by Randy Willis

Anna Canady was born in 1843 in Ireland, two years before the Great Famine, which lasted from 1845 to 1852. The Famine was characterized by mass starvation and disease.

Irish, once a vibrant language, has become synonymous with poverty and destitution. One million people died of hunger and diseases. Almost two million Irish men, women, and children emigrated to America.

Anna Canada’s middle-class parents are forced to choose between several options, none of which are good. They hear of opportunities in America. However, the journey is a six- to eight-week stint on a “coffin ship.” This is not much of a choice.

Anna’s parents must escape the devastation before the seven-year famine becomes impossible to rebound from.

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The family sailed from Dublin in 1855. Anna Canady is only twelve. She vividly remembers waving to her grandmother from the Dublin Port with tears in both of their eyes. She would never see her grandmother again but would cling to her last words.

The Irish huddled masses cold on a “coffin ship.” They hold onto the hope of a better future in America and maintained their faith in God.

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During the famine, 75 percent of the Irish immigrants to America arrived in New York. By 1850, one in four living in New York is Irish-born.

New York will be their new home if they survive the coffin ship. The Industrial Revolution, the transition from hand production methods to machines and iron production, will provide ample work.

New Orleans is a much cheaper port—$1.50 for the transatlantic voyage, half price for children. However, slaves do all the manual labor in Louisiana.

Emigrants sail free when used as human ballast in the cargo hulls of empty ships. The weight is needed on their return voyages to New Orleans after unloading their heavy cotton cargo.

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The infamous coffin ships exceed their reputation on Anna’s ship. The 400 starving refugees are without toilets, with entire families in one buck and very little food.

Coffin ships carrying emigrants are crowded and disease-ridden. There is poor access to clean water, resulting in the deaths of many Irish as they cross the Atlantic. This led to the 1847 North American typhus epidemic.

Coffin Ships provided little food, water, and living space.

Anna’s parents die from the disease on the voyage when an outbreak sweeps the ship. Anna watches as her mother and father are buried at sea. Sharks appear within minutes. Anna turns away.

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The twelve-year-old devastated child is alone with no hope, even if she survives. Just when it seems things cannot get worse, they do. Due to the epidemic onboard, the ship cannot dock on the East Coast of America.

Their only hope is the faraway city of slaves, New Orleans. The city of New Orleans is the largest slave market in the United States.

How can a twelve-year-old alone, malnourished, traumatized, filthy little girl survive? What difference will it make if one more soul is added to the list? A million Irish died during the famine.

The Irish are pouring into New Orleans. Most women do not have the skills or education, especially a twelve-year-old malnourished girl. Over 9,000, 8% of the population, died of yellow fever in New Orleans two years before. Many of the dead in New Orleans are recent Irish immigrants without any acquired immunity.

Child abuse and prostitution are commonplace for the poorest immigrants. The New Orleans’s Brothels are well represented when Anna’s ship docks in New Orleans.

Contrary to popular belief, the Irish are not only employed as common laborers. Half of the Irish men listed in the 1850 New Orleans census have other occupations. Irish males are represented in nearly every field, from medicine to education to engineering.

A twelve-year-old Irish Orphan, an Irish Cop and a New Orleans Brothel Madam

Twelve-year-old and alone, Anna Canady debarks on a New Orleans’s levee and is noticed by two people.

The first, a brothel madam, walks towards her with a smile. The other, who she later calls an angel, is a New Orleans’s cop. Not any cop, but an Irish cop. The Irish cop addresses Anna in Irish Gaelic. He is her First Angel.

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When Anna debarks the ship, two other New Orleans occupations are represented. One is an Irish cop, and the other is a brothel madam on New Orleans’s dock. The latter smiles. She turns and walks away when the cop sternly stares at her. The Irish cop escorts young Anna to the Ursuline Convent of New Orleans. He softly speaks Irish Gaelic and holds her hand the entire walk. Anna has a glimmer of hope.

Upon her arrival, the well-meaning Ursuline Convent boards Anna out to a family. Anna receives food and shelter for her manual labor.

Anna knows it will be hard work. She doesn’t know that over the next five years, she will endure horrible abuse.

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The conversation in Anna’s abuser’s home is as in all homes in the South. The North is sure to put a stranglehold on the mighty Mississippi River, the lifeline of Louisiana. Anna overhears these conversations.

Going into the presidential election of 1860, the issue of slavery heats the nation to a boiling point. If Abraham Lincoln is elected, southern secession threats would become a reality. Fear grips Louisiana.

The Mississippi River is a military highway. It borders ten states and is divided between Union and Confederate loyalties. It also serves as a superhighway for food, merchandise, and trade.

Anna vows never to be abused again but is aware she is surrounded by marshes and swamps.

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Anna Canady’s Great Escape

If Anna is ever to escape, it must be now. The North is sure to blockade the Mississippi River. At 17, Anna Canady escapes her abusers. Anna recalls the scripture from Psalms. Her grandmother quoted it to her as she left Ireland: He shall give His angels charge over you.

Anna clings to a log. She swims an alligator and water-moccasin-infested swamp. She clings to the hope of angelic protection. When Anna’s ship docked in New Orleans, she was misinformed by the Captain. She is told many other cities are filled with Irish immigrants. Cities like New York, Philadelphia, and Boston are only two or three days from New Orleans by horse. Anna clings to that hope.

Anna soon encounters a swollen stream between her and the Mississippi River, her only hope of escape. She commandeers another log. But this time, the flooded bayou sweeps her back toward her abuser’s home.

“So help me God, I will never be abused again,” Anna’s vow echoes in her mind.

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Anna sees an old man on horseback downstream and screams for help. He rides into the bayou and throws a wide loop. The old man pulls her to shore with his rope firmly attached to his saddle horn.

The old man swings a wide loop to rope Anna in a Louisiana swamp. He is her Second Angel.

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Anna is emaciated and can hardly stand. He feeds her, explaining he is a Christian. Anna mumbles, “Catholic, are you Catholic?”

“Baptist,” the old man says. Her hopes are once again crushed as she discovers he is a Protestant. The same group that oppressed her family in Ireland. The same people from England refused to intervene in Ireland’s famine because they were superior in their minds.

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The old man nurtures her to health. Afterward, they board a steamer on the Mississippi River. They travel to the Red River and then north to the port city of Alexandria. How can a Protestant be so kind, caring, and gentle? Why does this Protestant treat me as an equal? What’s in it for him?

The old man tells her of a young friend who helps him farm and work his cows, mules, and horses. He is a fifteen-year-old boy who will transport them by wagon to his family’s modest home near Oakdale, Louisiana. The old man adds, “The boy is a member of a Baptist Church his grandfather founded.” Anna is unimpressed.

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Upon arrival, the boy is polite and addresses Anna as ma’am. She barely speaks a word but is intrigued by his smile and, most of all, his enthusiasm and joy.

“Who are you,” Anna asked. “Are you a Baptist too?”

“Just a stranger ma’am, a wayfaring stranger.”

The old man tells Polk she is Irish. The boy begins to sing an Irish tune to impress her.

“What’s your name?” she asked again.

“I’m just a poor wayfaring stranger,” Polk begins to sing.

“Traveling through this world below
There is no sickness, no toil, no danger
In that bright land to which I go
I’m going there to see my father
And all my loved ones who’ve gone on.”

Perplexed, Anna asked, “What’s your Christian name?”

“James K. Polk Willis, but my friends call me Polk. I was named after the President elected the year I was born.” Polk explains he cared for his grandfather in his later years. He believes he can help Anna recover, too. Polk’s grandpa, Joseph Willis, passed six years ago. Anna is confused and more concerned than ever. But, assures herself, “I have come a long way. Surely the east coast in no more than a good two or three day walk from Oakdale.”

New Orleans is Captured

Anna Canada’s dangerous escape was the right decision. The rumors of Louisiana seceding from the United States became true in a few months, on January 21, 1861. The Union’s response to Louisiana joining the Confederacy followed in the Spring of 1862. The North blockaded the mighty Mississippi River south of New Orleans on April 1, 1862. Within three weeks, the Union began its capture of the Confederate crown jewel, New Orleans.

In April 1862, the Confederate Flag stopped flying from the balconies of New Orleans. However, something else would soon fly.

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The women of New Orleans express contempt by insulting Union troops. Their husbands and male friends are off fighting in the “War of Northern Aggression.”

The genteel Southern Belles have an unusual tactic. A few of them dump their chamber pots from their balconies. They do this as the Yankee soldiers walk below. They are urinals.

Benjamin Butler Chamber Pot

On May 15, 1862, Butler issues an order. The order has harsh consequences for the women of New Orleans. If any woman insults an officer or soldier of the United States, she will face severe repercussions. She will be “Treated as a woman of the town plying her avocation.” The charge of solicitation of prostitution is Butler’s way of degrading Southern women. It backfires on him, not only in the South. Northern women opposed it. The backlash extends all the way to Great Britain with public protests.

If a woman punches a soldier, he can punch her back. Known as the Woman’s Order, it is very controversial in the South, North, and abroad. Especially since it’s at the soldier’s discretion to determine if the woman hit him.

Women throughout New Orleans interpret it as Butler legalizing rape. However, the order has no sexual connotation. The general dislike of No. 28 is widespread and significant. Some people print his portrait on the bottom of chamber pots. This adds insult to injury. The demand for Butler’s removal becomes a rallying cry in New Orleans and even Abraham Lincoln’s camp. On December 16, 1862, Major General Butler was removed. His command of New Orleans only lasted eight months.

Today, Benjamin Butler chamber pots are sold online. Many find it a funny story. However, I can’t imagine what went through an abused and traumatized teenage girl after this story broke. Soon, Union soldiers surrounded her new family’s home near Oakdale, stealing food and livestock.

