Ann Milholland Webb was raised to believe that a friend in need calls for a covered dish, her son wrote.

&#8220He should be the writer,” she said, laughing.

That statement summarizes Webb well, who was told she would never be a writer (much less a good one) but now has two successful books that buck that notion. Her third book is one dear to her heart.

Using the lost art of letter writing, the 75-year-old Missouri resident found a way to stay connected with a friend who was dying of cancer, all the while giving to a cause close to her heart.

&#8220When I learned that my dear friend, Marlene Porter, had been diagnosed with cancer, I didn’t know what to do for her,” Webb said. &#8220So I wrote her a letter every day.”

After writing a letter a day from Feb. 4 until April 18, when Porter passed away, Webb decided to publish those letters in a book titled &#8220My Dear Marlene.” The proceeds of the book will go to benefit the Kelly Autism Program at the Children’s Education Complex, which is under the umbrella of Western Kentucky University.

&#8220I made the decision to donate the proceeds of the book to the program because of my grandson,” Webb said.

Webb’s grandson, Graham Richardson, is autistic.

On Sept. 11, 2001, Webb said she was returning from her home in Ireland to her home in Independence, Mo., with the final destination being Bowling Green.

&#8220I wanted to be with my grandson to help him celebrate his 10th birthday,” she said.

Needless to say, Webb didn’t make it. The flight was diverted to Gander, Newfoundland, and after being sequestered on the airplane for 29 hours, the passengers were taken by school bus to Lewisporte, where they spent five days.

&#8220I, along with 11 others, were housed in a basement office of the Calypso Foundation,” Webb said. &#8220What I didn’t know when I arrived was that I would be cared for by young folks who were developmentally challenged in various ways and were learning the skills they needed to be able to live on their own. Our care was in the gentle hands of loving people.”

Each year, Webb said she would send a check of thanks to the Calypso Foundation to honor her grandson’s birthday.

But Webb said when she heard of the Kelly Autism program at Western, she wrote her final check to the Calypso Foundation, explaining that she would now support the efforts of a foundation that would one day benefit her grandson, who is now 15.

&#8220I see it as a light in my grandson’s future,” she said. &#8220He’ll benefit from so much that program has to offer, and I think the university is being very innovative with the Children’s Educational Complex. And I think other universities will be looking at Western to develop other programs of its likeness.”

The receipt of the first check to the program, Webb said, prompted a call from Suzanne Vitale.

&#8220At the end of that conversation, we knew we had more in common than our autistic grandsons,” Webb said. &#8220We became friends.”

The decision to donate the proceeds of the 88-page book came after Vitale announced the donation of $750,000 to complete the children’s complex building during a party at the home. It was at that party Webb decided what she wanted to do with the proceeds of her book.

&#8220And I whispered this to my daughter Janice Richardson, Ron Wilson and Linda Kelly,” Webb said, chuckling a bit, &#8220And their looks made me assure them I was only drinking ice water.”

When she was writing the letters, Webb said, Porter was the focus.

&#8220I tried to be as entertaining for her as I could, so I took her along with me and made her a part of my daily routine,” Webb said. &#8220I would write the notes in the evening and tucked them in a card, and mailed them the next morning.

&#8220All I was trying to do was lighten her load and make her laugh, and apparently that’s what I did. Her husband, Paul, said that she would call him into the bedroom and ask, ‘Has the postman arrived yet?’ ”

The book, which was released, hasn’t generated much yet, Webb said.

&#8220The book arrived in the middle of a snowstorm carried on a truck that nobody could find,” she said. &#8220I was climbing the walls.”

But Webb said she looks for it to be another bestseller like her first two; &#8220The Connemara Bus: A Journey Through the Past in Ireland,” which was a best-seller in Ireland, and &#8220Irish Reflections,” which was nominated for the 28th annual Thorpe Menn Award for Literary Excellence.

Although all the details aren’t finalized, Webb will be in Bowling Green in January to promote her book of letters to her friend. And with three books under her belt, Webb said she is looking for her next adventure.

&#8220When I turned 70, I climbed a mountain in Ireland,” she said. &#8220At 71, I took a hot air balloon trip over Berlin … at 75 I got my first tattoo,” she said. &#8220So for 76, I think I’ll try parasailing.”