The only magazine dedicated to SW Washington families.
The only magazine dedicated to SW Washington families.
Two Local Authors You Should Know
By Nikki Klock
Kathleen Sawyer, author of
The Day Sad Arrived
Five minutes with Kathleen Sawyer and I find myself opening up—about my marriage, my hopes for my kids’ future, my upbringing. She is the subject of this interview, but her wise and compassionate personality naturally guides me toward introspection. There’s no doubt that Sawyer, a registered counselor, has found her calling. And she recently channeled her ability to help others work through emotional difficulties into a children’s book. The Day Sad Arrived was inspired by a real 12-year-old client of hers whose mother sent him to Sawyer’s Vancouver Christian-based therapy practice in hopes of drawing him out of a deep depression. “Through his depression and our journey, I was led to ask him ‘What day did sad arrive?’” Sawyer recalls. “This light went on for him and he said, ‘The day my uncle died.’” Today, that client is a thriving, 17-year-old.
The Day Sad Arrived is written from the point of view of a boy who, after the death of his uncle, finds that sadness is his constant companion, in the form of an imaginary blue dog. The fictional boy’s counselor, “the lady with the sparkly glasses” (a representation of Sawyer herself) helps him to identify and conquer his depression through talk therapy and sand therapy, both methods that Sawyer employs with real clients.
Sawyer started out professionally at a crisis pregnancy center, then went back to school later in life, after having two children. She started her counseling practice in 1995, and continues to counsel individuals and couples dealing with abuse, addiction recovery, marriage counseling, depression and other challenges, through private counseling, as well as women’s and couples’ retreats. More information about Sawyer, including contact information can be found at www.kathleensawyer.com.
Anson L. Service, author of
The Littlest Acorn
Anson Service is a true Renaissance man. He’s a student, a counselor, a professional musician, an entrepreneur, a husband, a father. And now he’s added children’s author to his long list of accomplishments. His first book, The Littlest Acorn, originally came to him as a poem written for his youngest son, Ashton. The story tackles the topic of peer pressure by following a little acorn through his desire to grow up to be a strong oak tree and a bully who doesn’t believe he can do it. Ashton the acorn wonders if he can ever grow up to become a mighty tree. His fellow acorn Mopey tells Ashton not to bother: “There’s way too much to go through, just to be a tree.” Ashton perseveres, though, and succeeds, while Mopey receives his just desserts. The story teaches kids and parents that peer influences can be harmful, and that learning to identify and avoid destructive pressures will help children achieve their dreams.
Difficulty with peers is something Service can relate to, having attended a high school in Portland that was “forgotten about.” “Crime was high,” says Service, “and violence was an everyday occurrence at school.” The school environment, combined with some teachers who lacked the drive to inspire students to succeed, led him to survive high school with grades just good enough to get by.
Service, however, always possessed an entrepreneurial drive. “I was always a go-getter. I always had drive and determination.” Right out of high school, Service owned a maintenance company, followed by a construction company. But later, in 2000, with a wife and two sons, he decided to go back to school. “I said, ‘The one thing I think is holding me back as I strive for excellence in my own life is I don’t have an education.’”
He began at Clark College where, starting out as a music major, he took a psychology class and “the whole world opened up and angels sang from Heaven and said ‘This is it for you!’” Preparing to put in the time to eventually become a psychologist, he moved on to Washington State University Vancouver, and later was accepted into a doctoral program at the Washington School of Professional Psychology in Seattle, to which he’s been commuting for classes and clinics while continuing to raise his family in Vancouver. Service will graduate with a PhD in 2011.
While in Seattle for a few days for school in 2007, a poem about an acorn suddenly popped into Service’s head. “I just sat down, the words came out faster than I could type, and in about fifteen minutes I had the whole thing finished.” It wasn’t until re-reading the extended poem later that he thought, “‘Wow, this is really good, I think this could really help kids.’ At the time I was treating kids.” He found Jessica Cornelius, a Portland illustrator, and self-published The Littlest Acorn in 2009.
In conjunction with the book release, Service will be conducting local workshops for parents, starting in April. ““The whole idea is that each of us has an inner potential, we each have something that we’re supposed to be or something we’re supposed to do in life. So often we just lead a boring life and fail to live up to the potential that we have.”
For information on Anson Service’s workshops and his book, The Littlest Acorn, visit www.ansonservice.com.
Nikki Klock is the editor of Vancouver Family Magazine. She lives in Vancouver with her husband and two daughters.