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Polk Willis’s Sister Caroline Willis Strother

Polk Willis’s sister, Caroline Willis, married John Houston Strother, Sr in 1864. Union soldiers shot his father, Alexander Asaria Strother. They shot and hung him in front of his wife and young son, John Houston Strother, Sr., while stealing their food and horses. Anna Canady, 21, has lived in fear for half her life.

Polk’s brother Crawford Willis died in April 1862 at the Battle of Shiloh. Polk and Crawford’s father, Lemuel Willis, also fought at Shiloh near the banks of the Tennessee River. Lemuel died in 1862 as well. Lemuel Willis died in the Civil War while serving the Confederate States of America. Like his son Crawford, he served during the conflict. Anna Canady was close to all of them.

In 1864. Union soldiers shot Alexander Asaria Strother. They then hung him in front of his wife and young son, John Houston Strother. They stole their food and horses. Alexander’s grandson, Greene Wallace Strother, gave me all of his research in 1981. He was 89. He also gave me all of his late brother’s research. He wrote me, “The baton has been passed to you.”

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Polk’s Grandpa’s stories of triumph over impossible odds inspire Anna and bring hope to the family. His life of victory over adversity and triumph over tragedy helps Anna begin to heal. But she needs more—much more. She needs to understand why.

Polk Willis’s Grandpa, Rev. Joseph Willis’s story did not captivate Anna, not even when Polk mentioned she died young. But when Polk says under his breath that Sarah is an Irish orphan, Anna’s head turns. Her eyes focus on Polk’s. She asked Polk to repeat the last sentence. She asks questions. Why would Joseph marry an Irish orphan? To polite society, she is the least of the least. Why would he give up his dreams over her?

The old preacher told his grandson Polk a story, and Polk told Anna. The story changed Joseph Willis, Polk Willis, Louisiana history, American history, and Anna Canady. Thus began Anna’s quest to know why.

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“A person’s character is measured by the challenges they face. It reflects how difficult it is to deter them from what God has called them to do.” —Joseph Willis 1798 on the banks of the mile-wide Mississippi River.

In 1794, Joseph Willis and his first wife, Rachel Bradford Willis, moved to South Carolina from Bladen County, North Carolina. Rachel Bradford is a direct descendant of William Bradford. He traveled to America on the Mayflower. William Bradford started what is now Thanksgiving.

The family settled on the south side of the Reedy River in Greenville County. A greedy uncle cheated Joseph Willis out of his inheritance. Joseph’s uncle, Daniel Willis, cited the 1741 laws in North Carolina. These laws stated that no person of a dark-skinned race could inherit property. Joseph’s father, Agerton Willis’s will, which left everything to Joseph, was overturned. Joseph Willis would have been one of the wealthiest men in North Carolina.

Joseph and Rachel enjoyed planning for a family. Rachel first gives birth to Agerton. He is named after Joseph’s father. Mary Willis and Joseph Willis, Jr. follow.

The delivery of Rachel’s 4th child, her namesake, did not go well. Proper medical attention is scarce, even in developing territories. Many a strong wife succumbs to infection, blood loss, and delivery complications. Rachel dies in childbirth.

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Joseph Willis is called by God to preach the Gospel. He attempts ordination through his local Baptist Church, but they refuse him because of his swarthy Cherokee skin.

Joseph marries a second time. She is an Irish orphan named Sarah. Sarah died in 1798.

Joseph Willis’s Encounter with Jesus

Joseph has been rejected and cheated by his family. His church denies him ordination because of his dark skin.

Joseph Willis is 40, broke, has five children, and has no helpmate. The average life expectancy for men is around 50.

The days become weeks, and weeks become months. At age 40, being of mixed race and with five children still needing care, Joseph Willis felt abandoned by God.

“I’m already forty. I must have misunderstood His call,” Joseph writes in his journal.

Joseph Willis mounted his mule and rode to the banks of the Pee Dee River. “Lord, not my will but Thine,” he prays. He felt older than his years.

Depression set in. He wondered about the ups and downs of his fitful life. These included the deaths of two loving wives. They also included the joy of five beautiful children. Lastly, they included the harsh life of a backwoods preacher.

His pockets lacked gold, his home was humble, his clothes were frayed, his mule swayed, and his muscles were sore. He leaned forward, a broken man, sobbing over his failure to accomplish anything significant. Tears blurred his vision, his breath came in short gasps, and his hands began to shake. “Why has God abandoned me? ” he dropped to his knees.

Lord, someone has set darkness in my path, Joseph cried.

Suddenly, as though in a trance, he looked to Heaven. Was it his imagination? Was it a vision? Was it a dream? He had no judgment on this. He was clear on one thing: Christ appeared to him with an outstretched hand.

“It is I who has called you. Go as I have spoken.”

“But, Lord, I have nothing.”

“I will be with you—I am all that you need. In your weakness will be my strength.”

His shaking stopped, his breathing slowed, and his vision cleared. No, this had been no nightmare, magician’s trick, illusion, or child’s make-believe fantasy. He was convinced the Lord Almighty had spoken to him with a directive to spread the Gospel. He would obey.

Slowly, Joseph rides home, meditating on his life-changing experience.

“Children, the Lord spoke to me. I am not too old, not too poor, not too timid. He has impressed upon me to do His bidding in spreading His holy word West of here. We must depart.”

“Where, Daddy?” his five children ask one by one.

I’m told it is in a foreign land called the Louisiana Territory, west of a mighty river.

“I’m told it is in a foreign land called the Louisiana Territory, west of a mighty river.”

Present-day Kingston, Tennessee

In the Spring of 1780, Richard Curtis and others left South Carolina. They traveled by land to the northeastern corner of Tennessee, to the banks of the Holston River.

There, they built three flat boats. Toward the end of the year, the Holston River reaches sufficient depth. They set out for the Natchez Country of Mississippi via the Holston, Tennessee, Ohio, and Mississippi Rivers.

The Cherokee attacked them at the Tennessee River and Clinch River confluence. The location is near present-day Kingston, Tennessee.

The first two boats escape, but the third, traveling far from the other two, is captured. The Cherokee pay a high price for the attack. They contract smallpox, and many die because they have no immunity to the disease. The passengers on the first two boats continue their voyage. They land safely at the mouth of Cole’s Creek, 18 miles above Natchez.

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Richard Curtis set the stage for a second trip in 1798 on the same rivers he traveled in 1780. This time, he brings a friend. Joseph Willis, a half-Cherokee, plans to venture farther than Curtis. Joseph intends to explore the Louisiana Territory. He also aims to venture into “No Man’s Land,” between the lawless Calcasieu and Sabine rivers. No Protestant has ever preached in the Louisiana Territory. No Protestant has ever preached west of the Mississippi River. It is eight years before Lewis and Clark begin their journey west.

And, no person of any faith ever dared preach in No Man’s Land. It is a haven for outlaws, outcasts, pirates, runaway slaves, Indians, and people of many races and nationalities. It is a “tailor-made” mission field for an outcast, rejected, swarthy Cherokee preacher named Joseph Willis.

In 1798, Joseph Willis crossed the mighty Mississippi River into the Louisiana Territory at Natchez. The Code Noir, the “Black Code,” ruled the Louisiana Territory. The decree from King Louis XIV regulated the condition of slavery and controlled the activities of free people of color.

The Black Code restricted religion to only Roman Catholicism, forbidding the exercise of any other religion. It was the law until the Louisiana Purchase on April 30, 1803. In reality, it hindered the preaching of the Gospel for many decades after the Louisiana Purchase.

Joseph Willis swam the mighty Mississippi River at Natchez at the peril of his life, riding a mule! He would ride his mule into the heartland of the Black Code, south Louisiana. It almost cost him his life.

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Polk shares with Anna what his grandpa told him and his sister Olive. He recounts the story of Joseph Willis’s life as he travels to an unknown land like her.

Joseph Willis crossed the mighty Mississippi River at Natchez in 1798. He faced great peril by swimming the Mississippi on a mule.

✯ Joseph Willis was born into slavery. His mother is Cherokee, and his father was a wealthy English plantation owner.

✯ His family took him to court to deprive him of his inheritance. This inheritance would have made him the wealthiest plantation owner in Baden County, North Carolina, in 1776.

✯ He fought as a Patriot in the Revolutionary War. He served under the most colorful American general, Francis Marion, the Swamp Fox.

✯ His first wife died in childbirth. His second wife, an Irish orphan named Sarah, died only six years later. She left him with five small children.

✯ He crossed the mighty Mississippi River at Natchez in 1798. He faced peril by swimming the Mississippi on a mule.

✯ He entered hostile Spanish-controlled Louisiana Territory when the dreaded Code Noir (Black Code) was in effect. It forbade any Protestant ministers who came into the territory from preaching.

✯ His life was threatened because of the message he brought to Spanish-controlled Louisiana!

✯ His denomination refused to ordain him because of his race.

✯ Joseph Willis preached (1798) the first Gospel sermon by a Protestant west of the Mississippi River.

✯ On November 13, 1812, Joseph Willis constituted Calvary Baptist Church at Bayou Chicot, Louisiana. He went on to plant over twenty churches in Louisiana.

✯ On October 31, 1818, Joseph Willis founded the Louisiana Baptist Association. He had followers who came from the Carolinas with him. They established it at Beulah Baptist in Cheneyville. Joseph had also founded all five charter member churches.

✯ After overcoming insurmountable obstacles, he blazed a trail for others for another half-century that changed American history.

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Anna is impressed with the story of Joseph Willis when she discovers his wife Sarah was an Irish orphan. Her healing needs time, though. She needs the guidance of a woman, not a man.

