August 26, 2011 Chattanooga novelist Susan Gregg Gilmore, a Nashville native, spent her childhood summers in Ringgold, Georgia, visiting her paternal grandparents. The tiny town and its indomitable residents made such an impression on Gilmore that she set her first novel, Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen, there. When a tornado savaged Ringgold on April 27, Gilmore looked for ways to help. Months later, when teachers at the badly damaged local schools were finally allowed to return to their classrooms, they discovered that most of their books had been destroyed, and Gilmore–with all her publishing connections–recognized a need she was uniquely qualified to help meet. Now she has teamed with a local book group to replace the lost volumes. To date they have provided more than 1,500 books to two Ringgold schools.
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