For the majority of his life, Tom Hernandez has been fascinated about the idea of storytelling.

Born and raised in Joliet, Hernandez has been writing personally and professionally since his childhood.

He was a reporter for 10 years at several suburban daily and weekly newspapers, and wrote a "Slice of Life" column for another 11 years.

Now, Hernandez serves as the Director of Community Relations for the Plainfield School District 202, but that doesn't mean that he's done inspiring and influencing other writers, and those that are close to him.

"He's a very kind, sweet, funny and intelligent human being," said one of his daughters Emma Williams. "His writing has always been a large part of our lives, he was always writing down story ideas and trying to get us into writing and reading."

Williams, who works at the Lockport White Oak Library District, took after her father because of the inspiration he gave her, and constantly being accustomed to Hernandez' work styles.

Hernandez, who is the oldest of three sons, said he enjoys writing about him and his families own experiences because just like life, there are ups and downs.

"Reading is easy, but I love the communication aspect of it and telling stories of marriage, family, relationships, identity, aging, parents, faith social justice and politics," he said. "The writing part I also enjoy because even from a young age, I never wanted to be anything else in the world besides a newspaper reporter."

To date, some of Hernandez most popular books are, "Chocolate Cows and Purple Cheese, and other tales from the homefront", "Abundance- A Collection", "The Edge of Middle- thoughts from the top of the hill", "Write Where We Are", "Cheetah Stories- A WriteOn Joliet Anthology" and his new book called "The Acorn Wars".

Throughout the years, Hernandez said although he has a very busy schedule with his writing and Public Relations occupation, family has always been something that has been his first priority.

"My family and my life I love very much," Hernandez said. "I'm a very blessed man to have the opportunities that have come my way, and I couldn't ask for a better family or life."

Present day, Hernandez and his wife Kellie reside in Plainfield, have two adult daughters and welcomed their first grandchild to the world in 2018. Because Hernandez had to give up his column writing for his job at the Plainfield school district because of past stories he wrote about his current contemporaries, Hernandez is making a stop to a local library for his most recent book, "The Acorn Wars".

From 6:30-8:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 28 at the Lockport Branch Library, Hernandez will discuss the book and do a short and entertaining reading from all of his books and he will donate 75 percent of all the book sales back to the White Oak Library District.

After the presentation, there will be a question and answer session followed by a book signing.

"Anything I can do to help White Oak I'm very fortunate and glad to do," Hernandez said. "I'll always love books, writing and reading, and I'll always try to inspire those around me to do the same, that's just who I am and who I'll always be."