ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Paul Hutchens was born on April 7th, 1902.

His parents were Ira and Eva Hutchens.

They lived on a farm in Sugar Creek township near Thorntown, Indiana.

Paul started his education in a little one room country school.

He had six brothers, Leo, Raymond, Forest, Haven, Lester, and Carl. He also had two sisters, Mabel and Nina. Paul said in later years that he and his brothers were the real Sugar Creek Gang. The real gang is pictured below, with Paul third from the right. Not pictured is Raymond who went to live in heaven when he was still a boy.

When Paul grew up, his first career was as an evangelist. He graduated from Moody Bible Institute, and then travelled around the United States preaching revival services and leading people to Christ. In 1925 he was ordained as a Baptist minister.

While at Moody, Paul met and fell in love with a young woman named Jane Freerks. They soon married, and she joined him on his crusades. Sometimes he would sing in a men's quartet, and Jane would accompany them on piano.

Only a few years into his career, Paul was sidelined from the ministry when he was diagnosed with tuberculosis. Though his time as an evangelist was cut short, Paul estimated that he had preached 1,777 sermons and witnessed 2,500 conversions. While recuperating from his illness, he tried his hand at writing, and soon discovered that he had a great talent for it. The first Sugar Creek Gang book was printed by Eerdman's publishing in 1939. In addition to the 36 Sugar Creek Gang books, Paul also wrote 3 books in the "Jeanie" series for teens, and 21 successful books for adults. He also compiled 3 books of sheet music entitled "Manna In Music," and a book of his mother's favorite poems, entitled "Trails of Yesteryear - Ye Olde Sugar Creek Scrapbook." In 1962 Paul published his autobiography "My Life and I." It is now available as an audio book from Beloved Books.

Paul and Jane had one child, a daughter named Pauline. She joined her parents in their various enterprises, which included song writing, radio shows, a magazine called "This Is Life," and eventually forming their own publishing company "Sugar Creek Press."

Paul played basketball in college, and during his early years as a preacher he honed his skill as a champion horse-shoe pitcher. His lifelong sporting passion, however, was fishing. He loved to take his family and vacation at lakes in Michigan, Minnesota, and Iowa.

In the 1960's, Paul obtained the copyrights to the first eleven Sugar Creek Gang books, and eventually licensed the entire series to Moody Press. The last copyright issued to Paul for a Sugar Creek Gang book was for "The Tree House Mystery" in 1972. Paul went home to be with the Lord in 1977. Jane joined him in heaven a year later in 1978.

Pauline married Kyle Wilson in 1948. In the years since her father's death, she has continued to supervise reprints of the Sugar Creek Gang series, with input from her five children, Larry, Janie, Paul, Jill, and Dawn. Pauline's family is pictured below in 1962, 1998, 2007, and 2013.

More Family Photos

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