In the News: Alum, Adjunct Instructor Publishes Children’s Book Inspired by Late Son
Corneal Westbrooks ‘03, adjunct instructor of career programs and employer relations, was featured in a Nov. 21 WGN News report about the children’s book he wrote in memory of his late son.
Caleb the Great: Touchdown in New Orleans, was published earlier this year. It is based on Westbrooks’ experiences with his son, Caleb, who had a passion for playing youth football.
Caleb, 15, was killed in January 2002 when he was shot by another teenager in an attempted robbery that occurred while he was walking to catch a bus near his high school.
“In writing the children’s book, Corneal wants to impart to Caleb’s much younger cousin, 4-year-old Katherine, and the entire world just who Caleb was and how father and son lived—not how Caleb died,” the WGN report notes.
Block Club Chicago also interviewed Westbrooks for a story published in October. He told the news outlet that writing Caleb the Great was difficult, but gave him a way to share “a piece of who his son was.”
“It allowed me to think about the happier times, the fun times. And so, I probably smiled more than anything while writing the book,” Westbrooks said. “I need people to understand that Caleb was a good kid with a really bright future.”
Watch and read the WGN story here. Read the Block Club Chicago story here.