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Polk shares with Anna that his Grandpa, Joseph Willis, prayed daily for his descendants. He prayed for the living and for those born in future generations. Anna adopts this daily prayer routine. She seeks to know the God of Joseph and Polk. She does not seek religion or a denomination but Jesus.

Young Anna Canady needs to confide in a woman, one like her mother and grandmother in Ireland. One she can trust, and learn from. She soon meets such a woman. And she is an Irish orphan too, from Anna’s mother’s generation. Her name is Anna Slaughter.

Joseph Willis’s eldest child was Agerton Willis. Agerton was an uncle to Polk Willis and the eldest brother to Polk’s father, Lemuel Willis.

Agerton Willis was named after Joseph Willis’s father. He was a neighbor to Jim Bowie’s brother, Rezin Bowie, for four years (1824-1827) in the village of Bayou Boeuf. Holmesville on Bayou Boeuf is known for its connection to the brutal plantation owner Edwin Epps. Sixty miles from Oakdale. A hard two-day ride on a good saddle horse.

Epps enslaved Solomon Northup from 1845 to 1853, the last eight years of Northup’s twelve years as a slave. Before that, Soloman Northup’s pastor was Joseph Willis at Spring Hill Baptist Church near Forest Hill, Louisiana. After he gained his freedom, Solomon Northup wrote his memoir Twelve Years a Slave. This story, not the movie, inspired my novel Twice a Slave.

Another Irish Orphan named Anna

An Irish orphan named Anna Slaughter (1820-1876) was brought from Tennessee by Mr. Park, who lived near Holmesville, Louisiana. Anna Slaughter married Rev. Daniel Hubbard Willis, Sr. (1817-1887) on March 15, 1838. Both are buried at Amiable Baptist Church Cemetery near Longleaf, Louisiana. It is down the road from where I lived the first four years of my life. Rev. Daniel Hubbard Willis Sr. and Anna Slaughter Willis were my great-great-grandparents. His daughter-in-law and my Great-grandmother Julia Anne Graham Willis said he was the greatest man she had ever met.

Rev. Joseph Willis’s grandson, Rev. Daniel Hubbard Willis, Sr., was the first of many descendants to follow him into the ministry. He is Polk Willis’s first cousin and my Great-Great-Grandfather.

Rev. Daniel Hubbard Willis, Sr., was called by W.E. Paxton in A History of the Baptist of Louisiana, from the Earliest Times to the Present (1888) “one of the most respected ministers in the Louisiana Association.” He established many churches himself and was blind in his later years. His daughter would read the scriptures, and he would preach. He was the pastor of Amiable Baptist Church near Longleaf, and Spring Hill Baptist Church near Forest Hill, and others.

Rev. Joseph Willis’s grandson was Daniel Hubbard Willis, Sr (1817-1887). He was the first of his many descendants to follow Joseph Willis into the ministry. He was my great-great-grandfather and Polk Willis’s first cousin. After the death of Joseph Willis in 1854, he was the Willis Family’s Pastor.

Rev. Daniel Hubbard Willis would lead Anna Canady Willis to Christ. His wife, Anna Slaughter Willis, is 23 years older than Anna Canady Willis. She is also an Irish orphan. Anna Slaughter Willis shares with the younger Anna her life story in Ireland and Louisiana. And most of all about the Lord Jesus, the Christ of the Bible.

The stories of Joseph Willis inspire Anna Canady, but sitting face to face with an older Irish woman surpasses that. The encounter is what Anna needs to trust herself again, trust mankind again, trust God again, and begin to heal. But it will take time—the healing hands of time.

Anna Canady Willis listens intently. Anna Slaughter Willis, an Irish orphan a generation before, shares her journey. She talks about healing from loss, pain, abuse, and rejection in Ireland and their new home Louisiana. The two Irish orphans share their innermost feelings. The elder Anna surprises the younger Anna with her wisdom. They are married to first cousins Polk Willis and the older Rev. Daniel Hubbard Willis. Both are grandsons of Rev. Joseph Willis, who died a decade before. The elder Anna is her 3rd Angel.

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James K. Polk Willis and Anna Canady Marry

Anna Canady married Polk Willis three years after the Civil War (1868). Irish women are slow to marry and, in Anna’s case, slow to trust. She had known Polk for eight years before marriage. They were friends for 61 years and married for 53 years. Their descendants, like Joseph Willis’s, would change American history. Polk Willis is Anna’s fourth Angel.

The Great Famine decimates Anna’s native Irish language, including the pronunciation of her last name. However, it did not destroy her stories or her love of music. Both have a profound effect on her descendants. One rises to the pinnacle of music success in Louisiana and a city called Nashville.

In a strange dichotomy, this story involves me, too. Looking back over a half-century, I stand amazed.

Ca: 1888. Polk Willis and Anna Canady Willis with their youngest child, Lettie Caroline Willis (16) and Marshall Willis (15). Polk and Anna raised their grandson Marshall. Lettie’s daughters provided me with much of this story.

James K. Polk Willis

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Polk and Anna Willis told their children, grandchildren, nephews, and nieces her life story. I interviewed seven of them in the late 1970s and early 1980s. They were seven of the most incredible people I have ever known. I’m sure their kindness and humility were from Polk and Anna.

Polk and Anna’s Youngest Child

Polk and Anna Willis’s youngest child was Lettie Caroline Willis. She married Hardy Laird at age 16. He was barely older than her.

Three of Lettie Caroline’s daughters wrote me a series of letters. Savannah Laird Willis, Agnes Mae Laird Johnson, and Billie Laird Arthur sent them in the early 1980s. The letters were about their grandparents, Polk and Anna Willis. We also spoke on the phone.

Billie Laird Arthur wrote me: “My mother, Lettie, said you could always hear him [Polk] coming on his horse singing. His favorite song was ‘Wayfaring Stranger.’ Grandpa was outgoing, cheerful, and always helping people.”’

In another letter, Billie Laird Arthur wrote: “Mama [Lettie Caroline] believed to her dying day that her children and all the descendants of Joseph [Rev. Joseph Willis] was being blessed by the prayers of this man.”

Savannah Laird Willis wrote me: “He [Polk] was always in politics and had ridden his horse to Alexandria. When he came home, he was wet and cold and had pneumonia. I remember my mother around his bed, helping to nurse him.”

Joseph Willis not only prayed for his future descendants but for God to bless them with Godly husbands and wives.

Polk Willis sitting straight in the saddle. His horse is well cared for. This tells me a lot about him. Polk was 76 and still making 80 mile round trips horseback in bad weather to help a friend. Polk died a few days after this photo in 1921. He rode 40 miles one way to Alexandria in the rain to help a friend in need. He died of pneumonia on November 21, 1921.

Polk Willis always sang “Wayfaring Stranger” when he was within earshot of home. Anna requested it be sung at his funeral.

Polk Willis visited the home of W.H. Flowers the week before his death. W.H. was married to Eliza Willis Flowers. Eliza was the daughter of Rev. Daniel Hubbard Willis Sr. and Anna Slaughter. And a sister to my great-grandfather Daniel Hubbard Willis, Jr.

“The Good Lord sent a flock of Angels to surround Polk and me. Today, one of them took Polk home,” Anna said.

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Polk and Anna’s nephews tell me of Joseph Willis’s encounter with Christ. Joseph Willis’s great-grandson, my cousin Dr. Greene Wallace Strother, was the second-most decorated soldier, after the famed Sgt. York in World War I. He was also a Southern Baptist missionary emeritus to China and Malaysia.

Greene Strother’s mother was Polk Willis’s sister, Caroline Matilda Willis Strother, the youngest daughter of Lemuel Willis (son of Rev. Joseph Willis).

Greene Wallace Strother and his sister, Nellie Vernice Strother, are pictured above. They shared stories of their Uncle Polk and Aunt Olive Willis with me. Greene Strother gave me all his research on Joseph Willis. He included his late brother John Houston Strother, Jr’s research. Writing to me, he said, “The baton is now passed to you.”

Audio letter from Dr. Greene Strother to Randy Willis, in 1980. He died the following year at age 89.

My late cousin, Dr. Greene Wallace Strother, was the maternal great-grandson of Joseph Willis (1758-1854).

His Uncle Polk Willis and Aunt Olive Willis cared for Joseph Willis in his final years, and they shared everything Joseph Willis told them.

Dr. Strother gave me his extensive research in 1980. He served as chaplain to General Claire Chennault’s “Flying Tigers” while in China as a missionary. He was a Southern Baptist missionary emeritus to China and Malaysia.

He was the second most decorated man in World War I, behind Sergeant Alvin York.

John Pinckney Durham and John S. Ramond Baptist Builders in Louisiana (Shreveport, Louisiana, Durham-Ramond, 1934). Pages 312-313

Willie Strother was another of Caroline Matilda Willis Strother’s sons. Caroline Matilda Willis Strother was Polk Willis’s sister.

You Are My Sunshine

“Willie Strother was a history professor for 35 years at Louisiana College. A young sharecropper’s son named Jimmie Davis attended his history classes. He wished to get his degree in history.

“After acquiring a job in the cafeteria [named after Willie’s sister Hattie Strother], he joined the glee club. Professor Dunwoody assigned him to the college quartet.” He sang lead and received a gift: a used guitar. As winter approached, Jimmie became desperate for money. He started singing with his guitar on street corners in Alexandria, Louisiana. This location is just across the Red River from Pineville, where Louisiana College was and is located. When an officer told him to move on, he moved to another street corner.

Two encounters on the campus of Louisiana College changed Jimmie Davis’s life. In his last year of college, Jimmie did not have the money to continue his education. He tried banks for loans, but they all turned him down.

