UGA alum is now published author

grief

Donny Seagraves holds a copy of her book with the cover displayed on the computer screen in the background. "Gone From These Woods"" is a story about guilt

Back in the early 1970s, Donny Bailey Seagraves was a journalism student at the University with big dreams.

Now, the woman from small town Athens is a published author.

Her book “Gone From These Woods” is a fictional story, but the idea spurred from a real-life tragedy that happened to Seagraves’ second grade teacher, Mrs. Schneider.

“It is a story of 11-year-old Daniel Sartain, who reluctantly goes hunting and accidentally shoots his beloved Uncle Clay,” Seagraves said of the book.

“With the help of others, Daniel learns to deal with his guilt and survive.”

The plot stems from an incident in which Mrs. Schneider’s nephew accidentally shot her husband.

Seagraves visited Mrs. Schneider a few years ago at the retirement home where Schneider was living.

Her old second grade teacher was then 90 years old and still telling her the story of how her first husband died.

The book, classified as a children’s middle grade novel for ages 9-12, has a lot to teach its older readers, as well.

“Gone From These Woods” addresses recurring themes such as survival, forgiveness, guilt, family and the meaning of life and death.

“I hope that any reader of ‘Gone From These Woods,’ no matter what age, feels hopeful, feels that there is light at the end of the grief tunnel, feels that no matter what has happened he or she can go on,” Seagraves said.