Goal is to help restaurants and Food for Preston
KINGWOOD — In an effort to help local restaurants and Food for Preston, Dr. Lynn Housner has started a fundraiser called Hunger.
Housner is a professor and associate dean emeritus of the College of Physical Activity and Sports Science at WVU.
He said the proceeds from his recently published a book, “Weathering Life’s Storms: My Life in a Wheelchair,” will go to Food for Preston.
Tammy Laney, Food for Preston director, said Housner called her about his project.
“He asked to have the funds go to Food for Preston,” she said. “He wants us to buy gift certificates to local restaurants and hand them out to our clients.”
Housner said he believes the gift certificates will make a difference.
“Everyone will benefit,” he said. “The idea is with the pandemic the restaurants are hurting and people are hurting.”
Housner said he sent emails and a copy of his book to his friends.
“I have about 1,500 friends,” he said. “If each one of them gives $5 it will help a lot of people.”
Housner said his book also contains photos of eight of his paintings.
“The class that I took that introduced me to painting was called, Dip & Sip. It was taught by an art teacher. A group of about 25 aspiring Van Goghs painted the same picture using their own style. We dipped our brushes as we sipped wine to loosen our creative juices. I did four Dip & Sips. After that, I painted a variety of subjects,” he wrote.
“I might go back and start more painting,” he said. “I grew up in Pittsburgh, and I’m thinking about a second book of short stories about it. Maybe I’ll call it ‘The Adventures of the Boy in the Burg.’ ”
Housner said his book began when he became ill and had to retire early.
“I got into painting and writing,” he said. “I started with short stories and people seemed to like them so I made them into a memoir.
“My memoir is comprised of stories about my medical condition and how I tried to contend with a life-altering illness that placed me in a wheelchair for life with pain, paralysis and cognitive abnormalities,” Housner said. “There are also stories about people and events that came to mind as I was writing this memoir.
“The intention is to show how memories of past experiences can help bring joy even when we are weathering storms. All of the stories are true and I hope they are interesting and make you smile. And, I hope they will help you reflect on your own stories and storms, so you can smile as you go on.
“If you are going through a similar situation and trying to deal with a serious or life-altering illness or condition, my hope is that you will see, like I did, that your life is not over. I hope you will find some strategies you can use to deal with your condition.”
His book can be found on Amazon Kindle. He also set up a GoFundMe account. Housner said the 186-page Kindle book sells for $4.95.
