| Language | English |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10 | 0684834731 |
| ISBN-13 | 9780684834733 |
| No of pages | 368 |
| Font Size | Medium |
| Book Publisher | Simon & Schuster |
| Published Date | 13 Oct 1998 |
About Author
When Richard Paul Evans wrote the #1 best-seller, The Christmas Box, he never intended on becoming an internationally known author.
Officially, he was an advertising executive, an award-winning clay animator for the American and Japanese markets, candidate for state legislature and most importantly, husband and father. The Christmas Box was written as an expression of love for his (then) two daughters. Though he often told them how much he loved them, he wanted to express his love in a way that would be timeless. In 1993, Evans reproduced 20 copies of the final story and gave them to his closest relatives and friends as Christmas presents. In the month following, those 20 copies were passed around more than 160 times, and soon word spread so widely that bookstores began calling his home with orders for it.
His quiet story of parental love and the true meaning of Christmas made history when it became simultaneously the #1 hardcover and paperback book in the nation. Since then, more than eight million copies of The Christmas Box have been printed. The Emmy award-winning CBS television movie based on The Christmas Box starred Maureen O'Hara and Richard Thomas. Two more of Evans's books were produced by Hallmark and starred such well-known actors as James Earl Jones, Vanessa Redgrave, Naomi Watts, Mary McDonough and Academy award winner Ellen Burstyn. He has since written 10 consecutive New York Times bestsellers and is one of the few authors in history to have hit both the fiction and non-fiction bestseller lists. He has won three awards for his children's books including the 1998 American Mothers book award and two first place Storytelling World awards. Evans's latest book, The 5 Lessons a Millionaire Taught Me About Life and Wealth, is now available.
Of his success, Evans says: "The material achievements of The Christmas Box will never convey its true success, the lives it has changed, the families brought closer together, the mothers and fathers who suddenly understand the pricelessness of their children's fleeting childhood. I share the message of this book with you in hopes that in some way, you might be, as I was, enlightened."
During the Spring of 1997, Evans founded The Christmas Box House International, an organization devoted to building shelters and providing services for abused and neglected children. Such shelters are operational in Moab, Vernal, Ogden and Salt Lake City, Utah and Lucre, Peru. To date, more than 16,000 children have been housed in Christmas Box House facilities.
As an acclaimed speaker, Evans has shared the podium with such notable personalities as President George W. Bush, President George and Barbara Bush, former British Prime Minister John Majors, Ron Howard, Elizabeth Dole, Deepak Chopra, Steve Allen, and Bob Hope. Evans has been featured on the Today show and Entertainment Tonight, as well as in Time, Newsweek, People, The New York Times, Washington Post, Good Housekeeping, USA Today, TV Guide, Reader's Digest, and Family Circle. Evans lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, with his wife, Keri, and their five children.
Related Books
When I wrote my first book, The Christmas Box, it was an intensely personal expression. To me, The Locket has that quality too. When I was sixteen, a high school sociology teacher gave us the assignment to visit a nursing home resident every week for the duration of her course.
My first meeting with my adopted resident, Lucille, was as awkward as I imagine a blind date with someone else's great-grandmother would be: Each attempt at conversation was met with blank, dubious stares. Through time, I soon learned that I was Lucille's only visitor.
That she spent her weekends and holidays alone in her small room, looking out at the pastoral landscape of the care facility. My attitude began to change. Lucille never spoke to me, never even learned my name, but I began to see something change in her demeanor whenever I visited. A quiet gratitude, perhaps. A friendship.
Two months later the assignment ended, but not my visits. I continued to spend time with Lucille until the day I walked in to find an orderly stripping her bed. When I asked Where Lucille was, the busy orderly replied, "She died yesterday. “It was only then that I realized the extent of my connection with Lucille. I left the facility deeply saddened that I never got the chance to say good-bye. I never went back.
That is, until I wrote The Locket. As I began to write the story of Michael Eddington and Esther Huish, I found that I had returned to that quiet room. The Locket, like all of my novels, is a love story. A story about the young love of Michael and Faye and the challenges they face.
It is also a story of old love, between Esther and the man she lost so many years before. But, ultimately, it is a story of the love between generations, and the nurturing and forgiveness those relationships always require.
My hope is for you to come to understand the many gifts the elderly can bring to our lives. And, most of all, that in reading The Locket, you, and those with whom you share my story, will be brought closer to those you love and those whom you should. Sincerely, Richard