#88: Byron Williamson

It sounds like a county music song or a story of a politician's early years.   Byron Williamson grew up with his mom in a shack with no electricity or indoor plumbing in a small north Texas farming village.   A few years later Byron became a book publisher and in 2021 the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association presented him with The Chair’s Award for Lifetime Achievement.   Byron has headed Worthy Publishing, Word Publishing, Thomas Nelson books, and Integrity Publishers. He’s published books by Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, Billy Graham, Max Lucado, John MacArthur, and Frank Peretti. He worked with Sarah Young to create Jesus Calling, which has sold more than 45 million copies.   As far as we’re concerned, though, Byron’s claim to fame is that he’s usually at the table near the buffet line at Puckett’s on the first and third Thursdays. And this coming Thursday he will tell us how God led him every step of the way, although the path was not always straight or anticipated.