Fannie Flagg: Fried Green Tomatoes Fannie Flagg, the author of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, has had an astounding life. As a child she was named Patricia Neal and was a native to Birmingham, Alabama. She was born there in September of 1941, and was the daughter of a small business owner named William H. Neal. Even when Patricia was known lovingly as the "peanut" she was a bigger handful than an elephant. She was an energetic and lively girl with a powerful imagination. The author claims it spelled trouble, or future writer. Fannie Flagg's writing and show business career began in the fifth grade when she wrote, produced, directed, and starred in a three