ORANGE BEACH,

Ala. -- The Friends of the Orange Beach Library will welcome

historian and author Patricia Brady to their monthly meeting on

Wednesday, Feb.8, at 10 a.m. in the meeting room of the

Library.

Her latest

book is A Being So

Gentle: The Frontier Love Story of Rachel Donelson and Andrew

Jackson, in which she chronicles their love affair during a

tumultuous period of American history.

Andrew

Jackson was a teenager when he was a courier during the American

Revolution and rose steadily in the military and political world

with the support of his wife. Beautiful, charismatic and generous,

Rachel had the courage to go against the mores of her times in the

name of love.

As the wife

of a great soldier during the Creek Indian Wars, the War of 1812,

and the First Seminole War, she often found herself running a

plantation alone and rearing a number of children, including a

Creek Indian boy, orphaned by the wars and adopted by Andrew.

Like many

great love stories, this one ended tragically when Rachel died only

a few weeks after Jackson was elected president. He moved into the

White House alone and never remarried. Andrew and Rachel Jackson's

devotion to one another is inspiring and offers a new look at Old

Hickory.

A Texan,

Patricia Brady has lived in New Orleans since attending Newcomb

College. She received her Ph.D. from Tulane and taught history at

Dillard University.

Dr. Brady

founded and was director of the publications department at the

Historic New Orleans Collection for twenty years. Member of

numerous professional and civic organizations, she is past

president of the Louisiana Historic Association, the Tennessee

Williams /New Orleans Literary Festival, and the New Orleans/Gulf

South Booksellers Association.

The Friends

of the Orange Beach Library are always open to everyone who wishes

to attend. For more information, call Pat White at

251-978-4106.