Lou’s Dirty Dozen
by Ranny Grady
SYNOPSIS
FOR
LOU’S DIRTY DOZEN
Lou’s Dirty Dozen is a novel based upon true events, embellished to add excitement for the reader. It is a story told through the eyes and heart of a ten year old girl (my mother…who is now 93 years old) through her early adult life. It is about her remarkable mother (Lula) who was widowed in 1929 with a dozen children. The story depicts the struggles and great achievements of this Godly woman. She was a woman of uncommon gifts and ingenuity. She was the town cobbler; she held the popcorn concession for the local theater while her other children were employed as the movie projectionist and the “hawker” for the movie house. She was a “home nurse” and took care of the sick and the elderly. Her eldest daughter, Rose, had a baby out of wedlock and was her class valedictorian. One son, Howard, held the record for the state high school mile run, which was later broken by Glen Cunningham the Olympic champion. One son, Charlie, was a professional gambler. One son, Napoleon, overcame a stuttering problem. She “home schooled” her children when public school was out of session. She had six of her children teaching in the public school system for the state of Kansas at the same time. She was a newspaper columnist and was a “stringer” for the Topeka Journal. She had a romantic interest, but she never remarried. My mother (Jessie) was the ring-leader of the children, who did their best to keep their mom from remarrying. She helped my mother get past a sexual assault by the town dentist. She saw some of her children compete on a well known Amateur Talent show. She taught life to her children using the principles found in the Bible, and defined in Deuteronomy 6:1-10.
Her marriage was one of “convenience and arrangement”. Her husband was older than she. He was indifferent to her, and was a brute. He had a peg leg. He died of a heart attack.
Lou’s Dirty Dozen is a story of a journey few women have ever made. It leaves the reader laughing, crying, and cheering for her and her brood. Maybe, the most remarkable thing she accomplished was that she reared her brood in a two bedroom house, without anyone killing anybody!
A Review by Rowena Plett of Lou’s Dirty Dozen in the Marion County Record Newspaper, Marion, Kansas on February 6, 2008
New novel tells story of former Tampa Family
By Rowena Plett Staff Writer
“Lou’s Dirty Dozen” is a novel in which Ranny Grady tells the fictionalized story of his grandmother, Lula Jane Crandall’s life as seen through the eyes of his mother, Jessie.
It is a reflection of life in rural America from the late 1920s through 1950.
Reading a chapter in Grady’s 376-page novel is like going to a counseling session. Throughout the book, Lou teaches her children truths to live by, often quoting from the Bible. She approaches every situation, no matter how difficult, as an opportunity to impart new lessons about life.
Jessie begins her story as a 10-year-old girl, the fifth of twelve children. The family is eking out an existence at Tampa in the mid-1920s, when they get an invitation to move to Missouri to start a better life.
Things go well for a while despite the violently dominating ways of Jessie’s father, Ranti Crandall, but after “Poppa’s” death the family finds its way back to Tampa.
In graphic detail, the author relates the many struggles the family goes through to survive during the economic depression that followed. The one thing in their favor is that Ranti left a life insurance policy which allowed Lou to buy a house, although it is small and has only two bedrooms.
Everyone, including “Momma”, takes jobs wherever they can find them to make ends meet. Lou is a cobbler, care-giver, and newspaper writer, locally and as a “stringer” for the Topeka Journal. She also runs a popcorn machine at the local theater with help from two of her children.
She holds the family together with her wit and wisdom and encourages each one to attain to greatness.
The family experiences typical ups and downs. Rose, the oldest daughter, has a baby out of wedlock, which is kept secret from the community. She graduates as class valedictorian. Howard sets the state record for the mile run in high school. Charlie is a professional gambler until his conversion. Napoleon overcomes a stuttering problem.
Jessie has a close relationship with her mother, but the two become estranged when Jessie marries someone Lou doesn’t approve of. It isn’t until her deathbed that Lou confesses her wrong attitude and asks for Jessie’s forgiveness.
This compelling story evokes laughter, tears, and cheers for a woman who faced life with courage and determination, doing whatever was required of her to support her children and raise a large family.
A few copies of “Lou’s Dirty Dozen” are available locally at Marion Health Mart Pharmacy.
Excerpts from the book are available at Grady’s website: www.ogradypublishingcompany.com
It can be purchased in paperback or hardcover from the site or at Amazon.com. To order by telephone, call 1-800-651-8022, or send an e-mail to
rmgrady@windstream.net
.
About the Author
Ranny Grady describes himself as “an old man chasing a dream”. He was born in Herington in 1941, to Pete and Jessie Grady. The family lived in Ramona for a few years, where he attended his first three grades of elementary school before returning to Herington. As a child, Grady and his father went hunting with Ed Childs and his sons of Marion.
The family moved to Oklahoma from Herington when Grady was 12 years old. The tall and slender teenager was a star basketball player at El Reno High School. He played on the basketball team at Phillips University in Enid, Oklahoma, and graduated in 1965. He also served four years in the U.S. Navy.
Grady was a teacher and coach at Enid before taking a job with Prentice Hall Publishing Co., traveling throughout Kansas and Oklahoma. He was sent to Florida as a front man for Lawrence Welk, spending one month every year setting up appointments and making arrangements for Welk’s performances and accommodations.
Grady grew tired of that and at age 37 returned to graduate school, He received a Master of Divinity at Theology from Cincinnati Bible College and Seminary and was a pastor for 25 years before retiring to pursue his love of writing.
Grady and his wife, Denise, own a bed and breakfast in Monticello, Ky., where her pursues his dream in a peaceful, secluded environment.
Grady also is a licensed marriage and family therapist and holds weekend seminars for married couples.
“Lou’s Dirty Dozen” is his first novel. He said it is at least 85 percent factual. The idea for the book was formed 13 years ago when he and his mother, Jessie, made a trip from Oklahoma to Tampa to visit her uncle. He was inspired by the many stories she shared with him of her formative years.
“Mother, I’m going to write this story,” he told her. He gathered material for 10 years before sitting down to write. The first draft of the book was completed in two months. He found a couple of professional editors to correct and refine his manuscript. The book was published in 2007. Grady is hoping it someday can be made into a movie. He submitted a copy to Oprah and Melissa Gilbert but has not yet gotten a response.
Grady said writing novels comes naturally for him. He has written three other novels and two children’s books which have not been published, yet. All of them are biblically-based.
“God prepared me to be a writer,” he said. “People say I’m a ‘dumper’. It just flows. I don’t make an outline. I just sit down and write.”
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