WWII veteran, grandson inspire children’s book

Author’s work is dedicated to two families affected by Alzheimer’s
Buzz up! BY JANE GLENN CANNON
Published: May 18, 2009

NORMAN — Local author Molly Griffis prefers a pencil and a Big Chief tablet to writing on a computer.

"Especially when I’m stuck,” Griffis said. "A different part of my brain connects to my hand, so when I’m stuck I go back to the pencil and paper.”

When the manufacturer of Big Chief tablets ceased in 2001, Griffis saved the distinctive red cover of her last lined notebook and tapes it to the cover of whatever spiral notebook she is using at the time.

"When it wears out, I guess I’m done,” she said.

Griffis is the author of 11 children’s books, nine of which have been published. The other two are scheduled for future release. Her latest novel, "Once in a Blue Moon,” tells the story of a 10-year-old boy and his grandfather, a judge, who develops early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.

Inspiration for the story came from a 10-year-old boy she met while doing a school presentation in Geary about six years ago.

Joey Caruthers, now 16, told Griffis about his grandfather, an American soldier who escaped a German prison camp in World War II. He later developed early-onset Alzheimer’s and died from a head injury when he fell while running from German soldiers he imagined were chasing him.

Caruthers told Griffis, "so the Germans got him anyway,” she said.

Griffis also lost a close friend to Alzheimer’s, Marilyn Todd. "Once in A Blue Moon” is dedicated to Caruthers and Todd’s husband, David.

"I don’t know of anyone, young or old, who hasn’t been affected by a loved one suffering from this disease,” she said.

Griffis grew up in Apache in what she calls "a soft and gentle time.” A lover of history, she often sets her books in the past, immersing her characters in historical events.

"You don’t write children’s books to teach, but you do hope that in the course of their reading they (children) learn from it,” she said.

Griffis said she writes children’s books mainly "because I like being a kid again,” which might explain her affinity for lead pencils and Big Chief tablets.