My guest, Eric Christianson, is the author of South Bend to Spring Valley: The Davids-Sims Story, but the dream of writing this book didn’t begin with him. It belonged to his beloved wife, Joyce.

When Joyce was just five years old, an experience involvingher family and the Sims family planted a seed in her heart. She knew their remarkable friendship was a story the world needed to hear. But chronic health challenges prevented Joyce from completing that dream.

Then, near the end of her life, she entrusted it to Eric. Sheasked him to finish the book. And he said yes.

What followed became more than fulfilling a promise. Itbecame Eric’s own journey through love, grief, faith, purpose, and the difficult process of learning that life can still hold joy after tremendous loss.

South Bend to Spring Valley is ultimately a story about human connection and the extraordinary things that can happen when ordinary people choose friendship over division. But Eric’s story behind the story reminds us of something equally powerful: sometimes the dream we are called to pursue isn’t ours. Sometimes love hands us the torch and asks us tokeep running.

Eric is the author of South Bend to Spring Valley: The Davids-Sims Story, a poignant memoir of two American families—one Black, the other white—who forged a faith-based fellowship that defied the social norms of the 1960s and, in so doing, provided a blueprint for racial harmony still relevant today. Eric has written teleplays, screenplays, and shorts, and also tutors SAT and ACT math and writing prep.

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