“Everyone ought to be hungry and try to borrow money at least once in their life. To be broke and turned down, well, it’s something,” Jimmie said.

Jimmie put his dreams on hold. He found himself in the back of a mule again. He was plowing and picking cotton from sunup to sundown. After one year in the cotton fields, he was able to return to Louisiana College with Willie Strother’s help. Jimmie obtained his degree in history. Willie Strother loaned him $120. Jimmie mentioned this in his biography, You Are My Sunshine: The Jimmie Davis Story.

Jimmie had another encounter on the Louisiana College campus, which had an even more significant impact on his life. While walking across campus, a man introduced himself to Jimmie.

“The stranger was striking looking, well dressed, and friendly,” Jimmie said in his biography. “At first, we talked about football and baseball.” The man was the son of a sharecropper, too.

He began asking Jimmie questions and explained who he was: “I’m Robert G. Lee, and I’m holding a revival in Pineville at First Baptist tonight. Please be my guest. Jimmie, may I ask you something? If the Lord would call you today, would you be ready to go?”

“Dr. Lee, I hope He doesn’t call me today because I don’t think I could make it,” Jimmie said.

“The Lord’s been good to you, and it’s something you ought to think about. I hope you’ll come to church tonight.”

“I realized that everything I had, everything I had ever had, and everything I would ever hope to have on this earth had come and would come through the grace of God,” Jimmie said.

That night, Jimmie went to church. Dr. Lee gave his most famous and beloved sermon, “Pay Day, Some Day.”

“There’s no doubt of it; the man had the finest command of the English language I’ve ever heard. Before he had finished, I was ready to go down the aisle. He gave the invitation. I was the first one down. I made public my profession of faith. I united with that church,” Jimmie said.

Willie Strother was there. He was a deacon in the church. Willie knew pain, too, on the campus of Louisiana College. His brother Harry Winfield Strother died in 1920 from a head injury playing football for Louisiana College.

Today, the Hattie Strother Cafeteria is called the Strother Dining Hall (Wildcat Café). Hattie Bernice Strother (1896-1948) was the beloved Dean of Women at Louisiana College for 21 years. I am thankful the college known as Louisiana Christian University today has not removed the Strother name. Perhaps Harry Strother, a Wildcat and Hattie and Willie’s brother, should be added.

You Are My Sunshine: The State Song of Louisiana

President John F. Kennedy and Governor of Louisiana, James “Jimmie” Davis attend a dedication ceremony. The event is for the Nashville Avenue Wharf. It is a new dockside terminal at the Port of New Orleans in New Orleans, Louisiana.  May 2, 1962. Jimmie Davis’s song You Are My Sunshine released in 1940, made him famous worldwide. It is the state song of Louisiana.

Willie Strother married Effie Tatum. Effie Tatum Strother’s nephew Dr. Scott Tatum became my friend. I first met him when he stayed in my home during a revival in 1982 at First Baptist Wimberley. Calling him a friend for the next 36 years was an honor and privilege.

Dr. Scott Tatum told me several times. He had a gavel made from a piece of lumber. He acquired the lumber from the original Calvary Baptist Church in Bayou Chicot, Louisiana. Joseph Willis established that church in 1812.

Dr. Scott Tatum, Pastor Emeritus of Broadmoor Baptist Church, reached his eternal home in heaven on September 21, 2018. He was a Professor of Preaching at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, too.

The first to share the story of Joseph Willis’s encounter with Christ to me was Rev. Elmer Perkins, whom I interviewed in 1980 on his back porch in DeRidder, Louisiana. I have that interview on tape, and it is also available online. Elmer Perkins mother was Addie Willis Morgan. Addie too was a daughter of Polk and Anna Willis.

According to Joseph Willis, he prayed for Jesus to appear several times, but He never did.

Please note: The story of Joseph Willis’s encounter with Jesus is true and depicts real historical figures. It includes actual events interwoven with imaginary conversations. Fiction’s storytelling techniques are used. The same is true with the story of Anna Canady’s first encounter with Polk Willis and a few other places.

Anna never weighed more than a hundred pounds. She was quiet, reserved, and unassuming. She loved to read and often spoke of her grandmother’s books and China glass in Ireland. She loved playing with her grandchildren and often sang songs with a gospel message.

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The Famine Memorial, officially titled Famine, is a memorial in Dublin, Ireland. The memorial stands on Customs House Quay. It is in remembrance of the Great Famine. The Great Famine saw the population of the country halved through death and emigration.

March is Louisiana’s Irish American Heritage Month. Irish immigrants helped New Orleans become one of the world’s cosmopolitan cities. They shaped the accent and built the New Basin Canal. That all began during the Irish Famine.

Lettie Caroline Willis (left) with her mother Anna Canady Willis, Oakdale, Louisiana

These Irish emigrants survived with only the hope of a better life and their trust in God.

Irish culture has permeated every aspect of our society. They have risen to the highest echelons of business, medicine, science, government, music, and the arts.

Anna lived in Ireland in a small rural settlement that farmed potatoes. Her family was close-knit, spoke the Irish language, and was Irish Catholic.

Anna Canady Willis passed her love of stories and song to her daughter. Lettie Caroline Willis would do the same to her children and grandchildren. Thus began an incredible journey to the pinnacle of the music industry.

Lettie Caroline Willis married Hardy Laird in 1904. She was only 16, and Hardy was a year older, 17. As mentioned, I interviewed three of her daughters and numerous other family members. Lettie died in 1974. Another daughter of Lettie was Essie Laird Kennedy. She married Gordon Kennedy.

Lettie Caroline Willis, the daughter of Polk and Anna Canady Willis married Hardy Laird in 1904. She was only 16. Hardy was 17. I interviewed three of her daughters. Their grandson was Jerry Kennedy. She was a member of Southside Baptist Church, Shreveport. 

Jerry Kennedy Mercury Records Head of Country Music

Essie Laird Kennedy and

Gordon Kennedy’s son was Jerry Kennedy. Essie was a fan of country music. I spoke to my cousin Jerry Kennedy this week (October 2024). Jerry has his Great-great-grandmother Anna Canady Willis’s love of music.

Jerry also texted me this week, “No problem, Randy, I can furnish you the information again.

“My mother was Aunt Billie’s [my friend] sister. Her name is Essie Laird Kennedy. She married Gordon Kennedy.

Jerry Kennedy and I both are fourth great-grandsons of Reverend Joseph Willis (1758-1854) . Jerry descends from Joseph’s son Lemuel Willis and I from Joseph’s son Agerton Willis. Therefore Jerry’s great-great Grandfather is Polk Willis and my great-great Grandfather is Rev. Daniel Hubbard Willis. Polk and Daniel were first-cousins. Thus our story begins. Write that down. There will be a test later.

In the strangest dichotomy, Jerry was instrumental in the early success of my friend, Johnny Rodriguez, since our teens. Jerry, along with his friend since the first grade, Roy Dea, made him a star.

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Jerry Kennedy attended various shows around the Shreveport area as a boy, including the legendary Louisiana Hayride. He remembers attending Hank Williams’s last show at the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium. Jerry said, “I was a kid sittin’ on the front row.”

In 1954, Elvis Presley performed on the Louisiana Hayride. Jerry Kennedy attended the event with his friend Roy Dea, whom Jerry had known since first grade. “We rode together to the show on Roy’s motor scooter,” Jerry said. “It could not have been very safe.”

Jerry recalled their frustration at the young girls’ incessant screaming. Their screams prevented Jerry and Roy from clearly hearing Scotty Moore, Elvis’s guitar player, during the performance. “We got mad at all of the girls screamin’ because we couldn’t hear Scotty when Elvis was doin’ his shakin’. It upset us that we couldn’t hear the guitar.”

Jerry Kennedy told me he had never heard the name Elvis Presley before that night. Eight years later, in 1962, Jerry played guitar on the #1 hit Good Luck Charm by Elvis. It was recorded at RCA Studio B in Nashville. Jerry played on Elvis’s (You’re the) Devil in Disguise album the following year (1963). And many more sides.

Jerry also played in 1964 on Elvis’s movie soundtrack Kissin’ Cousins, the only Elvis movie soundtrack produced in Nashville.

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Jerry Kennedy received his first guitar before he was nine. He began taking lessons from legendary guitarist and Hayride regular Tillman Franks. At 10, he was a finalist in the annual Bob Wills Talent Discovery Show. At 11, he signed a singing contract with RCA. By 18, he had joined the Hayride’s house band. There, he backed stars like Faron Young and Johnny Horton.

Jerry moved to Nashville in 1961, seeking session work in the booming Nashville recording scene. Within days, he landed a job as Shelby Singleton’s assistant at Smash Record. He eventually became the label’s vice president of country music.

Jerry Kennedy made a significant mark as a producer for Smash Records. This was Mercury’s secondary label. He achieved this with the colossal crossover hits he scored with artist Roger Miller. When Miller mentioned he needed $1,600 to move to Los Angeles, Kennedy agreed to give him the money. He would do this if Miller cut sixteen songs. The payment was set at $100 per side for Smash. With Jerry producing, Miller cut the songs in three sessions over two days. The first single, “Dang Me,” hit the country charts in June of 1964 and went straight to No. 1, staying there for six weeks and crossing over to No. 7 on the pop charts. Its follow-up, “Chug-a-Lug,” was also a pop Top 10. Their biggest hit came the following year with the million-selling King of the Road. Jerry Kennedy soon gained recognition as one of Nashville’s hottest producers. He helped Miller earn 11 GRAMMY awards in 1964 and 1965.

Jerry Kennedy’s distinctive opening licks on Roy Orbison’s Pretty Woman are my favorite.

