EAST LANSING, MI (WSYM) - — From being diagnosed with autism To becoming the country's first Division I athlete with that diagnosis at Michigan State, Anthony Ianni's story is worth reading about.
That story, Ianni's memoir titled 'Centered,' will soon be available nationwide.
"Two years of hard work coming together, I was excited, but at the same time I wasn't going to be fully happy until I put a pen to paper, e-signature, whatever they wanted these days," Ianni said.
Ianni announced earlier this week on Twitter that he's signing with Indiana University Press, a publisher who jumped at the idea of sharing his story.
"They had the same vision as I do, as far as where we want to take the book, who we want to market it to, we can market it to the sports world, the autism field, schools, people who just love a good underdog story," said Ianni.
Ianni and co-author Robert Keast spent a summer writing, another eight months looking for an agent, and another year searching for a publisher.
He tells me the one thing he's learned about writing his book is patience.
"I was at a point where I was checking my emails every half hour, that's where my wife was like, 'it's gonna happen, you just have to be patient,'" he said. "So it was a long process, but at the same time I had to learn how to trust the process as well."
Part of that process was checking in with his parents, who helped him just like they did when he was growing up.
"With many parents, when their kids leave the nest, they're on their own, but he likes to bounce things off us, and we were as helpful as we could be and interjected ourselves when he wanted us to," his father Greg said. "It's very special, we're extremely proud of him."
And Ianni's proud of himself too, excited that he can share his story beyond his East Lansing roots, just like he's always wanted.
"It tells me one I'm doing my job as a speaker, but it also tells me a lot of people really like what they're hearing."
Ianni and Keast will finish up the manuscript, then send it to IU Press to begin the editing process.
'Centered' is expected to hit the shelves in the fall of 2021.
