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Born Patricia Neal in Birmingham Alabama, 1944, Fannie Flagg had her first taste of success as a writer in 1978 while attending the Santa Barbara Writer’s Conference.  She won first place in a short story contest told from the perspective of an eleven year old girl.  The result was an offer from Harper and Row to expand the story into a novel, but Flagg suffered quietly from dyslexia and did not pursue her dream of being a writer.  She now talks openly about her dyslexia.  In an interview with CNN, she stated, “I was, am, severely dyslexic and couldn’t spell, still can’t spell. So I was discouraged from writing and embarrassed.”

Flagg had a successful acting career that included Candid Camera, Match Game, the 1978 film version of Grease, and the Broadway version The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.  She was a staple of the Match Game television game shows in the ’70s.

Then Fannie Flagg returned to writing.  Her first novel, Coming Attractions: A Wonderful Novel, was met with success, but it was her second novel, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café that won her critical praise, commercial success, an Academy Award nominated film, and a spot on the list of esteemed southern writers. Since then she had published Welcome to the World Baby Girl!, Standing in the Rainbow, and The Whistlestop Café Cookbook.

Fannie Flagg lives in California, and goes back to Alabama often.