Out to Pasture but Not over the Hill

The first of Effie Leland Wilder’s raucous tales about Hattie McNair and the other residents of FairAcres Retirement Home
Hattie McNair may be retired, but she certainly hasn’t retired from life. In journals and letters to a friend, Hattie tells the stories of her fellow residents at a retirement home and of the immeasurable gifts and burdens of aging.
Through the histories, hopes, and hijinks of Hattie’s friends and foes, we come to know the Fair Acres folks and to share their triumphs and losses. When they join forces to help an illiterate young handyman, Hattie and company change their lives as well as those of young Arthur Priest and his family. By the time we finish Out to Pasture, we know the pride found in a life lived long and well, and the impact that we can have, no matter our age, on the people--and the world--around us.

Effie Leland Wilder was the author of five books. She graduated from Converse College in 1930 and received the Distinguished Alumna Award in 1982. She also received the Order of the Palmetto, South Carolina’s highest award, for her philanthropic work. Her work has been published in the Charleston News and Courier and in the Saturday Evening Post. Ms. Wilder passed away in 2007.

Laurie Allen Klein is a graduate of Maryville College in Tennessee. An illustrator and graphic artist, her work has appeared in Atlanta and Athensmagazines and in publications for the Baptist Home Mission Board, the Presbyterian Publishing House, and the Georgia Wildlife Federation. She lives in Florida.