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It took Cherith Fluker a year to write and research her book about Birmingham, which was released on Aug. 1. (Provided)<\/p>\nIn 2020, Cherith Glover Fluker started blogging about her travels across Alabama.<\/p>\n
There was Gulf Shores, Muscle Shoals and Huntsville.<\/p>\n
But as her travels expanded across the South, so did her vision for storytelling. Fluker realized that she was missing out on writing about Birmingham, which is where she did public service through her sorority, the Birmingham Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.; and she served on the board of directors for the Greater Birmingham Auburn Club. \u00a0She pitched an idea to a publisher and settled on the concept of writing about the hidden gems in Birmingham. What would she call it? \u201cSecret Birmingham: A Guide to The Weird, Wonderful and Obscure.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
In it, she explored the familiar and not-so-familiar locations in Birmingham. For example, Oak Hill Cemetery, which was created when Birmingham was founded in 1871, is the final resting place for more than 11,000 people, including civil rights trailblazer, the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth. The cemetery is also known to have been unsegregated during the height of segregation in Birmingham. Fluker wrote that veterans of the Civil War, World War I and World War II are buried at Oak Hill, which is located at 1120 19th St. North. It is diagonally across from the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know they did tours there until I started doing my research,\u2019\u2019 said Fluker, 46. \u201cWho knew?\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
It took Fluker a year to write and research the book, which was released on Aug. 1. Already, it\u2019s turning heads.<\/p>\n
Last week, Fluker inboxed entrepreneur, actress and author Tabitha Brown, sharing that she met Brown while attending Brown\u2019s book signings in Birmingham and Opelika in 2024, and today, she\u2019s an author. This week, Brown shared Fluker\u2019s message to Brown\u2019s Instagram account, which has more than 4 million followers. In more than a day, the post generated hundreds of likes and thousands of views.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne lady said, \u2018I live in Chicago, but I will be going to Barnes and Noble to get your book,\u2019 \u2018\u2019 Fluker said. \u201cAnother person said, \u2018I don\u2019t even live there, but I\u2019m getting a book and planning a drive down.\u2019 \u00a0\u2018\u2019<\/p>\n
Fluker is excited that the book has touched people beyond the bounds of Birmingham.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want people to be proud to the tell the stories of Birmingham,\u2019\u2019 she said. \u201cI want locals to love this city, but I want other people love it, too.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Throughout the fall, Fluker will host a series of book signings at several places mentioned in the book to increase awareness about their existence. Her first book signing will be Saturday, Aug. 30 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the House Plant Collective, a brick-and-mortar store and a greenery shop on wheels, 3621 Fifth Ave. South, for \u201cPages and Plants.\u2019\u2019 There, attendees will be able to learn more about the book and do a plant-themed craft.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt like a history buff writing this book,\u2019\u2019 she said. \u201cI really had to dig and read other books, talk to people, make sure that the information was correct, as opposed to just going around taking pictures and relying on word of mouth,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n
Researching is hungry business, so, during her writing and reflection, Fluker visited several popular food and beverage destinations such as Gus\u2019 Hotdogs, Dread River Distilling Co., the Market at Pepper Place and Niki\u2019s West. They are all in the book, as is the General, a quaint sandwich and coffee shop in Forest Park, which is where Fluker ordered a cup of black coffee and a blueberry scone as she sought reassurance from a friend to write the book. The next day, Fluker signed her book contract.<\/p>\n
It took Cherith Fluker a year to write and research her book about Birmingham, which was released on Aug. 1. (Provided)<\/p>\n
Fluker started out with a list of 150 places to include in the book. But her publisher at Reedy Press encouraged her to cut it to 84. So, within 169 pages, she touched on a variety of locations, including Vulcan Park and Museum, Sloss Furnaces, the Japanese Garden at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, Frank\u2019s Table Sculpture on the Rotary Trail and Joe Minter\u2019s African Village in America near Elmwood Cemetery. The city\u2019s civil rights history is also highlighted, including Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, which is where four little girls were killed after segregationists planted a bomb under a set of steps in 1963; and the Historic Masonic Temple Building, which was built in 1922 and served as a meeting place during the civil rights movement.<\/p>\n
Even though Fluker grew up in Talladega, she has strong ties to the Birmingham area. She worked for the Jefferson County Board of Education for six years; and her father, the late Willie C. Glover, sold cars at Edwards Chevrolet on Third Avenue North. On pages 36 and 37, she wrote about how the dealership, which opened in 1916, is a testament to resilience and tradition.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was a way for me to have a part of him in the book. I don\u2019t mention his name, but I say my father worked there,\u2019\u2019 she said. \u201cEven when I drive by there today, I look back at his corner office to see if someone is in there. He didn\u2019t spend a lot of time in his office because he was always out on the lot, selling cars.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he would just be proud that I\u2019m creating a legacy in that book,\u2019\u2019 said Fluker, who is a travel writer with an undergraduate degree from Auburn University and a doctorate from Samford University.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe would be happy that I pushed myself out of my comfort zone because I had talked about writing a book for years. I wished I had done this sooner.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n