater was originally
from Nashville, but she has lived in Franklin for many years. She has been project coordinator
for the Tennessee Disability Information and Referral Office, a statewide
information service housed in Peabody College at Vanderbilt University. Her book, Dana Doesn’t Like Guns Anymore, is the winner of two
awards: “Kind Writers Make Kind Readers” and “A Book Can Develop Empathy.” She
has also written essays and articles.
–A Guide For Parents & Teachers: Supplement to Dana Doesn’t Like Guns Anymore, 1996
–Dana Doesn’t Like Guns Anymore, 1989, 1992
Keith Sloan was born in Iowa, educated at the University of Michigan, and spent fifty years in the insurance business.
–Scammed! The Frankel Victims, 2005
A pediatrician for forty-three years, William Slonecker began his higher education at Trevecca Nazarene College and Vanderbilt University. He received his M.D. from the University of Tennessee in 1958. During his years of practice, he served on the staff of six Nashville hospitals. He was on the Board of Trustees and Chief of Staff of Southern Hills Medical Center, instructor in pediatrics at Vanderbilt Medical Center, and on the Board of Directors of the Baptist Health Care Group. In 1972, he founded the Christian Counseling Services to be a support system for families. Slonecker helped the State of Tennessee develop guidelines for licensing day care centers. He has lived in Brentwood. One of his children collaborated with him on this book.
–Parenting Principles, 2001
During her West Virginia childhood, Barbara Smith discovered the joys of good cooking from her Italian stepmother. As an adult, she developed a wide repertory of recipes for her catering business, which over its thirteen years grew from small church events to occasions for several hundred people. She and her husband moved to Franklin in 1994. Within a month her son, Michael W. Smith, asked her to help with a festive dinner when he launched a new record. From that occasion grew her cookbook, filled with family stories as well as recipes.
–Cooking with Smitty’s Mom (with Michael W. Smith), 1999
Betty Hunter Smith was a native of Paris, Tennessee, and moved to Franklin in 1919 shortly after she married local lawyer and judge, Wallace Smith. She was active in the Methodist Church and in many civic enterprises, particularly those dealing with history. A charter member and active leader of the Allied Arts Club, she created many of its programs. In addition to the books she published, Smith wrote articles for newspapers and journals and plays for several local organizations.
–A Door to Happy Land, 1968
–Flood-Gates: A Book of Verse, 1931
Born and educated in the small West Virginia town of Kenova, Michael W. Smith made up songs from the
age of five, but originally wanted to be a professional baseball player. After
a year and a half of trying college and other routes, he came to Nashville hoping to begin a career as a songwriter
and musician. He has written songs for Amy Grant and other performers and has
performed his own creations. Smith has lived in Franklin since 1988. He has been actively
involved with local youth and with “Compassion Kids,” sponsoring aid for
Ecuadorian children.
–Price of Fredom, 2002
–I Will Be Your Friend: the Value of Friendship for a Lifetime, 2001
–Worship (with Wendy Lee Nentwig), 2001
–Old Enough to Know: What Teenagers Need to Know About Life and Relationships, 2000
–This Is your Time: Make Every Moment Count (with Gary Thomas), 2000
–Michael W. Smith/Live the Life, 1999
–Where’s Whitney? (with Debbie Smith), 1999
–Your Place in This World: Discovering God’s Will for the Life in Front of You (with Michael Nolan), 1998
–It’s Time to Be Bold, 1997
–Friends Are Friends Forever: And Other Encouragement from God’s Word, 1997
–En Edad Para Saber/Old Enough to Know (with Fritz Ridenour), 1996
–Change Your World, 1993
–Old Enough to Know, 1987
–Lambs Among Wolves (with Bob Briner)
After growing up in the Piedmont Region of North Carolina, Scotty Smith studied religion at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, thinking that he would teach, but finding himself called to youth ministry. In 1979 he came to Nashville where he served at First Presbyterian Church. In 1981, he helped organize Christ Presbyterian Church on Old Hickory Boulevard, Nashville, and in 1986 he founded its daughter church, Christ Community Church in Franklin, where he remains senior pastor.
–Reign of Grace: the Delights and Demands of God’s Love, 2003
–Objects of His Affection, 2001
–Speechless: Living in Awe of God’s Disruptive Grace (with Steven Curtis Chapman), 1999
–Unveiled Hope: Eternal Encouragement from the Book of Revelation (with Michael Card), 1997
Judge Wallace Smith, a native of
Nolensville, lived in Franklin for most of his adult life and served
the city both as alderman and as mayor. He received his law degree from Cumberland University, practiced law in Franklin, and served in
–Tennessee Jury Instructions, Criminal Cases, 1965
–Tennessee Jury Instructions, Civil Cases, 1963
Bates Southall kept the notes of his World War II service, his imprisonment and escape, well preserved in a box at his home for fifty years. Until drafted into service at age eighteen, he lived in Thompson’s Station, attending Burwood Elementary School and Spring Hill High School. Returning from the war, he studied banking and real estate, then entered the world of business in insurance, government administration and in the poultry department of the University of Maryland. He became the Claims Manager and Assistant Vice-President of Corroon and Black. He considered his notes on his war experience of interest only to his children after his death. After reading the notes of his life in Italy and France, his capture and internment in Germany and Poland, his wife encouraged him to tell her the stories. She became his typist.
