Larry learned early on that a mans hand-shake is his bond. To this day he retains that bond as well as one of honesty and compassion for others in all his dealings. Most men are honest, but at times ambition or greed can influence the best of intentions. Although Larry had a humble beginning, he rose above it to become a very successful man and was able to change dysfunctional living practices with his own family. He instilled love, honesty and respect in their upbringing all the while exhibiting patience and understanding. His greatest love is for God, his family, friends and nature. That love has been an inspiration in the writing of both Poetic Expressions and now his autobiography. Larry also managed to take time out of his busy schedule to work with other kids as noted by all his years of coaching baseball and never missing any event that they were involved in, even if he had to leave work early. His love of nature is unequalled. Larrys descriptions have the ability to take you there. Sometimes that love of nature has resulted in butting heads with preservationists as to timberland and renewable resources. This is especially so with them filing lawsuits to stop burnt and diseased timber harvesting. A sense of humor didnt pass him by either as noted in his autobiography again and again, as he says, a man without mirth is akin to a horse without hooves. For both must tread lightly upon the rocky roads of life. To sum it up Larry quotes an unknown author, the rigors of senior years may prove to be very challenging Have we put up a good fight throughout or is it the confusion of genes and how they are inherited to blame?

Here is a heartwarming collection of a country boys stories of life lived way back before technology so dramatically changed our world. You will be taken back to a time when you had to work really hard just to live, especially when you were living on a farm. Without high-tech tools or gadgets, and without todays modern conveniences, life was more free and loving. In those days, hard work meant something that people today will never understand. The Way It Was Back Then showcases that beautiful past and the real value of hard work that the modern world has long forgotten.

I wrote this book to share my life story. I was prompted into writing this book because of so many people that heard me as a guest speaker, me telling different people real-life stories about myself, my stories about my twenty-two months in the army, and my coworkers and many of my former students telling me that I should be putting my stories and experiences in a book. So I decided to write it. For those of you that know me well and those that don’t know as well, you will find this book to be very interesting, downright hilarious, very entertaining, and thought-provoking. I believe you will have so much fun reading it while you laugh.

James Cooley's mother had 10 children by six different fathers. She knew she could not care for all her sons and daughters, living as they did in the projects of Chattanooga, Tennessee. So she sent James and his older brother to live with their aunt and uncle in the tiny farming town of Graham, Alabama. Through humor, wit and engaging storytelling, James Cooley paints a picture about his arrival in that rural town in the deep South and his immediate realization that his life would never be the same again. In vivid detail, Cooley lays out his struggle to adjust from city life to country life and then back again to city life. Along the way, the lessons he learned molded him into a successful member of his community and a proud servant to his country. Now he shares those hard-earned lessons to educate, encourage and enlighten our next generation of leaders and the heroes who are helping them on their journey.

A country music superstar talks about Jesus and the simple, faith-based lessons that he learned from his father. Clay writes with a lack of pretense and a hands-on attitude toward life, drawing from his own humble beginnings and reminding readers what it means to be grounded in faith.

Adventures of a Country Boy in the City provides an insight into the engaging life of the author, whose natural instinct is to know how to convert opportunities to bring about positive changes in his life. The author enchants the imagination of his readers to become part of his compelling story by involving the reader in every step of the adventures he encountered in the city of Lagos, and later, as a student, in the cities of Hamburg and of West Berlin. Told in very colorful and vibrant language, the reader, the author and the story all become one and the same entity, allegorically following the path etched out in the words of the author. When, in his journeys, and one road seemed to be closed and the reader shudders at the rational of the breathtaking risk that the author has just taken, a God-sent Guiding Angel suddenly appears to take the author out of whatever adversity. Join Komolafe in his adventures as he journeys through life from the background of a simple village life in the Yoruba Kingdom of Nigeria to the world of opportunities that awaits a man of valor who dares to demand his share of what destiny has in stock for him.

Coming Up a Country Boy is not an autobiography, nor does Gresham consider it his memoirs. Rather, he says, it is a collection of recollections, some in chronological order, others not. The essays chronicle impressions various folks made on Gresham and, in some cases, the effect those impressions had on his life. Some entertained, some molded character, some irritated; but all were interesting.