The red bricks and thick mortar continue to rise high, but the green will always tower higher. I have written about Trussville a long time, lived here even longer, and only recently, sans a historical book project in 2013, have I been able to take a step back into the past. We moved to Trussville … Continue reading Green Quarantine
THIS STORY APPEARS IN GARY LLOYD’S BOOK, VALLEY ROAD: UPLIFTING STORIES FROM DOWN SOUTH. GET IT HERE. It sounds improbable, but I believe I am up to the task. I can sum up a city in just six stories. At the time, they were just stories, black ink filling up the pages of a yearly magazine in … Continue reading Six stories
THIS STORY APPEARS IN GARY LLOYD’S BOOK, VALLEY ROAD: UPLIFTING STORIES FROM DOWN SOUTH. GET IT HERE. So much about that high school football season was tough. A player dying during a gym workout prior to the season kicking off. The small town's grocery store, which produced a quarter of a million dollars in annual tax revenue, … Continue reading Tough runs
This story appears in Gary Lloyd’s book, Ray of Hope: One Man's Dream, Hundreds Served. Get it here. All proceeds benefit the Ray of Hope Wheelchair Ramp ministry in Pace, Florida. Chapter 23: Everybody helped everybody I have recorded and transcribed thousands of interviews. I have heard so many different things. I have heard … Continue reading Everybody helped everybody
This story appears as the prologue in Gary Lloyd’s book, Valley Road: Uplifting Stories from Down South. Get it here. Prologue: Unlikely stories Many crime-related articles become commonplace, when you are a newspaper reporter. You grow accustomed to dialing the phone number of a sheriff’s office, texting with a police captain, refreshing your email waiting … Continue reading Unlikely stories
By Gary Lloyd Presented without context, here are some memorable quotes that will appear in my next book, Sonny Days. “Dogs have been everything to me. My best friends were dogs. They were the ones who didn’t ask questions. They were the ones who unconditionally gave you that kind of fix that you needed, that … Continue reading ‘Sonny Days’ interview excerpts
This story appears in Gary Lloyd’s book, Valley Road: Uplifting Stories from Down South. Get it here. I was legitimately terrified. It was my first summer job, and I was ill-prepared. I knew nothing of carburetors and SAE-30, and I wasn’t strong enough to lift close to a hundred pounds of metal alone. A buddy’s parents … Continue reading The shop
By Gary Lloyd I’m working on my sixth book, Sonny Days, the story of our rescue dog Sonny and other inspiring canine stories. I’m still in the latter phases of getting this book put together, but I wanted to share an excerpt from it. The below excerpt comes from Chapter 3, which I titled Settling, … Continue reading Book Excerpt: Sonny Days
You know that great one-liner from your favorite movie? Or how you can quote seemingly every episode of Friends? It happens with books, too. For whatever reasons, these pages are standing out to me tonight. My Reading Life by Pat Conroy The Prince of Frogtown by Rick Bragg All Over but the Shoutin' by Rick … Continue reading Lasting Lines
Sean Dietrich, widely known as Sean of the South, visited the Trussville Public Library on Friday night. Make sure to check out his website, and keep an eye on the Cahaba Sun in the coming months for a feature about the author and entertainer. He has quite a story to tell, and I'm glad I'll … Continue reading Sean of the South visits Trussville
