Not long before he died, basketball coach turned inspirational speaker Jim Valvano shared a few nuggets of advice.
Do something every day that makes you laugh.
Do something every day that makes you cry.
Do something every day that makes you think.
?If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that?s a full day. That?s a heck of a day,? he said in a memorable ESPN broadcast. ?You do that seven days a week, you?re going to have something special.?
Former Allen Countian Dave French, now an Osawatomie resident, took it to heart ? and then some.
?I?d add ?pray,?? French said.
Prayer, he explains, was central to French?s recovery from a string of family tragedies.
Eventually, writing became a part of his spiritual health as well.
It started as a little manuscript, a 10-page biography penned about 20 years ago mainly to answer questions his nieces and nephews had about their family?s origins.
Then, following a brutal five-year stretch of pain and heartache, French, whose coaching and teaching careers have stretched from the halls of Iola and Marmaton Valley high schools to Oswatomie, returned to writing in 2009.
What transpired in the 10 years since has become ?The Last Hug: A Storm Is Coming.?
Mixed with equal parts catharsis and inspiration, French?s 57,000-word tome focuses on the redemptive power of the human spirit.
?I wrote from my heart,? he said in a recent telephone interview.
French will return to his boyhood stomping grounds from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday for a discussion about his book at Mid-Point Baptist Church in Moran.
FRENCH, 62, has had his fill of heartache, thank you very much.
From family illness, to tragic car accidents, grief and sorrow often were unwelcome guests in the French household.
