William Bishop, a retired dentist, spent the majority of his childhood in Selma and said he owes a lot of his success to the people he knew during that time.

But after leaving for college and spending his adulthood elsewhere, Bishop is coming back to Selma to discuss his book, “Saturday Mornings.”

The book, which focuses a lot on his childhood and time in Selma, didn’t exactly start off that way.

“Really, when I started writing the book, I kind of had revenge as motivation in order to expose some people that I thought had acted very improperly with me in the selling of my practice,” Bishop said.

“In the process of writing stories of my youth and then some as an adult, that I felt like helped me get through the forgiveness phase of this problem that I had with the person that bought my practice.”

Through writing his book, Bishop said he learned forgiveness and the book began to develop.

And although he does discuss the confrontation that started him writing the book, it became a lot more than just that.

“In the process of doing that, my discovery was that I really found out what Christian forgiveness was and my life really changed as I came to grips with all that,” Bishop said.

“I think coming to grips with knowing that I couldn’t be forgiven unless I forgave, is kind of where the book went — I just realized how much I had had, and not how much I had lost.”

The book was published in March, but he worked on it for the last three years, really digging deep into his childhood.

Bishop said one thing he got out of writing his book was coming back in contact with many people that he grew up with.

“Plus, another thing I got out of it was reacquainting myself with a lot of people that I grew up with and discovering how much they had meant to me and how unselfish people of Selma [are],” Bishop said. “And my friends and adults and teachers, how they gave to me to make me successful. I felt like it needed to relay that part of my life.”

Bishop said coming back to Selma to talk about his book and see old friends is something he has wanted to do, and he is excited for the opportunity.

“I’ve thought about this the whole three years I wrote it. I wanted to get back and talk to the people I grew up with and discuss the things that turned out to be so important to me,” Bishop said.

“I’m sure they’ve all gone through similar experiences, and I’d just like to sit down and talk about that with people. It was wonderful growing up in Selma and it just formulated my life. That’s what I am. I’m really excited about coming back and seeing some others.”

Bishop will be at the Selma-Dallas County Public Library Dec. 2 from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. to sign books and speak about his work.

At 2 p.m., he will be at First Baptist Church Selma for a reception and at 6 p.m. he will speak at the church’s Wednesday night prayer meeting.