Julia Roberts decked out to the nines on Rodeo Drive comes to mind. This happens whenever I hear Jerry Kennedy’s opening licks on “Oh, Pretty Woman.” Orbison kicked off with the 12-string. Jerry Kennedy plays his 1961 Gibson ES335. Jerry’s Shreveport guitar-picking buddy Billy Sanford joins in, using a Gibson ES-125 electric guitar. Guitarist Wayne Moss also joins in. “If you listen real close, you’ll hear that 12-string,” Jerry said.

A landmark rock-guitar riff was born. “Oh, Pretty Woman” reached #1 in America and several other countries today as one of Orbison’s greatest hits.

Bob Dylan used Jerry Kennedy in recording his classic album Blonde on Blonde in 1966.

Jerry Kennedy has received four Grammy Awards. His Dobro and guitar playing have been featured on the albums of varied artists. These artists include Elvis Presley, Kris Kristofferson, and Ringo Starr.

Jerry is one of the lead architects who created the Nashville sound. He played the hound-dog dobro on Jeannie C. Riley’s “Harper Valley PTA” and on many of Tom T. Hall’s most iconic songs. He guided Jerry Lee Lewis through a decade of sessions. These sessions resulted in some of the most incredible country music that has ever been made.

As Mercury Records’ head Nashville producer from 1962 to 1984, Jerry Kennedy crafted some of Nashville’s most enduring recordings. These include works from Roger Miller to Charlie Rich. They include Jerry Lee Lewis to Reba McEntire, and The Statler Brothers to Tom T. Hall.

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I have a confession to make but don’t tell anyone. I have “borrowed” metaphors from Jerry Kennedy’s songs. One example is “Dang Me,” which Jerry produced on Roger Miller. The most common question is, “What do you do for a living?” Recently, I visited a new doctor. I do that a lot more the older I get. Making small talk, I’m sure he asked that question. When I said I wrote books, he looked at me as if he had just heard a dog talk. He then asked, “Are you able to pay your bills doing that?” As always, I answered, “I’ve spent the groceries and half the rent,” but somehow, I get by.

“Dang Me” sold one million copies. It was a number-one hit on the country charts and a top-ten pop hit. 

But another Jerry Kennedy-produced song on Roger Miller would soon sell five times more than “Dang Me.” It was entitled “King of the Road,” and it would become one of the biggest hits in history. The song won Roger Miller five Grammy Awards in 1966.

And there was another Jerry Kennedy produced, my teenage friend Johnny Rodriguez.

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A Streetcar Named Desire
Mardi Gras, New Orleans 1974

On March 2, 1974, Dolly Parton and Johnny Rodriguez performed at Louisiana State University (LSU) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Dolly’s first number-one hit, Joshua, was in February 1971, followed by Coat of Many Colors later that year.

On the day of their show at LSU, Dolly’s song Jolene peaked at number one! Four months before, Johnny’s song Ridin’ My Thumb to Mexico reached number one. It was his second number-one single. Both were produced by Jerry Kennedy.

The week before, Johnny called me to see if I could meet him in Baton Rouge. I lived near Wimberley, Texas. I recently rented a small red brick house on Belmont Avenue for $150 monthly. It was within walking distance of City Park and not far from LSU. I rented it to study for my MBA.

When Johnny and I arrived at LSU for soundcheck, Dolly’s bus was there. Dolly and her best friend since childhood and personal assistant, Judy Ogle, dropped by Johnny’s bus.

Between sets, I asked Dolly and Judy if they would like to go with Johnny and me to Mardi Gras. Johnny and I had planned the trip the week before. “It would be a great way to celebrate your number one Jolene, too,” I said. Dolly and Judy loved the idea.

As we approached the French Quarter in New Orleans, I mentioned Anna Canady Willis. She was an Irish orphan who had been abused in this city for five years. At the time, that was all I knew of her. We agreed to find an Irish bar and toast Anna’s bravery. That bar was Pat O’Briens.

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My cousin Jerry Kennedy was Mercury Records Vice President of A&R for Country Music. I was fetched up as a boy in Longleaf, Louisiana. I knew several of Jerry’s aunts and cousins. Jerry was born in Shreveport. We are descendants of Rev. Joseph Willis, a Baptist preacher who swam the Mississippi River on a mule in 1798 to enter the Louisiana Territory. He was the first Protestant preacher West of the Mississippi River.

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We parked on a side street off Canal Street. Then, we headed straight to Pat O’Brien’s in The Vieux Carré (French Quarter). Pat O’Brien’s is famous for its hurricane cocktail. They invented it. They are also known for their famous “dueling” pianos, where local entertainers take song requests.

Randy Willis, Dolly Parton, and Johnny Rodriguez. Pat O’Briens 1974

I approached one of the pianos and tipped the pianist. At the beginning of the next song, the player nodded at Dolly. He said, “This one is for you, compliments of the gentleman.” As he played Tennessee Waltz, Dolly got tears in her eyes.

Dolly then arose and tipped the pianist. He nodded at me and said, “This is from the beautiful lady.” Next, he played The Yellow Rose of Texas. Then, he played a few bars of The Eyes of Texas Are Upon You. We were like kids in a candy store.

We next headed down Bourbon Street to check out the legendary Al Hirt’s Club. The club was closed, and the famous Pete Fountains was also closed. It was very late. Johnny said this looked interesting, and it’s open. The sign read, “These famous people have walked through this door.” When the waitress at “The Famous Door” approached us, she asked Dolly, “Can I ask you a question? You look just like Dolly Parton.”

“No, I’m not her, but I’m always asked that,” Dolly replied.

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Now, for those needing clarification about the spelling of Anna’s last name, she said it was Canady. She signed her marriage license almost as boldly as John Hancock signed his name on the Declaration of Independence.

Now, I grant you that Irish names’ spelling and overall form vary widely. The original Gaelic form of the name Canady is O’Cinneide.

“Anna Canada, wife of Polk Willis, ” inscribed on her gravestone.” These mistakes were common with Tombstone makers, who often guess uncommon names.  She is buried in Oakhill Baptist Cemetery in Oakdale, Louisiana, near where she found safe harbor for six decades.

Anna’s marker reads, “Her life was a guiding star to Heaven. Canady is misspelled.

A hundred years after Joseph Willis’s death, a monument was erected with the wrong birth year: 1764. No other document has that year. I later became friends with three men who dedicated the memorial in 1955. None of them had a clue how that mistake happened.

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I recommend taking Anna’s signature and her conversations with her children, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews as the truth. They treated them as the “Bible” on that subject matter. The hundred-pound, soaking wet, always quiet Irish lady was making a statement with her bold signature on her marriage license. The Great Irish Famine decimated the Irish language in America and Ireland.

Polk and Anna Canady Willis’s marriage license. October 25, 1868.

Anna Cannady [sic] is mentioned in the first sentence after “Be it Remembered.” I suspect John Strother filled in the latter part upon their arrival.

I also suspect the marriage license was filled out before Polk and Anna’s arrival. Therefore, Kennedy is listed in places that need no signature.

At the top of the page, clerk WM D. Chandler dated that part on the 23rd, two days before the signature dates at the bottom. He/She also used the most common Irish Catholic name, Kennedy.

Nevertheless, none of the nieces, nephews, and grandchildren I interviewed said she was a Kennedy. They all said Canady.

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Anna Canady Willis’s granddaughter Billie Laird Arthur’s letter to Randy Willis

Anna Canady Willis’s granddaughter Billie Laird Arthur’s letters to Randy Willis

Letter from Nellie V. Strother to Randy Willis. Nellie was a sister to Greene Strother and a niece to Polk and Anna Canady Willis.

My 1980 interview with Pentecostal Preacher Rev. Elmer Perkins.

At 13:58 on this taped interview by me, Rev. Elmer Perkins said his grandmother, Anna Canady Willis (the wife of Polk Willis), said Joseph Willis said he saw a vision of Jesus.

Billie Arthur wrote me about Elmer Perkins. After speaking to her on the phone, I decided this was a man I had to interview. I interviewed Rev. Elmer Perkins from De Ridder, Louisiana, on December 28, 1980. He died the following year at age 77.

Billie Arthur wrote, “As a boy, Elmer heard of an Apostolic Camp Meeting. So he and his friends decided to see what all the fuss was about, just for sport.”

However, during the camp meeting, Elmer Perkins was converted to that faith.

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Randy Willis

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About Randy Willis

Randy Willis is as much at home in the saddle as he is in front of the computer. That’s where he composes his family sagas.

The view from my desk as I write. The vintage saddles are displayed. They include Frank Vela, Billy Cook, and Buck Steiner. I consider them the best three saddle makers in Texas history, which means the world.

Cowboy hats are included. The one on the right is a gift from my late friend. He was the six-time all-around world champion cowboy Larry Mahan. I consider him the best rodeo cowboy in history.

Jake Willis, my Dad, and me working cows

The Frank Vela saddle was my Dad’s, Jake Willis, the best cowboy and person I have ever known. I have boots, chaps, and a guitar. The guitar strap was a gift from Garner State Park’s Superintendent. I received it as a token. I produced the 75th Anniversary of Texas Parks & Wildlife Celebration, which took place at Garner State Park. The superintendent, Jim Wilson, and Texas Governor George W. Bush requested that I produce the event.

The view of Texas Hill Country in the distance inspires me to write about adventure. Men and women like these inspire me to write about family and faith. If you believe that sounds like God, Country, and Apple pie, you’re wrong because I don’t love apple pie. —Randy Willis

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Master storyteller Randy Willis—books about adventure, family, and faith.

