‘I’m 82 years old and I’m starting a new career:’ Oxford resident to publish book of poems and stories

Charles Roberts had always had an interest in writing, but he never thought of himself as very good at it and struggled to pass English.

Now, at 82 years old, Roberts is self-publishing his first book, “God is Not Finished Yet.”

Roberts first moved to Oxford at age 10. Growing up on the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in Peabody, Kentucky, he had attended a one-room school with one teacher for eight different grade levels. He said that when he started school in Oxford, it was a big adjustment.

Growing up in Appalachia and Oxford gave Roberts a different upbringing, he says. That’s part of why he wants to share his story now.

“I came from a different time that people are not aware of,” Roberts said. “They don’t even realize that it was a time that existed in our lifetime. It’s pulling a page out of history, a lot deeper history than people realize.”

Roberts has identified as a Christian since he was four. His religious background contributes to how he lives his life today, 78 years later. Roberts says that the messages in his book are not from him directly. Rather, he believes they are messages passed down from the Holy Spirit and transmitted through him.

Roberts said that God puts things in his heart for him to share with the world, and that the Holy Spirit has had an effect on his entire life. This provided him with guidance, and he said it is where the words in his book came from.

“The Holy Spirit would wake me up between two and four o’clock in the morning, and he would give me this, and I would write it down,” Roberts said. “God had his hand on my shoulder.”

Though this is Roberts’ first time writing a book, he does have a history with writing legal contracts. Writing and English never came naturally to him, but he said that he was gifted when it came to writing concise contracts.

Roberts said that while he has had an interest in writing for most of his life, it was in a different way than most would think. He liked to make his writing as simple and understandable as possible.

“I don’t like to use all of this legal jargon, which is a creator of confusion,” Roberts said. “I try to make it simple.”

For Roberts, the most rewarding part of this experience has been the effect his words have had on the lives of others. He noted an experience he had at a restaurant in Hamilton. Roberts said that the first time he visited, the woman waiting on them was not struggling in her personal life.. He always kept a felt tip pen and a legal pad on him, but this time he only had his pen. He said he took a napkin and wrote down some motivational words that he had written a long time before, and left it for her with the tip.

The next time Roberts was in the restaurant, he said the woman looked completely different. She approached him and told him that his words saved her life, but Roberts said that those weren’t his words. Roberts believed those words were given to him from God to give to the woman in need.

This wasn’t the first time someone told Roberts how his words had impacted them. Roberts said he gave away around 500 copies of his book, and that many people have approached him and shared how uplifted they were by it.

“As long as we’re tied down by the chains, we can’t go anywhere,” Roberts said.

Roberts said he has survived cancer more than once. About 30 years ago, he was told he had no chance of survival, as the cancer was aggressive and had already spread. Due to his religious background, he turned to prayer. He attended a prayer service in Hamilton where he said a woman spoke to him and said that she was asked by God to pass on a message that he would survive his cancer, and that there are seven doors that he needs to open in his life. Roberts said that now he only has three of these doors left to open.

He has submitted his book to Amazon and is hoping to have it published in two weeks. In addition to this, Roberts has started working on a new book sharing his life story. Religion is an important aspect in his life and both “God is Not Finished Yet” and his new project reflect that.

“I don’t look at this as something for me to make a lot of money or whatever, but this is something that God put in my life,” Roberts said. “... God was fine-tuning my spirit and it is my job to plant the seeds of this harvest.”