Joanne Williams
Editor

(Joanne Williams/FAN: Writer Diane Vogel has published her first book – a gift for her grandchild and a colorful journey through creative art and inspiring words.)

Author Diane Vogel thinks “Jesus is Kinda Like a Garbage Truck.”

Now, wait a minute. Hear her out, or rather, read her children’s book and find out the many reasons why.

Vogel, who lives in Eaton Rapids, and was once Eaton Rapids Township Clerk, has always been a writer, “since I was a child,” she said. And, an artist, which came first, naturally. So, not only did Vogel pen this tale, but she illustrated it, too.

That was not a stretch for a woman who has been painting for years and recently finished colorful portraits of her grandchildren.

“My studio is my happy place,” Vogel said. “It is 11 steps from my back porch.”

Her writing has been published in anthologies and periodicals, but this is her first published book, through her company, Creator’s Touch Publishing. “Now that I have this company…I have the opportunity to do more,” Vogel said, and she is well on her way with another book idea.

This journey, like many in her life, has not been easy. Vogel has struggled with health issues, which she feared were deadly and which led to her retirement from the Township. Then, there were three deaths in her immediate family, including the loss of her husband. “I have outlived three men, and I am upright and surviving,” Vogel said. “I am so honored to turn the page in my life instead of closing the book.”

Her positive outlook pours out from each page of the imaginative and well-crafted message.

“My grandson Gus was turning 4 and I was looking for a book that would engage him and have a spiritual message,” Vogel said. She could not find one, so, she wrote it herself.

She used an iPad for the words and the art.

“Gus loved the prototype,” she said. Vogel did not finish it in time for his October birthday, but it made a great Christmas present. It is dedicated to him.

“He really interacted with the pages,” she said.

It is a timeless story told through modern trucks and equipment and the work they do, including moving mountains and gathering the grain from the fields. How is a garbage truck like Jesus? It is well spelled out in the book.