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From August 10, 2006...

Art critic John Ruskin once said "...the highest reward for a man's toil is not what he gets for it, but what he becomes by it". In very different ways, two Alabama authors tackle that idea of struggle in their latest books. Also, a very religious, very patriotic, gay man from Jasper, Alabama, writes about what he learned serving with the Marines in Iraq. And the indie folk sound of Jon Black. I'm Greg Bass and this is Tapestry.

You can take author and actress Fannie Flagg out of the small town, but you can't take the small town out of Fannie Flagg. A native of Birmingham and still, sometimes-resident of Alabama, Flagg has written a new book that chronicles the life and, dare we say, death of one resident of Elmwood Springs. The fictional setting in Flagg's latest, Can't Wait to Get to Heaven, has been featured in some of her other books. She tells WBHM's Steve Chiotakis she keeps going back to small town America because it's a place, she says, people can identify with; a place she's fond of and all-too familiar with...

Interview with Fannie Flagg

Author Fannie Flagg, speaking with WBHM's Steve Chiotakis. There's an exteded extended interview and links to her new book at the Tapestry section of WBHM-dot-org.

Sonny Brewer is enamored with place. The former bookstore owner published his first novel Poet of Tolstoy Park last year...about a philosopher poet who lived in the town of Fairhope, Alabama. Brewer's second novel finds the author again exploring the town...this time, though; Fairhope is seen through the eyes of a sixteen-year-old boy. A boy whose relationship with his father is tenuous at best. Brewer spoke with WBHM's Rosemary Pennington about A Sound Like Thunder.

Interview with Sonny Brewer

Author Sonny Brewer talking about his new novel, A Sound Like Thunder. It's about a teenage boy's struggle to come to terms with who he is and his life in Fairhope, Alabama.

Coming to terms with oneself is something Jeff Key knows all about. He grew up in Jasper: very religious -- very patriotic ...and gay. After struggling with alcohol and trying just about every major at UAB and Alabama - Key set off for Hollywood to become a writer and actor. He sobered up and soon found himself in his mid-30's, struggling with the "what-ifs" and "could-a-beens". So he did something he'd always wanted to do - join the Marines. By 2003, Key was in Iraq - working on a roaming combat battalion on the Iranian border. He kept a journal of his experience...and that journal later became The Eyes of Babylon - a one man anti-war show that plays through this weekend at Birmingham Festival Theatre. He talked with WBHM's Tanya Ott.

Interview with Jeff Key

The Eyes of Babylon runs through Sunday at Birmingham Festival Theatre. There's more, including an excerpt from the show, at WBHM-dot-org.

To hear the audio portion of the Community Calendar from Tapestry, click here.

Want to know more? Activeculture.info is a one-stop source for finding out what's going on in the Birmingham metro area.

The main character in the movie "Office Space" decides one day to stop allowing corporate America, with its cubicles and micro-managers, to define who he is. So, he stops doing what's expected of him and starts doing what he wants. Indie rocker and Birmingham resident Jon Black had a similar experience. In 2004 the Georgia native abandoned what he calls corporate purgatory for a life on the road, guitar in hand. Black has played his brand of indie folk rock in coffeehouses, bars and clubs all over the country - taking time out to produce two albums. This song, "Airwaves and Frequencies", is off his latest...The October Sky. (AUDIO MONTAGE)

Jon Black plays Brother's Bar in Jacksonville on the 29th. There's more of his music for download in the Tapestry section of WBHM-dor-org

Tapestry is produced by Tanya Ott and Michael Krall - with guest producer Rosemary Pennington this week. Hunter Bell keeps time with local musicians and Francesca Rosko follows community events. Reporting this week by Steve Chiotakis. Next week a photographic exploration of the tent cities of Green County. I'm Greg Bass and we'll see you then.