SWU News:

November 21, 2006

Authors address world issues in new books

The topics range from cancer to oil reserves and from the Middle East to women’s justice.

Three authors with ties to Southern Wesleyan University have published books recently. Southern Wesleyan University alumni Roland Cavanaugh and Steve Spillman, as well as former faculty and board of trustees member Winnie Williams, have each published a book.

Cavanaugh, pastor of Congregational Care and Senior Adults at First Wesleyan Church in High Point, N.C., has self-published, “For As Long As I Can: A Son’s Memoir of His Father’s Dying Request.” The 1995 Southern Wesleyan University graduate has written a journal of the three-month journey from discovering his father had cancer to the point of his death. The book include issues such as God’s faithfulness in the face of approaching death, alcoholism’s impact on family relationships, Alzheimer’s disease, the bereavement process and journal-writing as a tool to deal with grief. Cavanaugh lives in Thomasville, N.C., and is a 1985 religion graduate from Southern Wesleyan University.

Spillman wrote his book “Breaking the Treasure Code: The Hunt for Israel’s Oil,” with the help of his father’s years of research. The book maintains that Israel sits on a mother lode of petroleum, with the location detailed in Old Testament scriptures. The author asserts that the discovery of the oil in Israel could be precursor to last days events before the battle of Armageddon. Spillman lives in Travelers Rest, is a founder of True Potential Publishing and is an active writer and businessman. He is a 1994 human resources graduate from Southern Wesleyan University.

Williams’ book, “The Price & Privilege of Being a Woman: Encounters with Global Women Who Search for Justice and Compassion,” was published through Blue Dolphin Publishing. The firsthand experiences in the book – about women in Australia, Alaska, Ecuador, Guatemala, Kosovo, Macedonia and Russia -- have motivated Williams to become a women’s justice advocate. Williams is a retired associate professor of special education from Southern Wesleyan University, where she taught for 14 years and served on the institution’s board of trustees for four years. She lives in Seneca and her travels have taken her to more than 40 countries, where she has served as an educational consultant, university teacher, missionary and volunteer.