Nancy French Makes it in Paris

This is from the Paris Post-Intelligencer. (Does this mean after intelligence?)

Former Parisian with A Red State of Mind writes book
By HEATHER BRYANT

“Once, in a fit of ambition, I teased my hair, put on blue satin and pink eye shadow, and entered the Catfish Queen beauty pageant — unaware that my lack of poise, fish knowledge and cleavage would present serious obstacles in my quest for the coveted crown.”

And so begins Nancy Anderson French’s book, A Red State of Mind: How a Catfish Queen Reject Became a Liberty Belle, which chronicles the misadventures she’s had after moving from Paris to live in places such as New York and Philadelphia.

Mrs. French said her book is about “someone from Paris, Tennessee, who decided to seek adventure in the Northeastern states, but the kind of adventure she got was not what she anticipated.”

Her conservative views as a Republican were usually met with criticism, disbelief and even hostility, and her book details these experiences and more, but with a light, humorous tone.

“I had a red state of mind, and when I went to the blue areas, I realized it really is a politically polarized time,” she said. “I didn’t know they would hate everything I stood for.”

She said her book has received good reviews from both “red- and blue-staters.”
Mrs. French, her husband David, and their children, 7-year-old Camille and 5-year-old Austin, now live back in Tennessee, in Columbia.

She said she is looking forward to coming back to Paris for a book-signing scheduled for 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Friday at Promise Land Christian Bookstore, 3850 Highway 79 northeast of Paris.

“I love Paris, and I think the people of Paris will really think this book is funny,” Mrs. French said. “(The book) will help them have a newfound appreciation for their hometown and the good people that live in it.”

She said Paris is where she was taught to love her country, where she was taught respect through 4-H and where she was taught about God as a member of Sulphur Well Church of Christ.

“That’s where I was taught all of those things … that just doesn’t happen everywhere,” she said.

Mrs. French graduated from Henry County High School and was its 1993 homecoming queen. She studied philosophy at David Lipscomb University in Nashville, was married in 1996 and then “randomly” moved to New York, transferring to New York University.

“My only stipulation was that I could see the Empire State Building (from our apartment),” she said.

Mrs. French humorously describes she had a sort of “Green Acres” TV show mentality of what New York would be like, and describes these surprises to readers of her book.
She said some of these include people at NYU, who told her she was oppressed because she did things like wash her and her husband’s dishes.

She said they were living in Philadelphia during the 2004 presidential election, and said it was an intense political time and described Philadelphia as “overwhelmingly liberal.”

Mrs. French said people were constantly lined up on the streets, asking people passing by to register to vote so they could vote for John Kerry.
She said teachers in the public school system would wear Kerry buttons during school.
She said other instances included her daughter getting in trouble for saying “under God” during the Pledge of Allegiance and the school trying to teach gay rights in kindergarten.

“I was in the closet as a Republican for a while,” Mrs. French said.
She said when she finally told others she was a Republican, “it was like I had said I was a pedophile.”

She began writing columns for the Philadelphia City Paper from a conservative, Christian point of view, and said the paper told her she received more hate mail than any columnist in the paper’s history.

Mrs. French said she has a dear friend in Philadelphia who is a liberal and described her as being a “star in the book.”

Democrats and Republicans will both enjoy A Red State of Mind because of its humor, she said, and said Democrats in Henry County are conservative compared to New York liberals.
Mrs. French said her parents, Bob and Betty Anderson, who own Miss Betty’s Kinder Garden in Paris, are “getting a kick” out of her book being published.

The first chapter of her book can be read on her Web site, www.nancyfrench.com.
She said anyone who wants a signed copy of A Red State of Mind, but can’t make it to the book signing Friday can call Promise Land at 641-4377 to request a signed copy.
Mrs. French and her husband also are co-authors of a best-selling Christian fiction novel, South Pacific Journal, published in 1999.