Dwight Fryer

Dwight Fryer

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Dwight Fryer is an ordained Christian minister and a graduate of the University of Memphis and Christian Brothers University, and a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. His second novel, The Knees of Gullah Island, will be in stores in March 2008. Fryer’s first novel The Legend of Quito Road earned him a position among the five finalists for Outstanding Literary Work from a Debut Author at the 38th NAACP Image Awards in February 2007. Visit www.DwightFryer.com for more on Dwight Fryer.

The Knees Of Gullah Island
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Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Kimani Press (March 1, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0373831196
ISBN-13: 978-0373831197

Gillam Hale was born to free parents, and his life was untouched by slavery until his preacher father took him on a trip to minister to the Virginia slaves. Gillam wants beautiful Queen Esther from the moment he sees her, but the only way to purchase her is by distilling illicit whiskey—against his family's advice.

Though Gillam achieves his aim, his talent for making fine whiskey earns the wrath of jealous white neighbors, who kidnap Gillam's family and scatter them to plantations throughout the South. Gillam escapes from his new owners, yet he can never be truly free until he finds his lost loved ones, and faces the legacy of his own rash decisions.

The Knees of Gullah Island follows Gillam, Queen Esther and their son, Joseph, in the years surrounding the Civil War and Reconstruction, when the destiny of a nation hung in the balance. Filled with richly drawn characters and details that bring the past to vibrant life, this is a timeless story of love, loss, hope and rebirth.

The Legend of Quito Road
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Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Kimani Press, (June 1, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN: 1583147063

Memphis, TN January 10, 2007 – The 38^th NAACP Image Awards were announced on January 9, 2007 in Beverly Hills. Among the nominees was Memphis author Dwight Fryer whose novel The Legend of Quito Road earned him a nomination for Outstanding Literary Work from a Debut Author. This is the author’s first award nomination. Read all about Dwight's Experience at this event.

Mary Monroe, Best Selling Author wrote,
"Your writing is crisp and the characters are so alive they seen to jump off the pages! I saw your book…today so I picked up a few more copies to give as Christmas gifts."

Memphis Area Reader wrote,
“This book was so good that I had to drive out to Quito Road and just sit there!”

"I just finished The Legend of Quito Road, the debut novel by Dwight Fryer. The book is off the chain! The novel takes place in the 1930s a small southern town named Lucy which has generations of secrets that come to a head with illegitimate babies, adultery, backstabbing and money grabbing people. All of this centers around the descendants of Gilliam Hale, a former free, black runaway slave who knew how to make good whiskey. It's an excellent novel with a beautiful cover. By all means check it out."
–Thumper, AALBC.com

About the Book
The Legend of Quito Road chronicles the story of a thirteen year old boy whose religious father teaches him to make moonshine in 1932 Lucy, Tennessee. The themes of this historical show that the worst things wrong with most of us were planted there by those who love us best.

“Making white lightning just gets in your bones,” Gill Erby told his only boy during their first trip to a whiskey still. That illicit knowledge transformed Son, as his momma Sarah called Raymond Simon Erby, from pure and innocent to cunning and calculating. The economic and emotional common ground of Prohibition-era illegal whiskey and cross-race relationships create the story’s tension.

This book communicates complex societal themes in simple, easy to understand language. Kimani Press will deliver this novel to the marketplace in June 2006. By the end of The Legend of Quito Road in 1935, Son Erby makes 50 gallons of whiskey a week, completely on his own, and sells it on Beale Street, the home of the Blues, in downtown Memphis—he receives $250 for his troubles.

Readers learn the secrets to whiskey making, molasses cooking, and great Southern barbecue from Ray’s father, Gill Erby. Papa Gill taught Son to smoke whole hogs with wild cherry wood, sassafras root, and pecan tree leaves. This authentic and time-tested family barbecue lesson includes anecdotes and analogies on how the smoke (troubles) and proper seasonings (tragedies) create the flavor in the pork and in life.

Related Links

Visit www.DwightFryer.com for more on Dwight Fryer and his work.