Chamber hosts meet-and-greet luncheon with GRITS author

By Staff
Melissa Cason, Franklin County Times
The Franklin County Chamber of Commerce hosted a ladies luncheon yesterday afternoon to give community members the opportunity to meet GRITS (Girls Raised In The South) author Deborah Ford.
Ford was the speaker at last night's Chamber banquet, but the luncheon gave audience members an opportunity to meet the author and have their books signed, or to purchase other product by Ford.
"I was so surprised when I got a call from someone in New York asking me to write a book after seeing my self published book," Ford told the audience.
Ford was taught schools for many years, and developed GRITS for her girls.
Before she knew it, everyone wanted GRITS stuff.
"I am not a businesswoman, but I know how to not to be taken," Ford joked during her presentation.
Ford said that she is proud of her upbringing because everything she has experienced has made her who she is today, and is proud to be from the south.
"Southern women know how to make do with what they have, and they know how to make it through hard times," she told audience members.
Ford has had five books published, each containing stories and sayings coined in the south.
"I am not a writer, I am only a story collector," Ford said. "We-all the women in the South-have written these books with me."