Ready for Launch

Three years ago, I committed to tell a story of two ordinary people who led extraordinary lives. I wasn’t sure if others would be drawn to this story as I was until early February 2013.I stopped at a flower shop in Springfield, Ohio on my… way to meet WWII aviator Raymond Stephenson’s sister, Marjorie. A half dozen or so people were working feverishly in the shop. A woman came to the counter.

“Do you need roses for Valentines Day?”

“No,” I said. “I’d like a big bouquet of bright spring flowers.”

She arranged a beautiful bouquet and as she wrapped it she said, “These must be for a special woman.”

“Actually, they’re for a woman I’ve never met,” I replied.

“There must be a story behind that,” she said with a curious look.

“There is.”

“Is it a good story?” She asked.

“Well, you can be the judge.”

I told her I was there to visit the 90 year old sister of a brave and dashing young B-17 pilot from Ohio. As I told her the story of Helen and Raymond, I noticed that one by one, each of the employees in the shop stopped working to listen. So did the customers. Tears welled up in some of their eyes. When I was done, the woman said to me, “That wasn’t a good story. That was a great story.”

And that’s when I knew. I learned yesterday, She Called Him Raymond… a true story of love, loss, faith and healing, will debut on May 8, 2015 with a launch event at Northshire Bookstore in Saratoga Springs, New York.