Randy draws on his family heritage of explorers, settlers, soldiers, cowboys, and pastors. He upholds the tradition of loving the outdoors. He shares this love in the adventures he creates for readers of his novels. He is the author of two biographies and his new memoir, To the Best of My Recollection.

Randy Willis has written many books, including Destiny, Three Winds Blowing, and Beckoning Candle. He also wrote Twice a Slave, Texas Wind, Louisiana Wind, and The Apostle to the Opelousas. He also wrote The Story of Joseph Willis and To the Best of My Recollection, plus many articles.

Four bestselling authors’ books, including Randy Willis’s Twice a Slave, have been chosen as a Jerry B. Jenkins Select Book. Jerry Jenkins is a 21-time New York Times bestselling author. He has written more than 200 books. The Left Behind series, his best-selling work, has sold more than 70 million copies.

Twice a Slave has been adapted into a dramatic play by Dr. D. “Pete” Richardson (Associate Professor of Theater at Louisiana Christian University).

He owns Randy Willis Music Publishing. It is an ASCAP-affiliated music publishing company. He owns Town Lake Music Publishing, LLC, a BMI-affiliated music publishing company. He is an ASCAP-affiliated songwriter. He is a rancher in the Texas Hill Country.

Randy Willis founded Operation Warm Heart, which feeds and clothes those in need in Central Texas. He was also on the Board of Directors of Our Mission Possible in Austin, Texas, an organization that empowers at-risk teens to discover their greatness.

Randy Willis was a charter member of the Board of Trustees for the Joseph Willis Institute for Great Awakening Studies. This institute was at Louisiana College, known as Louisiana Christian University today.

Randy Willis was born in Oakdale, Louisiana, and lived as a child near Longleaf, Louisiana, and Barber Creek. His parents, Julian “Jake” and Ruth Willis, moved to Clute, Texas, when he was four. They moved to Angleton, Texas, when he was ten.

He graduated from Angleton High School in Angleton, Texas, and Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. He was a graduate student at Texas State University for six years. He is the father of three sons and has six grandchildren.

He resides near his three sons and their families in the Texas Hill Country.

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Randy Willis is the fourth great-grandson of Reverend Joseph Willis. Reverend Willis was the first Evangelical preacher west of the Mississippi River. Randy is his foremost historian.

Lady Bird Johnson: One of the reasons I love Texas.

I last saw Lady Bird Johnson at the Headliners Club in Austin at an event that honored a couple people. I was one of them. As always, she was escorted by two Secret Service Agents. She was gracious and kind as always.

She later had her book “Wildflowers Across America” hand-delivered to me at my home in Austin.

“For Randy Willis

“A hero for Children’s Hospital and for our family. Your wisdom and your grace are our blessings.

“With generations of gratitude.”

Lady Bird Johnson

Luci Baines Johnson (Her daughter)

Nicole Nugent Covert (Her Granddaughter)

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My Inspiration to Write

As a writer, I’ve been taught not to use adjectives and adverbs that end in “ly.”

Stephen King declared, “The road to hell is paved with adverbs.” And I thought that was voting for the opposition’s political candidate.

Mark Twain wrote, “When you catch an adjective, kill it.”

Ernest Hemingway stated, “I distrust adjectives as I would later learn to distrust certain people in certain situations.”

It shows that Twain and Hemingway did not live long enough to know my grandchildren. There are not enough adjectives to describe them.

But I was blessed to meet other famous writers who graciously (adverb, so sorry) advised me. One lived near me in Austin.

Coach Darrell Royal knew I wanted to be a writer. He introduced me to James Michener. My favorite Michener novels are “Hawaii,” followed by “Centennial” and, of course, “Texas.”

Author Lewis Timberlake invited me to Austin Baptist Church. Lewis had been my Sunday School teacher at Hyde Park Baptist Church. Texas Coach Leon Manley was also in that class. That day, I also met James Michener’s friend, HC Carter.

HC invited me to lunch with his wife and former Austin Mayor Ron Mullen and his wife. HC was a founding member of the Texas Longhorn Breeders Association. HC and I sat at the Olive Garden Italian Restaurant next to each other and spoke the entire time.

I love Longhorn Cattle and Kiger Mustangs. I bought two Kiger Mustangs for my granddaughter, Olivia Grace Willis. She’s a ten-year-old cowgirl as of 2024.

HC Carter raised Longhorn Cattle near Dripping Springs, only 20 minutes from where Olivia’s Mustangs are pastured.

James Michener was keenly interested in HC’s knowledge of Longhorn Cattle for his novel “Texas.” This interest later influenced my novels “Texas Wind” and “Destiny.”

While Michener gathered the information for his epic novel Texas, he spent many hours with HC Carter. They discussed cattle drives and Texas history on HC Carter’s front porch in Dripping Springs.

Michener acknowledged HC more in his book than any other source. Michener told HC Carter, “If this book is a failure, it’s your fault.”

James Michener was a philanthropist who donated more than $100 million to educational, cultural, and writing institutions. He donated $37 million to the University of Texas. Michener lived his final years in Austin and endowed the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas.

I’m reminded of how grateful I am to Coach Darrell Royal’s thoughtfulness. He introduced me to James Michener and others who loved Texas and the University of Texas.

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How I Write: Research, Visit, and Have Fun!

I first researched everything I could about my subject. Then, I like to visit the location around the time of year the event took place. This happens when I write a story for a novel. It helps me capture the essence accurately. I want to experience the colors of trees and flowers at that time of year. In this case, I ride my horse down the creek. Then, I climb the steep bluffs to find out how much noise we make and how my saddle horse responds. And finally, I reward myself with a dash of fun after a day or two of research. The latter keeps me from burning out.

Researching Texas Ranger Jack C. Hay for my novel Texas Wind

Every Western novel and movie I have read, watched, and written about is influenced by Texas Ranger Jack C. Hays. The Texas Rangers led to the creation of Colt’s six-shot revolver. It was a time when the Comanche controlled the Texas Hill Country that I live in today.

John Coffee “Jack” Hays is one of my heroes. He became legendary in June 1844 on the Pinta Trail during the Walker’s Creek Fight.

The fight had several names. It was known as the Battle of Pinta Trail Crossing. It was also referred to as the Battle of Cista’s Creek. Another name was the Battle of Sisters Creek.

The exact location was at today’s Sister Creek. It flows into the Guadalupe River next to Sisterdale Road (FM 1376). This spot is one mile south of present-day Sisterdale, Texas.

I like to visit the location around the time of year the event took place. This happens when I write a story for a novel. It helps me capture the essence accurately. I want to experience the colors of trees and flowers at that time of year. In this case, I ride my horse down the creek and climb the steep bluffs.

I smell the grass and watch the white-tailed deer drink from the creek. As I observe the breathtaking views, the story comes to life.

Get permission from the landowner. Saddle up. Trailer your cow ponies for a few hours. Hire a guide who works for the landowner (see the photo below). Then, you are ready to ride. Oh, I forgot to buy a pair of boots for my trusted friend as promised. I’ll make that later with dinner and music by Willie.

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The Texas Hill Country, with its rivers, animals, and scenery, is my sanctuary. It is my “City of Refuge” that the Bible speaks about. Here, I seek His face, His peace, His wisdom, and yes, His joy! And it is here that I write my books.

Jack C. Hays led fourteen men from his ranger company on a scouting mission. They were searching for a Comanche war party led by Yellow Wolf. This group had recently been raiding Bexar County.

The “Houston Morning Star” characterized Walker’s Creek as “Unparalleled in this country for the gallantry displayed on both sides, its close and deadly struggle, and the triumphant success of the gallant partisan captain of the West.”

This fight marked the first time a company of rangers used Colt revolvers in combat. The Comanche participated in the battle. Later, he complained that the rangers “Had a shot for every finger on the hand.”

The Comanche were right. Hays was the first to use the Colt Paterson five-shot revolver. He quickly sent Samuel Walker to meet with Samuel Colt. Their meeting led to the design of the legendary Colt Walker six-shot revolver used in the Old West. I’m reminded of that every time John Wayne reaches for his six-shooter!

The next day, we drove an hour to Whitewater Amphitheater. It is near Canyon Lake and New Braunfels, Texas. We went there to celebrate our research. We also planned to see another hero perform, Willie Nelson, who lives in the Texas Hill Country.

Now, I will write the story. Excerpt from my novel Texas Wind

June 1, 1844, Pinta Trail Crossing on the Guadalupe River

The Texas Hill Country

The sounds of change brought glorious news that blew like trumpets from heaven. The first trumpet sounded like a story Theo Cormier had shared with Joseph in a letter.

Fifteen Texas Rangers left their headquarters in San Antonio. They were looking for a Comanche war party that was raiding and terrorizing the settlers. The Rangers traveled on the Pinta Trail as far as the Pedernales River without a trace of any Comanches.

After nine days, the Rangers decided to turn back and make camp at a crossing on the Guadalupe River. One Ranger saw a large band of Comanches after climbing a bee tree. “Must be a thousand of ‘em!” he yelled. Those fifteen rangers found what they’d been looking for…and then some.

Theo had ventured to San Antonio, looking for `employment. A couple of German immigrants hired him for protection. They explored the Pedernales River to find a place to start a settlement.

They told Theo they wanted to name the town after Prince Frederick of Prussia. One tried to call it Fritztown, and another suggested Fredericksburg. When they returned to the Pinta Trail, they heard guns firing like never before. Theo figured there must have been a hundred or so firing by the number of shots. He quickly discovered the number to be only fifteen.

Theo told the immigrants to wait for him down the trail. “I got to know what kind of guns they’re usin’,” he said.

He managed to identify himself to the leader of the men and soon discovered they were Texas Rangers. Remembering our friend Jim Bowie, a former Ranger, Theo began to fire. The Ranger told him, ‘Your gun will be of little effect again’ ‘em. Use one of my five-shooters!’

