97-year-old fulfills dream, publishes book of poetry

Listen very carefully, and you will hear Mabel E. Willoughby’s thoughts on almost 100 years of life:

-The stars she has observed throughout her life, referring to them as “glowing like silver diadems. … To light the world when daytime dies.”

-The beauty of the tree, which “looks up to God above, with arms outstretched in love, listening in watchful prayer. …”

-The truth found in God’s promise to us — “the need of a soul in its earthbound role is the abiding faith found in God’s Word.”

Willoughby shares her thoughts on these subjects and others in a recently published collection of her poetry, “Echoes.”

At the age of 97, most people her age have long since abandoned any career paths. Yet, Willoughby is now an author.

Willoughby acknowledges several people have encouraged her as a writer.

“My mother was the first person in my life to mentor me,” Willoughby said in the opening of her book. “When I was 8 and again in my 20s, she instructed me to write often and to keep a notebook beside the bed to record ideas that came to me.”

Included at the front of Willoughby’s book is a brief poem she wrote for her mother in 1930: “It does not matter if your hair has silver threads to spare, for each is nature’s timely art of putting gold into your heart!”

Other poems include observations on everything from the beauty of morning fog and snow to the mysteries and joy of God’s creation.

Now living in an assisted living facility in Dothan, Willoughby enjoyed a lengthy career both in her native Ala­bama and in Texas, working as a teacher and librarian.

In 1967, she received a Fulbright Hayes grant to Shiraz, Iran, where she upgraded the library facilities at Pahlavi University. Willoughby toured the Middle East while she was there and met with the Shah of Iran during a private audience.

The author shares the account of her meeting with the Shah at the conclusion of her book.

Sharing another insight about her life, Willoughby reveals an absence of any malice toward others, crediting them for strengthening her.

“I would also like to thank those who have worked against me over the years,” she said. “Their opposition has spurred me on to do the things I never would have accomplished without them.”