Redhawk Publication authors offering more than just words

Authors with Redhawk Publications are not only sharing their insights with the community, but they are also giving the proceeds from those works to a number of community organizations.

03/14/2022

Barbara Weathers book signing

Most recently, Barbara Weathers donated all royalties from her book, “A Legacy of Faith: Words for the Journey” to Safe Harbor. During the recent launch event, sales brought in $500 to the organization that assists women and children in the area.

“It was quite an evening,” said Patricia Thomson, project coordinator of Redhawk Publications. “For a person to not only give their creative output to the community, but also the money generated from it is heartening.”

Weathers’ example is the latest in a trend that has been growing with Redhawk Publication writers.

“I think it first began with Ric Vandett’s book ‘Hurdles: Surviving Difficult Times,’” said Robert Canipe, editor-in-chief of the CVCC publishing arm. “We didn’t know it at the time, but sharing his revenue with Exodus Ministries and the Hickory Soup Kitchen was the first. We’ve seen it blossom from there.”

Since Vandett’s memoir debuted in early 2021, other authors have used the sales of their book to help worthy causes.

Tammy Wilson has directed her collection of columns, entitled “Going Plaid in a Solid Gray World,” to benefit the Corner Table in Newton.

When Betty Primus collected the stories of six Ridgeview community members and staged an event to commemorate their contributions, sales from an accompanying book of those “hidden figures” helps the Friends of the Ridgeview Library.

Other authors have given back in different ways. Friends of the late author and historian Harriet Bannon purchased copies of her inventive work “Suffragettes: A Read, Color and Learn Book for Children” and gave them to an entire class at Viewmont Elementary — a school where Harriet once served as a teacher.

Currently, Canipe is working with a group of clients from Exodus Ministries to tell their stories. “The Exodus Diaries,” a collected work of inspirational journeys on life and triumph, will be published later this year as a fundraiser for Exodus.

Entrepreneur Leroy Lail published three books through Redhawk Publications, including “Win/Win: Lessons Learned in Business and Life,” “The Hickory Furniture Mart: A Landmark History,” “60 Years of Market Development” and “The Bost-Burris House: A Family Saga.”

Lail has generously plowed the proceeds from all of those works back into Redhawk Publications to assure that other writers have the same opportunity to have their stories told.

Even CVCC students are getting into spirit of giving back to the community. The research of a class on African-American history, highlighting important figures in Catawba County is planned for release following the spring semester.

 “We are overwhelmed to see such an outpouring of support for our community,” said Dr. Garrett Hinshaw, president of Catawba Valley Community College. “I think it shows what can be done when we are intentional about giving back. These authors lead the way in showing just how special this area is. CVCC is thankful to be a part of that effort.” Richard Eller, director of Redhawk Publications agrees, adding “We knew the creation of a college publishing group would be good for our service area, a way to tell the community about itself, but we never dreamed that the authors would be so generous.”

# # #

Share This