–Luck of the Deuce: A Story of Divine Intervention, with Betty Southall, 2009
Both natives of Middle Tennessee and graduates of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, the Spains acquired experience and developed their ideas about money from the community of Williamson County. In 1978 Melvin Spain bought an accounting practice in Franklin where the couple chose to live. This firm became Spain and Higginbotham, located on the Square in Franklin. Edie had business experience in retail and also taught design. In 1993 they began working together as volunteers for Crown Financial ministries, a financial advisory entity which operates on the small group model. They became interested in how money creates stress at any level of financial status. Their book is an outgrowth of a desire to aid people in dealing with this type of stress.
–At the Heart of Money, 2004
Bishop Robert H. Spain was born in Loretto in 1925. He studied pre-med at the University of Tennessee and then attended the University of North Alabama, Scarritt College, and Vanderbilt University. His pastorates have included United Methodist
congregations in Livingston,
–Getting Ready to Preach, 1996
–How to Stay Alive as Long as You Live: Practical Guides for Christian Living, 1993
A native of Missouri, Michael Speer earned a Master’s degree in religious education from the Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. His denominational work has included fifteen years with the Stewardship Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention in Nashville during which he published many training materials and four books connected with his work. He has also been a certified financial planner with American Express. Speer and his wife have reared two daughters, one of whom, Melinda Mahand, is a Williamson County writer.
–Financial Fitness for the Single Person, 1986
–Financial Planning for Newlyweds, 1984
–Put Your Best Foot Forward: A Guide for Men on How to Dress, 1975
–A Complete Guide to the Christian’s Budget, 1973
Clay Stafford has worked for Universal Studios, PBS, and other screen production companies prior to making his home in Williamson County. His career as a screen, stage, and literary writer, film and book editor, music composer and arranger, film/TV/stage producer, director, and actor has garnered him several national awards and foreign distribution of his work. He has earned B.A. and M.F.A. degrees and taught at several universities. His short stories, essays, and poems have been regularly published in national literary journals, and he has reviewed books, plays, and films for a worldwide print and media audience. He moved to Franklin in 1995. The list below includes selected examples of his credits.
–The
–The Tennessee Performer’s Directory, 1995
–How to Win Auditions: An Actor’s Guide to Success (script), 1994
–Boston: Esquire Magazine Travel Series (video script), 1991
–California: Esquire Magazine Travel Series (video script), 1991
–Florida: Esquire Magazine Travel Series (video script), 1991
–New York: Esquire Magazine Travel Series (video script), 1991
–Patterns of Power (script), 1990
–The Awards Catalogue, 1989
–Marine Inboard Diesel Engine Maintenance (script), 1989
–Marine Inboard Gasoline Engine Maintenance (script), 1989
–Michael (script), 1989
–Tell Me Why: From Kitty Hawk to the Moon (script), 1989
–Know Business Like Show Business, 1986
Tim Steed’s early background served him well in his profession as a standup comic and corporate advisor. He grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee and joined the army immediately after high school. When his army stint was over, he tried a variety of jobs and took college level classes where he discovered the joys of acting. With a theatre goal in mind, he majored in acting and speech at the University of Tennessee. Steed worked first in Orlando, Florida, then in Nashville, Tennessee in comedy, theatre production, writing and hosting television shows. He toured high schools and colleges as a speaker. Corporations engaged him as a corporate motivational speaker and trainer. In his presentations he uses his comedic talents to bring understanding and solutions to goal seeking situations.
–My Vow of Silence: the Roughest Three Minutes of My Life, 2007
“Miss Genevieve” was a lifelong resident of Williamson County, who was described upon her death as its “finest citizen.” She graduated from the Tennessee Female College in 1905 and moved to Franklin in 1919. After the death of her husband in 1927, she supported her four sons by teaching and working as a secretary at the Tennessee Highway Department. Her single book of poetry, published by her sons after her death, was a great favorite of county residents.
–The Harpeth Hills, 1973
William Owen Steele, the second writer inducted into the Williamson County Authors’ Hall of Fame, was born in Williamson County, the descendant of pioneer families. He graduated from Franklin High School and Cumberland University before serving in the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II. After the war, he and his wife, Mary Govan (daughter of Christine Noble Govan), moved to her hometown, Chattanooga, where he did graduate work at the University of Chattanooga. He lived the rest of his life on Signal Mountain. His more than 40 books were historical, both fiction and nonfiction, and mostly directed to the young reader. His books won many literary awards, including a Newbury Honorable Mention and the Thomas Alva Edison Award.
