98-year-old shares wisdom with 8th grader as they both become first time authors

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - Two local authors, at opposite ends of the age spectrum, have both just published their first books.

They met up in person and agreed that the way to accomplish goals is to push through challenges.

98-year-old Phil Crenshaw wrote a novel with historical influences about the three wise men during Christ’s birth called “Another Wise Man,” while Grace wrote a children’s book about a jackrabbit searching for food for its family during a drought called, “Jack the Jackrabbit.”

For Phil, a retired veteran and chaplain, he wanted to take up another hobby in his daily life and write a book in that historical context but with fictional characters.

“Ideas have a way of starting, but if you don’t water the plant, it’s going to die . So you have to encourage it,” Crenshaw said.

Eighth grader Grace Gerwig credits her love of reading and writing for pushing her to bind and sew her work for publication.

“I always had a passion for reading and coming up with stories. I’d always be daydreaming and coming up with different scenarios.”

For Grace, this was an opportunity to write about a fictional story as opposed to the stories based on her life that she has written before.

“When my parents first told me that my book was getting published, I actually lost my mind. It was crazy. I’ve been writing for a really long time and read so many books about how to publish a book and what it’s like to be an author and that’s just all I wanted to do,” Grace said.

Each author complimented the other on their work ethic and agreed that age is just a number, saying they both hope to continue writing in the future for years to come.

“No matter how capable you think you are, you can always do more than you think you can,” Grace said.

For more information on their works and how you can purchase them, visit https://chaplainpublishing.com/

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