Keeping It Real with Cindy and Very Special Guest William Paul Young

Keeping It Real with Cindy is thrilled to have Wm Paul Young as a guest on March 14th @ 8PM ET, 7PM CT, 6PM MT, 5PM PT. Paul will be discussing his life and his book "The Shack" which will be in theaters on March 3rd.

I thought the way I grew up was 'normal' but most would probably agree that my history and journey have been a bit unusual. The eldest of four, born May 11th, 1955, in Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada, the majority of my first decade was lived with my missionary parents in the highlands of Netherlands New Guinea (West Papua), among the Dani, a technologically stone age tribal people. These became my family and as the first white child and outsider who ever spoke their language, I was granted unusual access into their culture and community. Although at times a fierce warring people, steeped in the worship of spirits and even occasionally practicing ritualistic cannibalism, they also provided a deep sense of identity that remains an indelible element of my character and person.

I was flown away to boarding school at age 6, I was in most respects a white Dani. In the middle of a school year, my family unexpectedly returned to the West. My father worked as a Pastor for a number of small churches in Western Canada and by the time I graduated, I had already attended thirteen different schools. I paid my way through Bible College working as a radio disc jockey, lifeguard and even a stint in the oil fields of northern Alberta. The following year, I met and married Kim Warren and for a time worked on staff at a large suburban church while attending seminary. I have always been a writer, whether songs, poetry, short stories or newsletters; never for public consumption but for friends and family. The Shack was a story written for my six children, with no thought or intention to publish. No one is more surprised that I am now considered an 'author'. 

http://wmpaulyoung.com/