My guest is Sherry Harder from West Salem, IL. After the recent loss of her beloved husband, Sherry honored his wishes in a remarkable way. In his obituary, she included a simple request: If Rod impacted your life, please perform a random act of kindness.

What followed has been nothing short of extraordinary.

Acts of kindness have rippled outward—from Illinois to Canada, to Minnesota, to Georgia, to Ohio—touching lives in ways no one could have imagined.

In the Book of Ruth, Boaz had no way of knowing the eternal impact of a simple act of kindness when he showed favor to Ruth as she gleaned in his barley field.

And neither do we when we do a simple act of kindness.

Now, because of the Harders’ invitation, “barley fields of kindness” are springing up everywhere.

My nephew, Mitch Goddard, joins me on View from a Hearse to talk about his debut novel, Beneath the Flame Azalea — a page-turning mystery inspired by the mountains of western North Carolina.

An avid fly fisherman and Ole Miss journalism graduate, Mitch fulfilled a lifelong goal of writing a novel at age forty while balancing family and career. We talk about the moment the story first took shape on a mountain trail, the discipline it took to finish the book, and why readers say they can’t put it down.

If you love great storytelling, mountain settings, and a good mystery, you’ll enjoy this conversation.

This is a live presentation from an event I did for a rather large ladies' banquet at Smoke Rise Baptist Church in Stone Mountain, GA, in March of 2022. There is a message or two here, but humor is involved.