Ainsworth shares Texas tales at Troup library Nov. 17

Jim Ainsworth

Jim Ainsworth, featured speaker at the Troup Library's annual Fall Luncheon and Silent Auction, on Saturday, Nov. 17, is the prolific author of eight books on several subjects. A man of many talents and successful enterprises, Ainsworth has turned in recent years to writing about his Texas roots. He'll be sharing personal stories of his life and talking about his Follow the Rivers trilogy at the luncheon.

"Jim is an accomplished speaker who knows how to make his audience laugh and cry with tales taken from his life and his novels," says Dee Brock, president of the Friends of the Troup Library, sponsor of the event. "As a native Texan and resident of a ranch near Commerce, he knows how to appeal to the East Texas heart and the East Texas funny bone."

Ainsworth's trilogy follows the lives of the Rivers family. The trilogy includes In the Rivers Flow; Rivers Crossing; and Rivers Ebb. All the books address, in their own ways, the Rivers family's belief in a mysterious presence they call flow that seems to save them from disaster time and again.

"Flow is the difference between the way things are and the way they ought to be," says Griffin Rivers, patriarch in the first novel. Later, he adds ". . . the fact is that a man has a lot more control over his thinkin' and his body than most folks ever use. Flow is all about using that power more."

Before tackling his novels about the Rivers family, Ainsworth followed the path of his own ancestors as they journeyed across Texas to their future home in the state. He traveled as his earlier family members had done in a covered wagon drawn by two white mules and on horseback. He recounts his journey and his family history in Biscuits Across the Brazos, a memoir of this trip.

The public is invited to hear Ainsworth and enjoy a delicious lunch and great shopping opportunities for handcrafted and home-baked gifts from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 17. The author will also be available to autograph his novels for guests who purchase them at the luncheon. A portion of each sale will be donated to support the Library.

The Fall Luncheon and Silent Auction, sponsored by the Friends of the Troup Library, is the biggest fund-raiser of the year for the library. Guests are invited to come at 11:30 and enjoy a cup of spiced cider and look over the large array of items offered in the silent auction. The doors to the luncheon open at noon.

Tickets are on sale now at the Troup Municipal Library for $12 each. For reservations, call 903-842-3101.