It was always a dream of Caitlin’s grandfather’s to be published. He suggested they publish a book together, featuring both of their poetry. Together with her mother, Caitlin slowly started collecting their work and making preparations for a book. However, when his health started failing, Caitlin went into overdrive. With help from generous donations given by friends and Tumblr followers via Caitlin’s Ko-fi page, she made a beautiful hand-bound version of the book as a gift to her grandfather. He was so happy when Caitlin presented it to him in the hospital.

Caitlin then set about self-publishing the book via Createspace.  She formatted it herself and painstakingly selected public domain images to go with the poems. Caitlin published the book successfully and was able to show her grandfather the Amazon listing for both the physical and electronic versions of the book. He said it “made him feel good” to finally be published.

Unfortunately, he passed away the day the shipment of the books came in and Caitlin was unable to show the physical book to her grandfather. Caitlin believes that he died knowing that she loved him and that her grandfather could be proud of being a published author.

Edward Caldwell was a retired director and professor of testing services at the University of South Florida. He had a PhD in Educational Psychology from Florida State University. He was a WWII Navy veteran and was a Civil Rights activist involved in the Humans Rights Council in Bradenton, Florida.

He was a prolific writer of memoirs and poetry as well as an ardent bird-watcher, nature-lover and gardener. He once acted as the caretaker of the Botanical Gardens in Asheville, North Carolina. He was the esteemed father of five, the beloved grandfather of five, and the wonderful great-grandfather of three.