Cloteal A. Fitzpatrick's Blessed Serenity tells a heart-wrenching and compelling story of her life and that of her mother, Bernice McClinton. The book covers family history, such as her grandfather George running away to become a professional pitcher with the Negro Baseball League; the attempted lynching of her great-grandfather Johnnie; and her great-great-grandfather Sargent Kane McClellan's battle against Civil War General Nathan Bedford Forrest. All in all, Cloteal provides the reader with a passionate family memoir of love, deep abiding faith, forgiveness, and redemption.
About the Author
Cloteal A. Fitzpatrick was born in Memphis, Tennessee on January 29, 1946 and was raised by her grandparents in Senatobia, Mississippi. She received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Education from Lane College in 1968 and a Master's Degree from the University of Memphis with a certification in library science in 1975. She retired as a librarian from the Memphis City Schools in 2008.
Cloteal currently serves as director of the O.B. McClinton Foundation, a non-profit organization she founded in 2011. The purpose of the foundation is to enrich the lives of the residents of Senatobia, Mississippi and the surrounding areas of North Mississippi. Since June 2011, the foundation has provided a free summer enrichment programs for community students in grades K-12 and social programs to the residents of the Senatobia Convalescent Center. The ultimate goal of the foundation is to build a community center that will expand the organization's current offerings by providing year-round educational, recreational, and cultural programs for youth as well as senior citizens. She has received numerous awards for her community involvement -- including the Tate County Citizen of the Year award in 2014 and the 2014 Presidential Volunteer Service Award. Nevertheless, as gratifying as these awards were to receive, Cloteal states she is still determined to see that the Gravel Springs/Springfield community has a center of cultural learning. Her motivation is the profound impact the Senatobia community had on her upbringing.
Cloteal has spent the last two years writing her memoir--Blessed Serenity... A Remarkable Journey. The manuscript has been reviewed by several professional writers and a professional copy editor. They all agreed that the book is worthy of being published and has a wide range of appeal. More importantly, the author believes Blessed Serenity is a masterful work that should be published for its potential contributions to society. Blessed Serenity has the power to uplift the reader and restore his or her faith in the goodness of all mankind.
Blessed Serenity... A Remarkable Journey would be an excellent read for young adult readers from ages fourteen to twenty-one. The book would be valuable as assigned outside reading in American History and other social studies classes. Senior citizen readers would find the book enjoyable for its honest, reflective look at our collective past and how we came out on the other side. Men and women of faith throughout the world will identify with Blessed Serenity for its amazing theme of deep abiding faith, hope, love, forgiveness, and redemption. Throughout this compelling memoir, Cloteal illustrates that one can triumph over discord.