Born and educated in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Stensvaag majored in political science and history at Augsburg College and received a J.D. degree from Harvard University. In 1979 he began teaching at the Vanderbilt University School of Law and in 1987 began teaching at the University of Iowa College of Law. Beginning in his student days, Stensvaag was interested in environmental law and later taught several courses related to the environment. At Vanderbilt in 1985, he received the Paul J. Hartman Award for Excellence in Teaching. At that time he lived in Cottonwood of Franklin. At Iowa in 1989 and in 2002 he received the Collegiate Teaching Award.
–Materials on Environmental Law, 1999
–Hazardous Waste: Law and Practice, 1986, 1998
–Clean Air Act 1990 Amendments, 1990
A native of Chattanooga and a former resident of Brentwood, William Stephens has owned a Brentwood law firm representing the elderly and
disabled. His articles and photographs have appeared in numerous national
publications, including the Smithsonian and National Geographic. One of his
latest books deals with his spiritual history since 1969 when a near-death
experience changed his life. He has been a follower of Avatar Meher Baba for years; he and his wife have visited
–Souls on Fire, 1998
–Footprints in the Sand, 1997
–Southern Seashores, 1968
–Science Beneath the Sea: The Story of Oceanography, 1966
–Our World Underwater, 1962
Children’s Books:
–Life in a Tide Pool, 1975
–Islands, 1974
–A Day in the Life of a Sandy Beach, 1973
–Life in the Open Sea, 1972
–Come with Me to the Edge of the Sea, 1972
–Hermit Crab Lives in a Shell, 1969
Life Cycle Series, all with Peggy Stephens, 1968–73
–Flamingo: Bird of Flame, 1972
–Sea Turtle Swims in the Ocean, 1971
–Killer Whale: Mammal of the Sea, 1971
–Seahorse: Fish in Armor, 1969
–Octopus Lives in the Ocean, 1968
Craig Stevens co-authored the Geronimo Stone series and the Linked Management Models and paints covers for books as an accomplished artist
in oils and acrylics. Mr. Stevens combines adventure stories with very practical business and management advice.
–Geronimo Stone, Vol. 1, His Music, His Love, and the Mobile of Excellent Management, 2006 e-book
Dr. Ferdinando Stith, a Williamson County physician with whom Dr. John Sappington had become acquainted in college and during his residency in Franklin, is listed on the title page of The Theory and Treatment of Fevers as a collaborator in its authorship. In the 1830s he was president pro tem of the Tennessee Medical Association. It is believed that Sappington spent the winter of 1843–44 in Franklin, reviewing revisions to the book with Stith.
–The Theory and Treatment of Fevers, 1844
In addition to his education at Franklin High School and Middle Tennessee State University, Stofel credits “those madcap characters who graced the door and took time to give us southern oral-history” at the auto parts store his father managed. He worked in the small business world of Franklin for a while, then became youth pastor of New Hope Community Church in Brentwood. Three years of social work in inner city Nashville was eventually followed by ministry in a non-denominational church in Decatur Alabama. During graduate work at Gordon-Conwell Theological seminary, he began to write and has published both short stories and inspirational essays.
Stone’s cookbook is an outgrowth of years of baking and experience in the restaurant business. She was interested in cooking from her childhood and began a catering business of rolls and breads from her Franklin home in 1986. At first only her family of a husband and three girls were involved. When the business grew, she expanded, first to a section of the old Huff’s grocery in Brentwood and then to the H.G. Hill shopping center on Franklin Road. In October 2003, she received the Williamson County Small Business Award. At the request of customers, Lynda undertook the project of creating this cookbook of her own and her employees’ recipes.
A native of Johnson City, Cathy Summerlin attended schools in East Tennessee and has been associated with Vanderbilt University both as a student and as a registered nurse. When she married Vernon Summerlin, they shared a goal of becoming travel writers. She is a regular travel contributor to the Nashville Tennessean. Vernon Summerlin was born in Luverne, Alabama, graduated from the University of Montevallo, and spent twenty-one years in medical research, including research at the Mayo Clinic. He was editor of The Tennessee Angler magazine for five years. Both are past presidents of the Tennessee Outdoors Writers Association and Vernon is past president of the Southeast Outdoor Press Association. They have written for the National Geographic Traveler as well as numerous newspaper articles. Together they have won more than forty awards for books, photography, radio, TV, and newspaper and magazine articles. They live in rural Williamson County near the Leipers Fork community.
–Traveling Florida, 2002
–Tennessee Outdoorsmen Cookbook (with Jimmy Holt), 2002
–The Compleat Tennessee Angler (with Doug Markham), 1999
–Highroad Guide to Tennessee Mountains, 1999
–Traveling Tennessee, 1999
–Traveling the Southern Highlands, 1997
–Traveling the Trace, 1995
–Two Dozen Fishin’ Holes: A Guide to Middle Tennessee, 1992