A licensed therapist and ordained minister with local ties has penned a book about guilt, grace and the healing power of forgiveness. Hiram Johnson’s book, “Tragic Redemption: Healing the Guilt and Shame” (Langmarc Publishing of Austin, Texas), reflects on the lessons learned from his own personal experiences.

Johnson, who was involved in a tragic car accident in Niceville, Fla. on Christmas Day 1979 in which a 17-year-old girl, a passenger in his car, was killed. Later the tragedy was compounded when her father and 15-year-old sister were killed in unrelated car accidents. Johnson chronicles his severe emotional struggles in coming to terms with his childhood trauma, and his eventual triumph over the devastating event.

Johnson, who lived one year in Greenville while his father served in Vietnam, is the grandson of the late Crawford and Mary Nell Johnson and the late Hubbard Moore and Eunice Mae Ledbetter, all formerly of the Friendship Community. He currently is in private practice in Fairhope.