Best-Selling Author Shares Stories From His Own Life
Last updated Saturday, October 11, 2008 11:24 PM CDT in Our Town
By Debbie Miller
THE MORNING NEWS
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ROGERS -- Fans of best-selling author Nicholas Sparks can glimpse aspects of his personal life in his stories, hundreds attending a breakfast learned Saturday.
Sparks spoke to approximately 460 people as part of a special author conversations event hosted by the Rogers Public Library Foundation. The breakfast at the John Q. Hammons Center had a packed house, said Maureen Cover-Bryan, the foundation’s executive director.
The visit came just a few days after Sparks’ latest book, “The Lucky One,” was released. The novel topped the Publishers Weekly best-seller list last week and will lead The New York Times list this week.
The work tells the story of a Marine who finds an American woman’s photograph half-buried in the soil of Iraq. The Marine seeks out information about the woman, but isn’t successful. When he carries the image in his pocket, he has a run of good fortune. A friend speculates that the photo is a good luck charm. When he returns to the States, he sets out to find her. The tale includes a German shepherd named Zeus, Sparks said. The fictional dog is modeled after his own pet, Rex.
The grandparents of his wife, Cathy, were the inspiration behind “The Notebook,” his first published novel. Cathy was close to her grandparents and had wanted to have them involved in her wedding. But the day before she and Sparks were to marry, she received a call telling her the couple was too ill to attend. The wedding went on as scheduled, but she caught a glimpse at some point in the day of a table at the back of the church. On the table rested a box containing two untouched flowers -- a corsage and boutonniere.
They went through the ceremony and reception and spent the night at the hotel. Then the next morning, Cathy asked if Sparks loved her. When he replied that of course he did, she said he was going to do something for her.
He put on his tuxedo, and she put on the wedding gown. She picked up the flowers and a videotape of the wedding. They drove the 40 miles to her grandparents’ home, so that they could bring a little of the special day to her grandparents.
Sparks heard the story how they met and fell in love.
“It was the most wonderful gift I received for the wedding,” he said.
Parts of the grandparents’ story eventually made it into “The Notebook.”
He and Cathy have been married for 19 years and have five children.
“She’s still my best friend,” he said.
He talked briefly about his passions apart from writing -- his dog, track and field and a Christian school he and his wife founded.
He attended the University of Notre Dame on a track scholarship. He suffered an injury during his freshman year and was told he had to quit running so that the injury could heal. It was then that he wrote his first book, which has never been published.
He now helps coach a successful track program at the local high school in New Bern, N.C.
He said his Christian faith is important to him, and he and his wife believe everyone has a mission.
“Everybody’s called to do something,” he said.
The couple has lived out their understanding of that calling with the track program. Many of the athletes come from underprivileged backgrounds, but 33 have now gone off to college with full track scholarships, he said.
His wife is the “team mom,” and receives as many as 35 calls from athletes and former athletes on Mother’s Day.
Shari Ross of Van Buren was one of hundreds of fans who came to the breakfast and lingered to have the writer autograph a book.
She was impressed with his message.
“He was very genuine and down-to-earth,” she said. “He’s very real.”
Tracy Biddle of Rogers also waited her turn for his autograph Saturday.
She’s a big fan, she said, noting that a novel by Sparks really captivates her.
“It’s kind of a slice of life, and it kind of tugs at your heartstrings.”
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