Taylor Farnsworth Obituary | Taylor Farnsworth Death – 22 Year Old Talented Woman Died | Dead

On Sunday evening, January 6th, 2019 I sat down to write a story about a young woman who travels to a small town, right before Christmas and discovers romance, adventure and a touch of holiday magic. Pure fun & fiction. That was the plan.

Exactly 19 days later my boss walked into the TV studio at News10 and I could see on his face something was terribly wrong.

He told us our co-worker, a beautiful young soul named Taylor Farnsworth had died.

She was only 22

I didn’t know Taylor very well but I could tell she was a sweet person with a kind artistic heart who loved to write. Just 3 days before she died, she asked me to read some of her stories and I was impressed with how deep they were for someone so young.

In the weeks that followed, as a sadness hung over our workplace, I turned back to my novel searching for some kind of escape.

Without telling anyone, I decided the hero of my story would learn that the town she was visiting right before Christmas, was wounded by the loss of a young lady named….. Taylor Farnsworth.

Even though this fictional Taylor was no longer with them (just as we lost the real Taylor) she would play a key role in how my story unfolded and in a very real way she is ever present in my novel.

It took me 5 months to write the book in my spare time. I had it professionally edited and my agent spent the last 8 months trying to find a publisher who loved it.

As you know, that happened the other day (thank you Paraclete Press) and ‘Manchester Christmas’ will be out by this Christmas.

The first thing I did when I got the news (besides tell my beautiful supportive wife) was to reach out to Taylor’s mother and ask her if she was OK with me having a character named after her daughter? If she wasn’t I could just change the name.

She told me she was honored. I can’t imagine losing a child but I do imagine knowing a part of her will live on in a book that is about love, hope and forgiveness…. gives some small comfort.

With my children’s books Courtney and I give the money away from the sales to animal shelters. To date, we’ve donated to about 60 of them around the country.

With this novel, I want to set up a scholarship in Taylor Farnsworth’s name at her high school, Shenendehowa (in Clifton Park, NY), which can be given to a senior pursuing writing/art/theater… the things Taylor loved. I”m still working that out with the school but Taylor’s favorite teacher told me she loved the idea.

As I told you the other day, I told the publisher I didn’t want a penny up front on this book. Courtney and I will fund the scholarship next spring, whether the book sells or not.

When the time comes to sell the book and my publisher puts it in pre-sale, I hope you’ll consider buying it. I promise it’s a happy story with suspense and romance.

I’m proud of how the story turned out and I think you’ll enjoy meeting the characters I’ve created.

Four people on the planet Earth have read it so far and all said it made them laugh and cry. Happy tears.

And with each sale I hope to do a little good in the world in the name of a kind young lady, taken too soon.

You know what’s funny? As I was getting ‘rejection’ emails some publishers said they wanted more ‘heat’ which is code for make it more sleazy. Nope. This novel is rated G.

Others said I needed more ‘action’ on the first five pages but I tried to tell them that’s not how real life is. Real life takes a moment to breathe; especially in Manchester, Vermont.

One even told me she’d consider publish it, if I changed my entire style of writing. She might as well have asked me to change into a unicorn.

I thought about not telling you that the ‘Taylor’ in the book is based on a real person but I thought you should know.

Here are a few photos of Taylor.

Her as we knew at at News10. One with her mom. One of her favorites when she was just a kid and then this last one kinda blew my mind.

The “Taylor” in my novel is NOT a writer, she’s a painter. I wanted her to be different than the real Taylor in that way.