Baylor English Professor Chronicles Life with Major Depression in New Book

Crossing Myself, a memoir about depression and faith by Baylor University English professor Greg Garrett, will be released Aug. 22 by Navpress Publishing Group. In Crossing Myself, Garrett traces his life-long battle with chronic depression, including thoughts of suicide, and how his re-discovery of a usable faith helped heal decades of emotional and spiritual scars.
"I wrote this book because I believed it was a story that would help others wrestling with depression, whether they suffer from it themselves or through the suffering of those they love," Garrett said. "I'm grateful beyond measure to still be alive today, and part of my thankfulness is to make my story available to those who might need it."
Brian McLaren, bestselling author of A Generous Orthodoxy and A New Kind of Christian, writes about Crossing Myself, "Greg Garrett is both a gifted writer and a deeply thoughtful follower of Christ. Whenever I read his work, I find a rare and moving mix of honesty - sometimes painful honesty - and tested hope, each made more valuable by the other."
Garrett, who also has written two critically-acclaimed novels, Free Bird and Cycling, several books on religion and culture, and hundreds of articles, essays and short stories, was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters last year for his lifetime literary achievements.
Joining the Baylor faculty in 1989, he was named the Outstanding Baylor Faculty member for 1994 by the Baylor Student Congress and received the university administration's outstanding professor award in 1996. He teaches fiction writing and screenwriting, film and American literature classes.
In addition to his teaching duties, Garrett began studies in 2004 for the Episcopal priesthood at the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, and he will graduate in May 2007 with the master of divinity degree.
For more information, contact Garrett at (254) 710-6879 or by email at Greg_Garrett@baylor.edu .