Book excerpt: Annie Ruth’s Truths is a collection of the “wisdom, warnings, and wake-up calls” of Annie Ruth Sharp, collected and written by her son, David Preston Sharp. Annie Ruth, having been raised by parents who sharecropped and lived on the same land in Mississippi where earlier relatives were slaves, took in the culture and communication style she heard around her – a style that was humorous and instructive, pointed and playful, serious and serendipitous. She then married it to her own precocious personality. Rarely do we see in print the wisdom and wit of Christian African-American female elders. These expressions are a creative response to the soul challenges of rural country life lived in the American Deep South. Annie Ruth, now in her mid 80s, still amuses and guides anyone within earshot with her quick-witted takes on daily living. But her words are not meant just for entertainment. They are meant to inspire, and to wake people up to themselves so that they can be better people. No one is above her guidance. As the wife of a Presbyterian pastor in Atlanta, Georgia, Annie Ruth found herself in settings ranging from high-powered politics and the wealthy to the marginalized and homeless. She speaks her truth to her family and friends, to those lacking ambition and to those with perhaps too much. Even today, no matter where she goes, Annie Ruth’s “truths” are always at the ready – even if the targets of her zingers are not.