This book is a family friendly compilation of stories about a variety of hilarious characters from Maury County Tennessee. The author grew up in Mount Pleasant Tennessee on the south end of the county and learned of the exploits of several unique characters as he travelled a route called The Z. After moving away he began telling tales about these characters. The interest his listeners had in these stories fascinated him and he came to realize that other towns did not have a ‘rich’ history like his hometown. Whether it is Officer Manley Workman hooking a wrecker to Fatty Isabel to haul him to jail after he refused to go or Tooterbill Odom causing a massive explosion in a slag pit at his place of employment to give the ‘townsfolk’ a spectacular Fourth of July fireworks display, these stories will keep you laughing out loud. Another thing the author came to realize through the years as he started including tales about himself in these story telling sessions is that he had also contributed to the history of the town in some amusing ways. Is there another place like Mount Pleasant Tennessee? You will have to read the book to decide! Tales from the Backwards Z By Marshall McGaw AuthorHouse Copyright © 2012 Marshall McGaw All right reserved. ISBN: 978-1-4685-5054-2 Chapter One Tales from the Backwards Z Mount Pleasant is a small town of four thousand or so people nestled in the beautiful rolling hills of southern Middle Tennessee. It is an old southern town with the classic two-story red brick buildings lining Main Street and a statue of a Civil War soldier standing tall and proud in the center of the town square. As I was growing up, I assumed my town was just like the many other small towns scattered around the south. In the days before the interstate system was fully developed, my family would take trips and pass through many of these small towns that I was sure were just like my town. It was normal to see people sitting in rocking chairs on wood-framed front porches smiling and waving as we drove by. We always waved back, even though we had never seen them before and would probably never see them again. They sure as heck had never seen us before. Each town had a town square that appeared to have been dropped into the middle of the main road causing travelers to navigate around the obstruction before resuming course towards the next town. It wasn't until I moved away and started telling these hilarious stories about the various characters from the Mount Pleasant area that I realized that although my town looked just like these places I passed through as a child, there was something different about the place where I grew up. People seemed to be intrigued as I passed these stories on and rarely walked away until the end of the story was revealed. It was during these sessions that took place a long way from home that I came to realize that there is probably no other place like my town in the south, or for that matter, east of the Mississippi River. I haven't done enough traveling west of the Mississippi to know for sure, but I seriously doubt a town like mine exists 'out yonder' either. When a resident of Mount Pleasant first receives a license to operate a car or pickup truck, most will soon afterwards begin to cruise a route called 'The Z'. The Z was given its name by an earlier generation of travelers because of its design. The route begins at Zingarell's Market on the southwest edge of town, proceeds east about a half mile to Washington Avenue, then northwest for a mile or so on Washington until the driver nears the top of Rippey's Hill. An east turn on Fairview Drive carries the traveler on the last half mile of the route. If a photographer took an aerial photograph from ten thousand feet or so and traced this route, it would form a perfect Z ... well, a backwards Z ... but The Z is the name passed on from earlier generations that probably never actually thought about the fact it was backwards. After hanging a right on Haylong Avenue at the end of The Z, the driver eventually works his or her way back west to the original starting point. After taking a long swoop through the two acre, usually half-empty parking lot of Zingarell's Market, the route is repeated ... and repeated. This is called cruising or driving around in other towns. My town simply has a defined route with several vacant parking lots along the way allowing folks to easily stop and chat with other local travelers of The Z. I grew up on Fairview Drive which is on the last leg of the Z. As a youngster, I would sit on the porch and watch the teenagers drive by and couldn't wait until my time came. When it finally did, I put several thousand miles on a couple of old pickup trucks cruising the Z and idled away a few hundred gallons of gas at the various stopping and chatting points. It was this time I spent wasting time along the route that I heard tales of the past exploits of some local characters that grew up i