“Why did I love him so? Why still? Why, at a time when I was vulnerable, did I cling to his silly advice songs? It made no sense then. It makes less now. Why do I love him? Who cares. I just do,” says Gardenia Meadows, the biggest, the oldest, the longest, the staunchest, the most devoted fan in all of fandom. She loves Fats Waller and refuses to apologize.

When Eleanor Bumpers, an old, arthritic Black woman is killed by police in Bronx, New York , Gardenia Meadows falls into a funk and turns to a familiar friend, the legendary Sultan of Silliness and Master of the Stride Piano, Fats Waller. How did this friendship get started? Are they just friends? What is the connection between Gardenia and Fats and Bumpers?

Read FAT AND GRINNING by Breena Clarke in weekly episodes https://amzn.to/3qLwGky

New episodes on Wednesday. Follow so you don’t miss a thing in this mash-up of stereotypes and stories and music and personal history.

Visiit my website: http://www.BreenaClarke.com

“One never knows, do one.” – Fats Waller

Experience the music of Thomas “Fats” Waller https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1mh7wDfNAGjlzRdMlPC5JS

Disclaimer: Fats’ music is not for everybody. He built his short, but brilliantly prolific career on laughing at himself before anybody else could. Some of his lyrics and shenanigans are cringe-worthy. He was a musical genius nevertheless.

https://amzn.to/3fHKdTO Read THERE’S A BODY IIN MY LOBBY by Esther Cohen and meet the indomitable Clara Israel. 92 or 93? Who knows? She’s using her years of wisdom and her unerring instincts about human behavior to solve a mysterious murder in her NYC apartment building. Esther Cohen returns with her hilarious nonagenarian gumshoe in weekly episodes appearing each Wednesday. Don’t miss the latest.

Check out more Esther Cohen at : http://www.esthercohen.com