Those Indians started yelling bad things in Spanish at the Rangers. They called them cowards and all sorts of things. The Rangers’ leader saw Yellow Wolf, who led the Comanches. He said something like, “Yellow Dog, son of a dog-mother, the Comanche liver is white!” That’s when the fighting really began picking up. Theo thought, Who is this man?

Theo began to shoot and soon discovered he was no match for that Ranger. Within five minutes, Theo was hit with an arrow. It knocked him to the ground, and he lay there, stunned. He lifted his head and could see the shaft of his demise sticking straight up in the air. He asked himself, “Why ain’t I dead?”

With a trembling hand, he reached inside his coat. There was no blood. As Theo sought to find his wound, he touched the hard Bible in his coat’s pocket. He thought, I’ll be! It would seem this little Book has saved my life!

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Captain Jack C. Hays—Legendary Texas Ranger. Hays built a reputation for fighting marauding Indians and Mexican bandits.

An Indian who switched sides and rode with Hays said the Indians called the young Ranger Captain “bravo too much.”

Rachel Jackson, Andrew Jackson’s wife, was his great-aunt. In 1836, at 19, Hays migrated to the Republic of Texas. Sam Houston appointed him a member of the Texas Rangers because he knew the Hays family from Tennessee. Jack Hays met with Sam Houston and delivered a letter of recommendation from his uncle, Andrew Jackson.

He moved to California during the 1849 gold rush. In 1850, he was elected sheriff of San Francisco County. Later, he became one of Oakland’s founders. The San Francisco 49ers football team was named after the 1849 gold rush.

The same holds true for Flock of Angels

I have researched and written a story for my “nonfiction novel,” Texas Wind while making it a fun adventure. Truman Capote claimed to have invented this genre with his book In Cold Blood in 1965. Yes, I know the term nonfiction novel is a misnomer to some.

Like Flock of Angels, Texas Wind depicts accurate historical figures and actual events. These are woven together with imaginary conversations using fiction’s storytelling techniques.

Texas Wind was inspired by true stories handed down by my ancestors. The same holds true for Flock of Angels.

Vaya con Dios —Randy Willis, 2024

Destiny by Randy Willis

Three Winds Blowing by Randy Willis

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Choose your Destiny

Hell and Destruction are never full; So the eyes of man are never satisfied. —Proverbs 27:20

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There are insatiable desires in man of appetites, recognition, money, and lust. Many are always wanting more, bigger, and better things. This is nothing new.

For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. —2 Corinthians 11:14

The eyes of man are never satisfied, the scripture records. Our restless heart that cannot find contentment in worldly possessions. We seem to be always seeking more.

Man has a hole in his heart. It’s a void, an emptiness. We can never fill it with relationships or money. Nor an endless array of entertainment, stimulants. Family and religion cannot fill this emptiness either.

Why? Only God can fill the “hole in our hearts.” Jesus Christ can and will satisfy that sense of longing and emptiness. We are designed—created—for God alone to occupy our souls: our heart, our mind, our will, our emotions.

For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. —Psalm 139:13 

We need a personal relationship with the Lord of Creation, Jesus. This means a one-on-one connection with God in the Flesh. Jesus, the Christ of the Bible, fulfills this role. He alone can fill the longings of our hearts.

Millions try pills, drugs, and alcohol. History is littered with those who have taken this route. Some try education, career, family, and religion. My friend, only Jesus can fill the longing in our hearts. He alone can fill the hole in your heart—your soul —your mind.

Jesus loves you. He came to this earth because of that love. Jesus was beaten, and a crown of thorns was pressed into his head. His beard was plucked out. He was nailed to a cross naked. Shedding his blood, God’s blood for you and me.

His coat was gambled for. And dying high on that hill called Calvary—while his beloved mother wept. His disciples, who had witnessed His miracles, all fled—save one. Despised, mocked, and rejected, he prayed.

Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” And they divided His garments and cast lots. —Luke 23:34

All of this for you and me. That’s how much he loves you and me.

Do you want joy and peace, and a sense of purpose? Do you long to know why the Holy God in Heaven created you? Is his intent to jerk you up by the “nap of your shirt” and then condemn you with a smirk? Not hardly.

For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. —John 3:17

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Is your heart broken? Have your dreams failed? Are you overwhelmed? Are you oppressed? Jesus said in Luke 4:18:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed. —Luke 4:18

Join me on the most extraordinary destiny ever offered to mankind.

This most extraordinary destiny ever offered to mankind.

You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, And cannot look on wickedness. —Habakkuk 1:13

The Lord God in Heaven cannot look upon sin, for He is Holy. Yet He loves us, sinful man, and has provided a way for us to be reconciled to Him. To spend eternity with Him.

This is the story of this most extraordinary destiny ever offered to mankind.

Let’s begin with the last invitation in the Word of God, which is in Revelation 22:17.

“And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.” —Revelation 22:17

Are you thirsty? Then come. Let him who hears come. And whosoever will, can come.

The invitation is to you—to me—to “whosoever will”—to everyone!

Bring your disappointments, failures, fears, and heartaches. The Holy Spirit says, Come to Jesus, our Savior.

God loves you. He wants to save you. He will save you. Come to Jesus, and drink the water of life freely.

Christ suffered, He bled, He died because He loves you and me. Listen to the still voice of the Holy Spirit, bidding you come to Jesus.

Don’t wait—come today! The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 6:2 today is the day of salvation.

The Ends of the Earth

Look to Me, and be saved, All you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. —Isaiah 45:22

All you ends of the earth” includes the Aboriginal people of the Central Australian desert.

All you ends of the earth” are those in darkest Africa.

All you ends of the earth” are the isolated tribes in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil.

All you ends of the earth” are presidents, world leaders, and kings.

All you ends of the earth” is the polished lawyer, the gifted doctor, and the brilliant college professor.

All you ends of the earth” is the prostitute. It is the drug dealer. It is the rapist. It is the thief. It is the murderer.

All the ends of the earth is me—and you. Come today!

Why a Bronze Serpent

“So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was if a serpent had bitten anyone when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived. —Numbers 21:19

Bronze represents judgment. The serpent is destructive, deceptive, and the most dangerous creature you will ever encounter. He is our adversary and the father of all lies. His name is Satan.

He does not appear with horns, a red cape, and an ugly face. Instead, he appears as an angel of light and says, what harm can what I offer do? No one will know. No one will be hurt.

It’s your body. You are in control. You can be your own god. You can be like god. No one can tell you what you can and can’t do. He is Satan, and he comes to destroy God’s most cherished and loved creation: You.

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. —John 10:10

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Satan transforms himself into an angel of light. “Take a little cocaine,” Satan whispers. “It will make you feel good. No one will know. You’re not hurting anyone.”

The Greek term pharmakeia, in the Bible, is the root of the word “pharmacy,” in English.  Pharmakeia is used in the New Testament (Galatians 5:20; Revelation 9:21; 18:23) to describe sorcery, witchcraft, and drug-related magic.

Jesus says, He has come that we may have life and have it more abundantly. Choose an abundant life in Jesus today.

You don’t need hangouts, hangups, or hangovers. You need a personal relationship with the Lord of Creation, who created the Universe and you. Jesus is His name.

In that relationship lies your future, your blessed Hope, your salvation, and your joy. And your Christ blood bought destiny. Choose your destiny today. It has already been paid for with Jesus’s blood on the cross of Calvary. But you must accept God’s free gift of eternal life. That is done through faith in Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection.

For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. —2 Corinthians 11:14

You and I have been bitten by sin, like the Israelite’s who followed Moses out of Egyptian bondage.

The Israelites had to choose whether to put their faith in God. It was a simple act of faith, but a life-or-death decision. We too face such a choice.

Those who looked lived.
Those who looked were healed.
Those who looked were made whole.
Those who looked were saved.
They didn’t wait until they were better people.
They didn’t have to touch it.
They just looked.

Jesus tells us in John 3:14-15 that this is a picture of Him being lifted up on the Cross of Calvary.

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. —John 3:14-15

The bronze serpent represented the people’s sin. According to the Scriptures, Christ was made sin for us.

Will you look to Jesus?—will you put your trust in Him?—the One who died for your sins.

Will you put your faith in Jesus?—the One who shed His lifeblood for you—and me.

My son Aaron Willis’s Automobile Accident

Some years ago, my eldest son, Aaron, was in an automobile accident. His back was broken so severely that the doctors said he might not ever walk again.

Several vertebrae in his lower back were fused. After that, he was able to begin the long task of healing from the spinal fusion surgery. He was encased in a rigid plastic back brace from his neck to his waist.

Later, his doctor agreed to let him briefly remove the brace and shower as long as someone was with him.

I was driving to pick Aaron and his brothers up for the weekend. Unbeknownst to me, his brother Josh helped him remove the brace as instructed by the doctor. Aaron could take a hot shower in his shorts. Josh was with him, but was much smaller than Aaron at that time. Aaron’s doctor approved all of this.

I began to exit to stop at the Austin post office on St. Johns, off Interstate 35, when a small but clear voice said, “You need to go now.”

I passed the post office exit. I drove as fast as possible to Wimberley, an hour away. I wondered what that warning was about.

There were no cell phones then. As I entered their mother’s home, I asked his mother where Aaron was. She said in the shower.

I ran to it, and the moment I entered the bathroom, Aaron said, “Dad, I’m dizzy.”

I stepped into the shower and placed my arms under his arms from his back. He immediately passed out.

I told Josh to help me move him to a bed while their mother called 911. His dead weight was more than I could have imagined.

We got him onto his bed without re-injuring his back. I knew if he had fallen, he probably would have been paralyzed.

