Two separate book signings in the Golden Triangle today highlight a New York Times No. 1 best seller and a rare photographic journey inside Baghdad.
Author Todd Burpo, who, with Lynn Vincent, penned “Heaven is for Real,” will attend a book signing at New Life Christian Supplies, 1920 Highway 45 N., from 2-4 p.m. At 7 p.m., he will speak at a fundraiser for Life Choices Pregnancy Center. The event held at Evangel Church, 500 Holly Hills Road, will begin with a silent auction and refreshments at 6 p.m. Tickets are $25.
“Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy”s Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back” is a true story of a 4-year-old child in small-town Nebraska, who slipped into unconsciousness during emergency surgery. He survived and soon began talking of entering heaven — of being able to look down and see the doctor operating and his dad, Burpo, praying in the waiting room.
His astonished family soon had more shocks in store, when the boy recounted meeting his miscarried sister, whom no one had told him about, and shared other impossible-to-know details.
“Heaven is for Real” topped the New York Times list for seven consecutive weeks, a new record for book publisher Thomas Nelson Inc.
Beyond the wire
In Starkville, Maben-native David Holland will attend a book signing from 4:30-7 p.m., opening an exhibit in Mississippi State University”s Colvard Student Union Gallery, featuring photographs from his book, “Baghdad Beyond the Wire: Faces from the Fair Garden.”
While deployed in Iraq, this sculptural artist, military engineer and MSU alumnus took thousands of photographs of the people in this war-weary country. The most compelling are included in the book published by Skarlet Press.
Readers witness the author”s personal struggle to fulfill his mission as a soldier and personal desire to see peace and hope thrive in a country devastated by conflict.
“I was forced to view the world with a military mindset, ready to defend my country and my fellow soldiers and the countless people that are helpless to defend themselves in the face of war,” said Holland, whose love of photography began with a course at MSU. “But I also carried with me and continue to carry with me the mindset of an artist. It is from all three perspectives that my photography emerges.”
Holland currently resides in Hattiesburg.
The exhibit will be on display in Colvard until Oct. 26.
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