Pub Day

Today is pub day for It Is Written: My Life in Letters. And I am so grateful to everyone in my family and to all my friends who have supported me as a writer over the years. The book is now for sale, and I do hope that you enjoy the story of my creative life.

It goes so fast, doesn't it? I remember lying on my bed in Madison, Georgia, in 1964 and knowing--really knowing--that I would be a creative artist of some kind. In those days I thought I was going to be a composer, and I have written music over many years. But my real vocation--my calling--was to be a writer.

If I just listed the names of all the people who have helped me as an artist over the years, it would probably make a 500-page book. But it began for me with my parents. My mother and father both encouraged me to be a composer and a writer. From the very beginning, they believed in me.

How great a gift is that? I learned a magnificent lesson from their support and kindness: The best way to show someone love is to give them wings when they tell you they want to fly.