A Fries, Va., native has published a book filled with memories of his hometown, hundreds of sayings

Al Jennings’ new book, "Saturday ... My Day to Wear the Underwear," has 800 sayings like the following:

"How you feeling?"

"It’s none of your business. You ain’t no doctor."

And the Fries, Va., native also lists 300 actual nicknames of his friends and acquaintances.

"Everybody had a nickname," the retired teacher said. "Some of them I could print, and some I couldn’t."

Then there’s the tale of the Fries man who was so sick from alcohol that he was on his knees outside his house, vomiting. He called for his wife to come and pray for him.

"Dear Lord, please heal my poor drunk husband," she prayed.

"Dare it, Kate, don’t tell him I’m drunk," the husband said. "He won’t heal me if He knows I’m drunk. Tell him I’m sick."

The wife then prayed, "Dear Lord, please heal my poor sick husband."

Because of his vast knowledge of the small, mountain cotton-mill town of Fries, Jennings was urged by friends to write a book about it. He started three years ago.

"I know so much of the history and a lot of the humor," Jennings said. "People were always saying why don’t you write a book. So I wrote a book.

"You don’t just sit down and write a book."

Transferring his memories to legal pad pages in long-hand, took Jennings three years. He acquired the services of several typists since he doesn’t use a computer keyboard.

"I had people who didn’t want to do the whole book," Jennings said, "but they would do chapters."

The finished product contained 11 chapters, several photos and lists of nicknames and local sayings.

Jennings had secured Warrick Publishing Co. in Lynchburg, Va., to print the book. He also obtained the services of Don Bond, another Fries native and a professional photographer in Roanoke, Va., to shoot the book’s cover.

"We went to an old house and put up a clothesline" Jennings said. "They put a pair of long handles [underwear] and a pair of bibbed overalls on the clothesline to symbolize the title."

He said the book takes its title from his experience growing up in Fries. Jennings used to tease one of his brothers about them only having two pairs of underwear between them. On wash day, only one pair was left.

"Fries is the most unique town I’ve ever known," he said. "I wanted to capture the simple, everyday life – moments of comedy, joy and tragedy, and the people who made Fries such a wonderful place.

"There never was, and never will be, another such town. I was blessed to have been born and raised there, and I’d like to share that blessing."

Born on Jan. 2, 1926, Jennings lived in the Grayson County, Va., town until he was a junior in high school. He joined the Navy at 17 and returned home after World War II.

"I came back and finished high school," he said. "I had a job at the YMCA as physical director. I had a basketball scholarship and the GI Bill that put me through college."

After earning his bachelor of science degree in general studies and master of arts degree, Jennings spent 14 years teaching health and physical education at Virginia High School in Bristol Virginia. He later taught health science and wellness for 22 years at Wytheville Community College, where the athletic fields are named for him.

"I was hoping for a building to be named after me," he quipped.

Jennings and his wife, Kathleen, a retired school teacher, reside in the Hidden Valley of Wythe County. They have a daughter, Mary Akers, a physical therapist.

"Saturday ... My Day to Wear the Underwear" is being sold in book stores for $17.95 plus tax.

"I hope it’s not a disappointment," he added. "There are a few things I’d do different. I wish I had added a part about the polio epidemic in it. We were one of the few places that played ball with Wytheville."

WAYNE QUESENBERRY writes for the Wytheville Enterprise and can be reached at (276) 228-6611 or wquesenb@wythenews.com