UA Little Rock Employee Achieves Dream of Publishing First Book
A University of Arkansas at Little Rock employee has achieved his lifelong dream of becoming an author with the publication of his first book.
Jermaine Rudd, assistant director of TRIO Talent Search at UA Little Rock, released his first book, “Through the Valley,” which is an in-depth, introspective look at the events that led Rudd to being the man he is today.
“It’s an exciting feeling to have finally published my first book,” Rudd said. “It’s something I always wanted to do. I always had dreams and goals of becoming a best-selling author.”
The 106-page book published by J. Kenkade Publishing follows Rudd’s journey through life, which he describes as a “roller coaster ride.” “Through the Valley” explores the life of a person that went through his share of obstacles and adversity.
“The book is about the transition of life, the beginning talks about finding your identity,” Rudd said. “Once you find your identity, it talks about losing a loved one and a parent, not having a father figure in the home. Then it talks about relationships – love and relationships, friendships, betrayal, divorce. No matter what, you have to keep moving. Life is all about transitions.”
Rudd described the most profound chapters of his book as the ones that detail the loss of his parents in 2008 and 2009 while he was attending college.
“The most difficult part of the book to write was when I lost my dad,” Rudd said. “That chapter really touched on the feeling of going through life as a teenager and what it’s like to not have a dad. My father had cancer, and then the roles reversed where the son now has to take care of the father.”
Rudd’s favorite chapter of the book is “Dear Mom,” in which he discovers his mother is gravely ill and must make the difficult decision to leave college to be by her side.
“It talks about when I first got the news of her becoming ill and having to rush back home and having to make the decision of staying in college or being home to be closer to my mom,” Rudd said. “I had to make a decision to stop playing football and leave college to spend time with my mom at the hospital.”
After he lost his mom, Rudd did return to college at Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia, where he would go on to earn a bachelor’s degree in sports management, a Master of Science in Kinesiology, and a Master of Public Administration before joining UA Little Rock in 2017. During his college years, Rudd was thankful to Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity for giving him a renewed sense of family and support after the loss of his parents.
“The relationship between me and my mom was so closely knitted that life just didn’t feel the same after she died,” he said. “That is when Alpha Phi Alpha came along. It was a brotherhood that I always longed for. Joining Alpha Phi Alpha put me in a place of having brothers around me. The brotherhood was probably the best experience for me at the time.”
Rudd has only just begun his journey of being a published author. A second book is already in the works with more planned for the future.
“My plan is to start a series of books and go on from there and build off that,” he said. “The way I ended this first book will probably be about restoration. This one is going through the valley, going through the obstacles and adversaries and ups and downs of life. So, the next one will be about restoration, the restoration of everything from loss.”
You can purchase Rudd’s book on Amazon or at Barnes and Noble in Little Rock. People will have the opportunity to meet Rudd and learn more about his book through a book reading, discussion, and Q-and-A session at 1 p.m. Saturday, April 13, at Barnes and Noble in Little Rock.
