Guest: Lauretta Hannon -author, speaker, comedian
Walking in the footsteps of Flannery O’Connor, Atlanta’s own Lauretta Hannon has a way of calling out truth that will make you chuckle. Her book, “A Priest Walks Into a Waffle House: Stories from a Gritty, Grace-Filled Life,” is a cheeky spiritual memoir which will give hope to those who believe God doesn’t see them.
Lauretta’s parents weren’t just anti-Christian; they were seriously anti-Catholic. Their life didn’t include God, yet Lauretta realized much later that God had been pursuing her since early childhood. This subtle, yet persistent, tug drew Lauretta to seek God her own way, searching for Him through anything but Christianity. She developed a cafeteria-style spirituality in high school which included a steady income from reading Tarot cards and later investigated several Eastern mystical religions.
God gave Lauretta a love of words which eventually led her to a Cistercian monastery to quietly write. God chose this environment bathed in chanted prayers, which intrigued Lauretta, as her introduction to Catholicism’s robust spiritual legacy. Her pithy sense of humor and newfound love of Jesus has given Lauretta a relentless desire to share her journey through books, retreats, and speaking engagements aimed at helping others discover the Hound of Heaven.
Guest biography: Named the “Funniest Woman in Georgia” by Southern Living Magazine, Lauretta Hannon is the bestselling author of “The Cracker Queen–A Memoir of a Jagged, Joyful Life.” A documentary about her story, “Raised in the South of Normal,” captured several dozen awards at film festivals across the country. Lauretta has been a syndicated advice columnist in 23 newspapers and a blogger for The Huffington Post. In 2018 she was selected to be a faculty member at the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop at The University of Dayton. A Hambidge Fellow, she has completed numerous writing residencies at the Hambidge Center for Creative Arts and Sciences as well as a residency at the Lillian E. Smith Center of Piedmont University. As the author of “Images of America: Powder Springs,” she documented the history of a small Georgia town in the midst of transition. She is also a regular contributor to "The Georgia Bulletin," the newspaper of the Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta. Supporting and guiding other writers is an integral part of her mission, and her work with incarcerated women and youth has been especially meaningful. Lauretta is a popular speaker and offers writing and self-growth seminars as well as one-on-one consultations for writers and others. She blogs and podcasts at LaurettaHannon.com and Her Front Porch Views podcast is available wherever you like to listen.
Resources:
Website: LaurettaHannon.com
Books:
"A Priest Walks into a Waffle House: Stories from a Gritty, Grace-Filled Life"
"The Cracker Queen – A Memoir of a Jagged, Joyful Life"
"Images of America: Powder Springs"
The Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop
Hambidge Center for Creative Arts and Sciences
Lillian E. Smith Center of Piedmont University
The Georgia Bulletin
