By Joel Wittnebel/Active Senior’s Digest
It seems like Don Jackson has done it all.
The retired father of two had a four decade long career in the radio business, starting when he was 16 in Oshawa, Ontario.
His talent took him to Montreal, and eventually Toronot where he spent nearly 20 years hosting is widely-popular Lovers and Strangers radio show that was broadcast across the country.
Now, Jackson has taken a step into the publishing business, after his story “Mysterious Visitors” was selected among thousands of entries and published in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Christmas in Canada.
“I’m very, very pleased they thought the story was worthy enough to carry in this particular edition,” Jackson says.
During his 40-year stint in radio, Jackon says he always had the thought that writing would be something he’d like to do.
“I’ve been doing radio all my life, but I’ve always had a hankering to do some writing and hopefully get published,” he says.
He got the opportunity when a particular listener (Jackson, though retired, still keeps his show running online) reached out, asking if he had any stories he would like to submit to the Chicken Soup series.
The question opened the door for Jackson to get his first opportunity in the publishing business.
Jackson’s story, published along a series of other Christmas tales, tells the story of a mysterious occurrence that continues at his home, seeming to repeat every Christmas.
Generally on Christmas morning, the front door of the home he shares with his wife will seemingly open on its own accord.
“It’s a true story, it really threw me off when it happened originally,” he says.
The story is rooted in the circumstances of the birth of Jackson’s daughter and the death of his father, the burial and the beginning of labour happened on the same day.
Jackson has had suggestions that perhaps the mysterious visitor is his father, who did not get the chance to see his granddaughter when he passed from illness. But for Jackson, it’s hard to say.
“I have no explanation for it,” he says. “I sit back and I look at this experience that takes place every year and I go, wow, who knows, who can say for sure what’s really going on.”
Jackson hopes that after ‘Mysterious Visitors’ he can continue to write and publish fiction. He has also received several further interest from the Chicken Soup for the Soul series to submit more work.
