From the Author's Note of "The Week from Heaven and Hell":

I told my family that my goal was to provide a fitting tribute to an exceptional young man who deserved to live out his life, a good person who had much to offer this somewhat warped world...The tribute moves far beyond our beloved son, however, and the effect of the tribute would be diluted if any part of the story of our faith, our family, our friends, and our community was not included. It is a devastating and incredibly sad story, and the tragedy that struck that beautiful May afternoon remains firmly fixed in the realm of disbelief.

I pray that the story of the powers that brought us through it is uplifting in some way to each of you. It could never be a happy story, but I believe it can be a positive one.

About the Author

Duke Southard is a retired public high school English teacher and Library/Media Specialist. He has published professional articles in Media and Methods Magazine and served as president of the New Hampshire Educational Media Association. In 1997, he was presented with an "EDie," the New Hampshire Excellence in Education Award for his contribution to the school library/media profession in the state. His educational credentials include a BS from Villanova University, an MA in English Education from Glassboro State University and a CAGS in Library/Media Technology for Boston University.

He is married and the father of three children. He lived in Tuftonboro, New Hampshire for almost forty years before moving to Green Valley, Arizona.

He is the author of two novels. His first, "A Favor Returned," was published in May, 2000 by Peter Randall and distributed by University Press of New England. His second, "Agent for Justice," was published in October, 2003 by Hot House Press of Cohasset, Massachusetts. He also is the author of "The Nick: A Vision Realized," published in May, 2007.

Jennifer Proctor, a wispy yet hauntingly beautiful young girl of ten, already qualified as one of those rare saints on earth. She had developed a sense of compassion far beyond her years and, unlike most children her age, is completely unselfish. When she innocently applies a gift that she neither understands nor wants to save a young boy's father from certain death in a racecar accident, Jennie affects the destiny of a whole family in ways she could not have dreamed. Only when her path crosses once again with Ross Becker years later does she learn of the powerful impact her kind-spirited intervention had on so many people and how he must now return her favor. Set between 1940 and 1963, A Favor Returned captures the changing dynamics of families, communities, and the country in the post-World War II era as prosperity and a confidence bordering on arrogance seemed to envelope the nation. The historical background mingles with the thread of possibility that there truly may be people on this earth who are in the world but not of it, people whose decency and honesty appear too good to be true. Coupled with this is the unsettling possibility that unselfish "saints on earth" may set into motion devastating and tragic consequences. Jennifer Proctor firmly believes that there is a loving God who has placed some people on earth to help others be happier, but time and again she must face the frustrating fact that He doesn't explain how the process is supposed to work. When Ross Becker is faced with the final heart-wrenching dilemma of A Favor Returned, he at last realizes the desperate and utter truth of Jennie's frustration.