Special moments from childhood motivate a Florida author and evangelist in his quest to spread the good word about love and redemption.

And those special moments, he says, came from spending time in Tamaqua, the setting for several of his short stories.

Philip Minnick, 71, of Fruitland Park, is visiting for a week to distribute copies of a new book as a way to show gratitude to a place he feels helped shape his character.

“Tamaqua is very special to me for many reasons. It’s where my great grandparents and grandparents lived and where my father was raised,” he says.

Minnick’s grandparents, Kiah and Eva Minnick, lived at 106 Gay St. So, in a sense, Tamaqua is “home” even if Minnick grew up 1,100 miles away.

“When I was 9 months old, my parents moved to Florida. Every summer throughout the 1950s and 1960s we traveled back to Tamaqua for several weeks and enjoyed family reunions, daily swimming at the Bungalow, Heisler’s Dairy, walks up the mountain to Table Rock, and countless other great memories. As an adult I still travel to visit Tamaqua.”

Minnick, a semiretired flooring salesman, is a writer of inspirational short stories. He visited the Schuylkill County town in August 2021 to complete his illustrated, 100-page “Philip’s Little Book Of Miracles.”

“Six of the 31 stories happened in and around Tamaqua,” he says, adding that he felt it fitting to choose a picture of Table Rock for the front cover as the valley below is where his life journey began.

On Saturday, Minnick spent several hours greeting residents at a small table set up near the entrance to the Tamaqua train station. There, he signed free copies of what he says is the first of many more editions.

“More books will be coming and the front and back covers will always be the same.”

The back cover depicts the natural drinking water spring located above Bungalow Park.

Minnick is devoted to the Tamaqua-Panther Valley area.

“My great-grandparents were from Coaldale.” He also has ties to Summit Hill.

Even though he grew up in the Orlando area, Tamaqua has had a profound effect on him.

“This is where my heritage is and where everything began. Every year for 17 years we came home here for three weeks to visit relatives. So much is ingrained in me.”

A steady stream of local residents kept Minnick busy signing books.

One said she remembers visiting the Minnick family’s North Ward neighborhood long ago when her aunt lived nearby.

“She’s Barbara Cienki. She was Barbara Schaefer,” said niece Libby Klingaman.

Klingaman picked up extra copies for family members Eric and Christopher and Schuylkill Avenue neighbor Judy Arnold Schmauch.

That sense of caring about one another is part of what Minnick cites as special in the local area.

“This town is so unique and different. There’s so much love in this town.”

Minnick expects to be in Tamaqua most of the week.

He can be reached at phmjer333@gmail.com.