About the Authors
Doug and Norma Latta
Early in life Doug was inspired to become an artist by his grandfather, Lyman C. Powell, a forty-year veteran greeting-card
designer for the Gibson Greeting Card Company. His admiration for Granddad Powell’s sensitive renderings in nature
and portraiture began as a small spark that grew brighter over the years. After a tour of duty in the army, Doug majored in commercial
art in college, resulting in a university teaching career that lasted forty years, during which his original spark of interest and skill in art
matured into a flaming passion. Twenty years ago he accepted the challenges of directing this passion into the creation of this book.
Norma’s inspiration as a writer grew out of her love for her mother’s poetry, written throughout her long life. Having an older brother
who is a writer played a major role in her own development as well. Recently her family was influential in the publication of a diary
written by her grandfather, who had been a prisoner in the Civil War. The diary is part of the North Carolina Office of Archives and
History.
After finishing their college bachelor degrees at East Carolina University, Norma and Doug married and began a wonderful life
together in the field of art. In 1965, Doug began a career as art director at CBS affiliates in North Carolina and Nashville, Tennessee.
When they were in Nashville, Norma began teaching art education in the local public schools while also earning a master’s degree in
art education from Vanderbilt University, George Peabody College for Teachers. Later they moved to Tallahassee, Florida, where Doug
earned the Master of Fine Arts degree from Florida State University. His first teaching position led them to a college in Arkansas where
they became the parents of a baby boy. Their lives dramatically changed during their stay in Arkansas, when a near-fatal tornado
swooped over their neighborhood, destroying almost everything in its path. This close call shook them to the core of their lives, resulting
in a quest for what life is really all about. During this quest the beautiful and intricate wonders of the Bible began to resonate in their
lives, resulting in their thorough acceptance of Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
In 1994, they were blessed again, with another baby boy, and are grandparents now of three boys from their first son. Doug finished
his academic career by teaching graphic design at Oral Roberts University in Oklahoma for over twenty-two years and recently retired
as Professor Emeritus. Norma spent many years teaching at ORU as well as in public and private schools. She is presently teaching
private art lessons in her studio in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. They both have published their artwork and have won prizes in juried art
shows. Their work is represented in private collections throughout the South and Southwest. Most recently a portrait that Doug created
for David Barton’s Wallbuilders ministry appeared on the Glenn Beck television program. The portrait chronicled the moment that the
Reverend John Muhlenburg showed his congregation a colonel’s uniform under his clerical robes as his sermon invited them to join him
in the revolutionary fight for liberty.
Endorsements
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