ROCHESTER — Paul Vick’s resume is impressive. He is an attorney and ordained American Baptist Minister. Now, he can add author to his list of accomplishments.
For the past eight years, Vick has been wading through mountains of research that recently culminated in his memoir, “Where the Cotton Grows: A Missionary Calling Leads a Baptist Family on a Fateful Journey to China Leaving a Lasting Legacy.” The book examines what led Vick’s parents, the Rev. Robert and Dorothy Vick, to embark on missionary work in China. Tragically, the Vicks — along with Paul’s 3-year-old brother, Teddy, and 22 other people — were killed Jan. 28, 1947, in a plane crash in Western China.
Paul, then just 16 months old, was the sole survivor. His father lived just long enough to relay his wishes that Paul be raised by his paternal grandparents in Rochester, New York, where Paul Vick still lives today.
The plane crash made headlines across the globe, even in Baldwinsville — the hometown of Dorothy Flanders Vick. Her father, Lester Flanders, and grandfather, Newton L. Smith, both served as president of Mercer Mill.
Vick recently shared the story of how his book came to be — and his memories of B’ville — with the Messenger. He said he recalled the newspaper from his childhood.
“Some of my finest memories are in the mill,” said Vick, who spent summers and school breaks with Grandpa Flanders.
Young Paul would tag along on visits to clients as far away as Lockport, Binghamton and Wolcott.
“I would travel with my grandfather as a small kid when he went on trips taking orders from bakeries and restaurants. [Imagine this] little, redheaded, freckled kid walking out with a whole shopping cart full of baked goods and pastries,” Vick said.
Kermit Smith, master miller, taught Vick the ropes of the milling business, but Vick opted to go to divinity school and later law school. Flanders sold his stake in the mill in 1965.
As Vick climbed the ladder at the Rochester office of Phillips Lytle LLP and raised a family, he had no plans of following in his parents’ footsteps and doing missionary work abroad. But in 2008, he was asked to serve on the board of American Baptist Foreign Mission Society/International Ministries. The American Baptist community was familiar with the Vick family’s story — Camp Vick, located in Sandusky, New York, was named for Dorothy and Robert — and he collected a wealth of information about his parents’ story over the years.
“There were boxes of letters and newspaper articles relating to the crash that I never really had time to delve into,” Vick said.
Friends and family encouraged Vick to write a book.
“I felt this was something I really needed to do for my family. It’s a legacy,” he said. “This is the story not just about my family but about the American Baptist family too.”
Vick has traveled to China twice in the course of his writing journey. He visited the crash site, an experience he described as “very emotional.”
The process of writing the memoir has helped Vick understand the impact of his parents’ missionary work, which took place toward the end of the Chinese Civil War
“Here was a country that was war-torn and extremely dangerous. We were going out to West China. Why do that?” he said.
In addition to reconciling his parents’ legacy, Vick tackles another vast question in the book.
“Why do bad things happen to good people? I’ve always said that’s the wrong question. The question is, ‘What do you do when bad things happen?’ To me, that’s the more important question to be answered,” he said.
Vick looked to his Grandpa Flanders for inspiration on how to find joy despite tragedy.
“My grandfather Flanders lost five of his six children and his first wife, yet he remained amazing. He was a person who would go out of his way to help others,” Vick said. “I think adversity can give a deeper sense and understanding of the value of life. Every moment is a gift, and what do you do with this gift?”
Learn more about Paul Vick and his memoir at wherethecottongrows.com.