I prayed as I followed the ambulance to the emergency room at Austin’s Seton Medical Center. I noticed the symbol on the back of the ambulance.

It was the American Medical Association’s (AMA) logo of a serpent wrapped around a staff.

The sign of healing medicine reminded me of the bronze serpent on the staff lifted up by Moses. Christians believe that’s where the symbol originated.

But, more importantly, it reminded me of Jesus being lifted up on a cross for my son. God’s son suffered in place of my son.

To this day, I cannot see that symbol without giving thanks to the Lord for that warning. I remember the shed blood of Christ lifted high upon a cross. It was for my sins, your sins, and the entire world’s sins.

When we arrived at the hospital’s emergency room, the doctors gave him intravenous (IV) fluids. They also gave him two bottles of Gatorade for dehydration.

The hot shower, combined with pain medication and dehydration, caused his blood to rush to his feet. This resulted in him fainting.

Look

Will you look to the One lifted up on a cross for you and me? Will you look to the Great Physician—Jesus—to heal you of all your pain, emptiness, and disappointments?

Will you look to Jesus? He took your place on the cross and died for your sins. Through Him alone, you can be made new, whole, and born again.

Choose

Jesus hung between two thieves (criminals) on a cross. One rejected Him, but the other put his faith in Him.

“Will You remember me when You enter Your kingdom?” one thief asks.

Jesus replied, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43)

Both of those men were guilty of crimes serious enough to warrant the Roman death penalty. One put his trust in Jesus, and the other chose not to.

The question is, which thief on the cross are you? The one who said yes or the one who said no?

Now, there was the third cross that day. It was for another criminal named Barabbas, and he represents us.

Jesus was crucified on a cross meant for Barabbas—it was your cross—it was my cross, too.

Come

Come just as you are.

Will you say yes to Jesus—today?

There’s a Scripture that I love, and it explains things so clearly even I can understand.

If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart, man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation. —Romans 10:9-10

You can settle this question in heaven and on earth today. Say yes to Jesus. Accept His pardon, just as that one thief did on the cross. There are no prescriptive or mandated words. Praying is just talking to the Lord.

Open

Jesus said, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” — Revelation 3:20

Ask

Self-improvement will not qualify you for salvation, for God’s Word says, “There is none righteous, no, not one.” (Romans 3:10)

Comparing yourself to others will not work either: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)

We seek to commend ourselves to God. However, God says our good works are like filthy rags in His sight [Isaiah 64:6]. If we are ever accepted in the eyes of Holy God, it must be through Christ our Lord.

There is no other way for says in Habakkuk 1:13, “You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, And cannot look on wickedness.”

If you could be good enough to pay for your sins, think about this. Why did Jesus have to die for you?

Jesus bore your cross and my cross. He took our place on the cross. He shed His blood for our sins on that cross high on a hill for all the world to see.

The Just for the unjust. The Righteous for the unrighteous. The Godly for the ungodly The sinless Lamb of God for the sinner.

According to the Bible, we all have feet of clay and fall short of God’s glory. Our righteousness is described in the Bible as filthy rags. God’s grace (his undeserved favor) is available to us all. However, we must accept His gift of forgiveness. This gift was bought and paid for on the cross with Jesus Christ’s lifeblood. You can say yes to Jesus’s free gift right now.

Our greatest need is forgiveness. Christ came to forgive us, but we must accept that free gift. Jesus said in Revelation 3:20:

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. —Revelation 3:20

Jesus knocks, but you must open the door to your heart, to your life, to your future.

It’s not a prescribed list of words. In Luke 23:42, one of the criminals crucified with Jesus pleads, “Lord, remember me when You come into your kingdom. His heartfelt cry of faith from the cross saves him.

Jesus answers in the next verse with a promise. He says, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” The first person to accompany Christ to Heaven was this lowly thief on the cross.

Isn’t it time to decide which “thief” on the cross you are? Are you the one who put his faith in Jesus Christ? Or are you the one who rejected our Savior who gave His lifeblood for us?

The most famous 25 words ever written.

For God so loved the world. He gave His only begotten Son. Whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. —John 3:16

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If these words are how you feel in your heart, then pray:

Heavenly Father,

I pray to You, asking for the forgiveness of my sins.

I confess with my mouth. I believe with my heart that Jesus is Your Son. He died on the cross at Calvary so that I might be forgiven.

Father, I believe that Jesus rose from the dead. I ask Jesus to come into my life as my personal Lord and Savior.

I turn from my sins and will surrender to your will throughout my life.

Your word is truth. I confess with my mouth that I am born again. I am cleansed by the blood of Jesus!

In Jesus’s name, I pray. Amen!

Reach out and touch Him today!

For she said to herself, “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well. —Matthew 9:21

How did I come to know Christ?

I was headed to Temple Baptist Church with Grandma, and my owner’s manual: the Bible. It was Grandma Lillie Hanks Willis who first poured Jesus into me; sometimes, she even used words. That’s my dog Pedro wanting to follow me.

We attended Temple Baptist Church in Clute, Texas, every Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night. It seemed that everyone attended church in those days.

On a Wednesday night, my mother could not attend church. I walked to church from our home at 519 Coleman Street. My twelve-year-old sister Marjorie accompanied me. I was only eight.

I had no intention of that night being any different from any other. I cannot recall a word Pastor Bill Campbell said in his sermon. But I remember vividly another voice that spoke to my mind—my heart—my spirit.   

It was not an audible voice.  It was a still, gentle voice, tender but ever so clear, telling me to go forward and accept Christ as my Savior.

I recall my response to the Holy Spirit as if it were five minutes ago: “Lord, I am too shy. I would if my mother were here to go with me.”

I felt someone touch my left shoulder. My sister Marjorie was sitting in the back row with her friends.   She could not see my face, for I was seated near the front.

She said, “I’ll go with you if you want me to.” I immediately stood and walked with her to the front of the church and made my decision public.

I know you do not have to have an experience like that to be born again. Nevertheless, I am grateful for that experience; it has never left my mind or my heart.

I was eight when I accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior.

More Photos of Aaron Willis

Josh, Adam & Aaron Willis skiing a few years after the auto accident.

Aaron, Randy, Josh, and Adam Willis.

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Aaron Willis Hyde Park Baptist Church Austin 1991

Aaron and Alana’s daughter, Presley Willis Wimberley, First Baptist

Aaron and Alana’s daughter, Baylee Willis Wimberley, First Baptist.

Alana, Baylee, Presley, and Aaron Willis, Maui, Hawaii

My Family

Children’s children are the crown of old men, And the glory of children is their father. —Proverbs 17:6

L to R: Presley Willis, Baylee Willis holding Baby Violet Willis, Corbin Willis, and Olivia Willis holding Juliette Willis

Our family at Port Aransas, Texas

Our Family Costa Rica

Our Family Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii

Our family is in my “backyard” in the Texas Hill Country. I took this photo.

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I found this charred letter from my pastor, Dr. Ralph Smith, after my home burned in the Texas Hill Country. It was the encouragement I needed.

“Many today have just enough religion to inoculate them from knowing Christ.” —Randy Willis

✯ Vaya con Dios ✯

Randy Willis Mini-Bio

Award-winning master storyteller Randy Willis—books about adventure, family, and faith.

Randy Willis is as much at home in the saddle as he is in front of the computer, where he composes his family sagas.

Randy draws on his family’s heritage of explorers, settlers, soldiers, cowboys, and pastors. He carries on the tradition of loving the outdoors. Randy shares it through the adventures he creates in his short stories, biographies, and novels.

Randy Willis is the author of 19 books. These include Destiny, Beckoning Candle, Twice a Slave, Three Winds Blowing, Texas Wind, and Louisiana Wind. Additionally, he authored The Apostle to the Opelousas. He also wrote The Story of Joseph Willis and his autobiography, “To the Best of My Recollection.”

Twice a Slave has been chosen as a Jerry B. Jenkins Select Book, along with four best-selling authors. Jerry Jenkins is the author of more than 200 books. His works have sold over 70 million copies. This includes the best-selling Left Behind series.

Twice a Slave has been adapted into a dramatic play at Louisiana Christian University by Dr. D. “Pete” Richardson (Associate Professor of Theater).

Randy Willis owns Randy Willis Music Publishing. It is an ASCAP-affiliated music publishing company. He also owns Town Lake Music Publishing, LLC. This is a BMI-affiliated music publishing company.

Randy Willis is an ASCAP-affiliated songwriter. He was an artist manager and TV producer.

Randy Willis is a Texas Hill Country Rancher.

Randy Willis founded Operation Warm Heart in 1991. It provides food and clothing to those in need in Central Texas.

Randy Willis was a member of the Board of Directors of Our Mission Possible in Austin, Texas. This organization empowers at-risk teens to discover their greatness.

Randy Willis was a charter member of the Board of Trustees of the Joseph Willis Institute for Great Awakening Studies at Louisiana College (Louisiana Christian University).

Randy Willis served on the Board of Directors of the Austin Apartment Association for four years. He was on the Board of Directors of the Texas Apartment Association for the same duration.

Randy Willis was born in Oakdale, Louisiana, and lived as a boy near Longleaf, Louisiana, and Barber Creek.

He currently resides in the Texas Hill Country near his three sons and their families.

Randy Willis graduated from Angleton High School in Angleton, Texas, and Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas.

Randy Willis was a graduate student at Texas State University for six years. He is the father of three sons and has six grandchildren.

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Randy Willis Website: https://www.threewindsblowing.com

Randy Willis Newsletter, Short Stories & Biographies: https://randywillisbooks.com/

Books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores

512.565.0161

randywillisnovelist@gmail.com

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