What an experience! The Georgia Literary Festival was held in Macon, my home town and site of the story in Southern Fried Rice. On Nov. 4, I got to talk about SFR to an audience about the history of Chinese in their town. I got to give two other talks over the next two days. The response was warm and congenial, and I met many people who showed genuine interest. Also I even met people I had gone to junior high school with over 50 years ago, so it was an incredible experience. Needless to add, much had changed for the better since I left Macon in 1952 before the rise of the Civil rights movement. And while the city had reinvented itself, trying to promote cultural-historical and tourist events, it still retained a sense of the slower pace of life I remember about the Southern way of life.