How it began

This began as Anthony Torrone's dream. For years, when I would see him on the street in his Grand Rapids neighborhood, he would talk about his dream of having his prayer book published. That seemed unlikely. No one ever taught Anthony to read or write, but he didn't let that small detail dissuade him. Neither was he discouraged by his developmental disability.
Anthony sat down one day and began writing about all that for which he is thankful. His words,   unburdened by punctuation and proper spelling, express a pure faith in his Heavenly Father and an optimism about the richness of his life.
I had known Anthony for years and had written about him a few times in The Grand Rapids Press, because of his extraordinary talent for building things from Legos and his phenomenal memory. Still, the idea of this man, now 56, publishing a book of prayers seemed unlikely.
Then last Christmas Day my friend, Charley Honey, wrote a piece in The Press about Anthony and his dream of having his book published. Laura Hughes, owner of Freeze Frame Publishing, read the piece and offered to publish Anthony's book.
Suddenly Anthony's dream became a possibility. Over the coming months, Laura, Charley, Lance Wynn and I began working with Anthony, distilling excerpts from his hand-written manuscript, matching them with photos and assembling them in book form.
There is much more to tell, and in later posts we will, about how Anthony's many friends helped move his book from dream to reality. For now, let's just say that in a few days "Anthony's Prayers; Thank You Father for Everlasting" will be published.

- Pat Shellenbarger