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ROY — Life can change in an instant, without warning, and nobody knows that more than Bryon Saxton. But if you were to ask those who know him best, it isn't what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.
In 2015, after 29 years and 8 months of working as a journalist for a local newspaper, Saxton was let go. Faced with financial uncertainty, he took a job at a Chick-fil-A restaurant. Still wanting to make a difference in his community, he ran for public office in the city of Roy and won.
During that time, Saxton found his voice again, authoring a series of fictional books loosely based on stories from his own life. A few years later, however, life took another turn and Saxton began experiencing extreme neurological setbacks making it very difficult, if not impossible, to do the things he loves.
Having witnessed the trials their dad has faced, Saxton's children have made a goal to help his dream of becoming an accomplished author come true. His daughter, Julia Saxton, recently posted a video featuring her dad and many of his accomplishments and trials over the years.
The video has been viewed over 50,000 times — many of those viewers from different stages of her dad's life, praising a man who Julia Saxton says just keeps on giving.
"He's always been a man who gives and gives," she said. "Watching my dad go from doing something that he loved so much to something that he needed to do was hard. It's hard to watch someone you love have to give up something they love long before they are ready to give it up."
Even though it was difficult seeing her dad leave his career in journalism, Julia Saxton said he thrived at the restaurant and made many friends there.
"My dad has always had this incredible work effort," she said. "People have naturally gravitated to him because he makes them feel like a someone. Even though it was hard to watch him take that job at Chick fil-A — it was a perfect fit. … He loved working and interacting with those members, and he became a piece of the community. Any chance he had to hear people's stories, he loved, and even though he was no longer writing about them, he still loved hearing their stories."
People have naturally gravitated to him because he makes them feel like a someone.
–Julia Saxton
Bryon Saxton began his career in journalism at the Signpost at Weber State University, and then covered politics and breaking news for the Standard Examiner in Ogden. According to his daughter, growing up with a dad as a reporter gave her chances to learn from him and bond with him through written words.
"He passed along his love of writing to me," Julia Saxton said. "I wrote for the Standard Examiner as a teenager, interned in the newsroom and did freelance work. There were a couple of times when he and I were the only ones on the front cover. It was always really special to share the writing experience with him."
Even though Bryon Saxton's news beat was mostly politics, Julia Saxton said her dad made it a point to make sure his kids focused on things that brought them together, rather than things that divided them.
"Dad taught us that there is so much more to life than the political parties, religions and social demographics that divide us," she said. "He has taught us what life is truly meant to be about, which is to love everyone."
Turning darkness into light
As life took unexpected turns, Bryon Saxton began to write again, as a way of both coping and finding a sense of himself. His book series that now consists of three books is titled "Dry Blood Springs" and, according to his son Chase Saxton, it is very much his dad's life story.
The series is about a vampire who comes to a southern Utah town, and the main character is a news reporter named Jef, who Chase Saxton said is an unlikely hero.
"The chapters in the book are written like a newspaper article, and Jef is the unlikely hero who is smart and witty and uses the news to inform people about the vampire," he explained. "There are little things in the book that are fun. For instance, Jef is spelled with one 'f,' which is funny because of how many people mess up my dad's name. People often call him 'Byron.'
"My mom and dad come from a mixed-faith marriage, originally, and so there's some of that in there," Chase Saxton said. "Every character in the book series is written after someone my dad knows. And what's crazy is that, to this day, my dad has not told us which characters are which."
Julia Saxton said it has been cathartic to read her dad's books, and she says there are a lot of things in the books that are relatable to everyone.
"He took his life events and the people he has grown to love, and then took a pen to paper and brought his story to life," she said. "It's cathartic to read the books, see the characters and storyline come to life, and know what some of those things are based off of.
"One thing about my dad is, even with the many curve balls thrown at him, he still finds a way to make the most of it and to keep changing the narrative. I think a lot of people can learn from and relate to the books."
Making dad's dream a reality
With Bryon Saxton's recent neurological challenges, the physical act of speaking — let alone writing — has dwindled to a near impossible feat. Due to this, Julia and Chase Saxton have taken it upon themselves to find a way to keep their dad's story going for as long as possible, even helping him continue to write it.
"We've got to make some good stuff happen for him right now," Julia Saxton said. "He went from being a gregarious go-getter, to being so limited in what he can even do on a day-to-day basis.
"I want to underscore how much I look up to this man. He is the type of person that the world needs more of. If I could bottle his soul up and give it to every person on the globe, world peace would be conquered in 48 hours. He deserved good things to happen to him."
"If there's one thing that I could have everyone know about my dad, it's that he has done everything in his life with the intent to impact people and change the world," Chase Saxton added.
While Bryon Saxton offered only a few words during the interview, those words spoke volumes.
"Anytime I get to tell my story, whether it's in story form or book form, I appreciate it," he said. "A book is no good unless it's read."
With the help of his children, Bryon Saxton is working on his fourth book in the "Dry Blood Springs" series. All of the available books can be found on Amazon.
