Deb Hiett in Alabama and Auburn gear.jpg

Actress and writer Deb Hiett now lives in Los Angeles, but she still keeps close tabs on Alabama and Auburn football. (Photo courtesy of Deb Hiett)

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- If it were only left up to the children, actress and writer Deb Hiett is convinced that Alabama and Auburn football fans could learn to get along.

Well, maybe.

Hiett appreciates both sides of one of college football's bitterest rivalries because she grew up in a "house divided" here in Birmingham.

Her mother, Monterey Hiett, graduated from the University of Alabama and cheers for the Crimson Tide.

Her father, UAB professor Tee Hiett, got his undergraduate degree from Auburn University and bleeds orange and blue.

DETAILS

Who: Deb Hiett, signing "When Mommy Loves Bama and Daddy Loves Auburn"

Where: University of Alabama Supply Store, Ferguson Center, 751 Campus Drive West, Tuscaloosa

When: 12:30 to 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 21

So no matter which team won the Iron Bowl, as little girls, Hiett and her older sister, Lynne, figured they couldn't lose.

"At the end of the Iron Bowl," Hiett says, "if you're rooting for both teams, you're going to have the winner at your house."

That innocent childhood memory inspired Hiett to write her new illustrated humor book "When Mommy Loves Bama and Daddy Love Auburn," which just came out in time for the kickoff of a new college football season.

Hiett, who now lives in Los Angeles, will be in Tuscaloosa to sign copies of her book at the University of Alabama Supply Store in Ferguson Center prior to Saturday's Alabama-Colorado State game.

'Always a winner at our house'

Illustrated in the style of a classic children's book with old-fashioned, hand-painted artwork by Amy Lynn Stevenson, "When Mommy Loves Bama and Daddy Loves Auburn" looks at the Iron Bowl rivalry though they eyes of two little kids who, much like Hiett and her sister did, pull for both teams.

"Our parents would send us to the neighbors' house during the Iron Bowl so we would not have to see them be too upset," Hiett recalls her own experience growing up in Forest Park. "Our next-door neighbors where Mama Sara and Daddy John (McQueen) and they were Georgia 'Dog fans, so that was neutral territory on that day.

"There was a lot of passion and excitement about the sport and the rivalry, but there was perspective, too," she adds. "From the kids' perspective, it was just fun. And honestly, like I say in the book, there was always a winner at our house."

"When Mommy Loves Bama and Daddy Loves Auburn" features old-fashioned, hand-painted illustrations by artist Amy Lynn Stevenson.

Although "When Mommy Loves Bama and Daddy Loves Auburn" reads and looks very much like a children's book, Hiett prefers to call it "child-friendly and for all ages."

And while it is told through the eyes of two children, it is the adults who could learn a lesson from reading it, Hiett says.

"I've met people who have flipped through my book and said, 'Oh, this really looks really cute, but I can't have anything in my house that has the word Auburn.' Or Alabama, depending on who they root for," she says.

"And I would say, 'No, that means you need this book more than anyone. Then it's more important that you have this book in your life. This is a way in which you can see how to live peaceably with the enemy.'"

In the interest of full disclosure, Hiett, after graduating from The Altamont School, enrolled at the University of Alabama (where her sister, Lynne, also graduated) to study theater and dance. She left UA, however, and moved to New York, where she later got her degree in writing and philosophy from New York University.

"I thoroughly enjoyed it," she says, "but New York University doesn't know (anything) about college football."

After several years in New York, Hiett moved to Los Angeles, where she works as an actress and screenwriter and has appeared in episodes of such TV shows as "Arrested Development," "Parks and Recreation," "The Office," "Desperate Housewives" and "Boston Legal."

'A really fun day when Alabama plays Auburn'

Hiett says she felt motivated to write "When Mommy Loves Bama and Daddy Loves Auburn" during football season last year, when she read some of the vitriol spewed by Tide and Tiger fans on the Internet.

"There were these comments that were so hateful and venomous and anonymous -- so I guess that meant they could be as ugly as they wanted to be," Hiett says.

"When Mommy Loves Bama and Daddy Loves Auburn" sells for $12.95.

"It just occurred to me that I really find healing through humor, and I had this idea pop into my head of a book that sort of took the child's perspective and gave it a little bit of a twist.

"So I decided to give this book a little bit of an edge and still approach the topic and remind everyone that A, perspective is everything, and B, children don't miss a trick; children are always watching everything.

"And from the kids' perspective, it's a really fun day when Alabama plays Auburn, and that's what matters most."

Amazing things can and do happen, Hiett adds.

Although they remain a house divided, Monterey and Tee Hiett celebrated their 58th anniversary this year.

"And they still watch all the games together," Hiett says. "It's a football miracle."

"When Mommy Loves Bama and Daddy Loves Auburn" sells for $12.95 and is available at Little Professor Book Center in Homewood, as well as the campus bookstores at the University of Alabama and Auburn University and on Amazon.com.





Here is a YouTube video of Deb Hiett talking about her book: