Book Review by Cos Barnes

When I asked a friend to give me her impression of this book in a word, she said, “Uplifting.”

And so it is, this story of two men-Denver Moore, a modern-day slave, Ron Hall, an international art dealer, and Hall’s wife, Deborah, who gave freely of herself to help the downtrodden, the homeless, and those robbed of hope.

Set in Fort Worth, Texas in the early 1960s, the book draws a picture of a sharecropper from Red River Parish, Louisiana, who never earned a paycheck and literally owed his life to the country store, and a lower middle class country boy whose life catapulted to that of the lifestyle of the Forbes 400.

Moore worked for 30 years picking cotton, receiving no recompense from the “big man” who owned the land and took in all the profits. Early in his art dealership career, Hall had a real distaste for “the ragtag army” of homeless people he came in contact with. Little did he dream that one of them, Denver Moore, would change his thinking – and his life – completely.

There is pain and pathos as Hall and his young wife develop a spiritual side which prompts them to give of themselves to those less fortunate. Moore finally breaks away, too, at age 30, leaving Louisiana and hopping a train, lamenting that he did not know there were schools he could’ve attended and learned a trade or an army he could’ve joined in World War II and Vietnam. He had never had electricity, a car, a radio or a telephone.

While on the street, Moore learned all the tricks of survival, including pretending to eat out of garbage cans, joining the Labor Force and renting sleeping space in a car. He desired a full-time job but could neither read nor write. He expresses a change in his spirit as he realizes nobody cares if he lives or dies and he gets mean, resulting in his having to serve time. When he is released, he returns to Fort Worth and ends up at the Union Gospel Mission. At the same time, Ron and Deborah Hall answered God’s call to work at the mission. Ron was secretly hoping Deborah would get scared off by the clientele, but she flourished in this work and became an angel of mercy.

Life-changing love is what we see from here on out. The friendship and trust these two men develop is miraculous, and they exhibit their emotions for all to see. Heart-breaking times are ahead for Ron and his family and all who love Deborah, but Denver is steadfast in his attention, understanding and respect.

It is truly an uplifting story.