Too Tough to Cry

Ashley Thomson is a full librarian at Laurentian University and co-editor or co-author of nine books, most recently Margaret Atwood: A Reference Guide, 1988-2005.

Paul Powers is an internationally renowned children’s evangelist
operating out of Coquitlam, British Columbia, and married to Margaret
Fishback Powers, creator of the “Footprints” poem that is well known
in Christian circles. Born in 1935, and raised next to the Sarnia city
dump, Powers did not get off to an auspicious start. When he was seven
years old, his alcoholic father beat him for crying at the news that his
mother had died after spending the night lying on a snowbank in a
drunken stupor. Vowing he would never cry again, Powers began to hang
around with tough guys with whom he pulled various jobs, including one
in which he helped murder a cashier.

Eventually the law caught up with him, and his next years were spent in
a variety of juvenile detention facilities. On October 3, 1956,
Power’s life changed dramatically when he met Jesus Christ for the
first time. Even after his conversion, Powers still had to struggle with
demons from his past, greed and anger being among them. For those who
are born-again Christians, his story represents a powerful confirmation
of what can happen when an individual meets Christ. For those who do not
share Power’s faith, his book can be recommended for its brutal
honesty and accomplished prose.