Calvin Kytle of Carolina Meadows has always wanted to write a novel. This month, at age 87, his dream will be realized with the publication of "Like a Tree," his 429-page novel set in Atlanta during the Depression.

The title comes from a line in a Methodist hymn, "like a tree standing by the water, I shall not be moved," which was sung by 1960s civil rights marchers.

The novel has received endorsements from a diverse group of national personalities: Vernon Jordan, former head of the Urban League and civil rights leader; Ernie Harwell, the "voice of the Detroit Tigers;" and Tom Teepen, syndicated newspaper columnist.

Jordan calls the novel "a sweeping, elegantly crafted story that explores Atlanta's and the south's complex racial and social past."

Kytle wrote the book over the last two years. "I drew upon what was most vivid in my memory: growing up in South Carolina and Georgia during the 1920s and '30s," he said.

The novel's main character, Douglas Krueger, falls into a depression just as the real U.S. Depression gets under way. The novel follows his road to recovery, which parallels that of the country.

"Unlike many Southern authors, I wanted to write about a functional Southern family," Kytle said. "The family in my novel is white, middle-class and Protestant. It reflects a liberal white community in Georgia that was largely invisible, yet influential in improving race relations and the political system. Writing the novel was great therapy."

Kytle said he first sent the book to a New York agent who returned it to him, saying, "There is no market today for a literary novel like this one which has so little violence, no gimmicks, and no kinky sex."

John Egerton, a Southern historian, suggested Kytle try publisher Randall Williams of New South Books in Montgomery, Ala. Williams accepted the novel and will market it in book stores and on the Internet.

Although this is his first work of fiction, Kytle has written other books: "Gandhi, Soldier of Non-violence," a biography for young people; "Unjust in the Much," a book on the North Carolina death penalty co-edited with Daniel H. Pollitt, a UNC law professor; and "Who Runs Georgia?" an account of the 1947 political crisis involving Gov. Eugene Talmadge. Co-authored with James Mackay, a former Georgia congressman, the report was commissioned by members of the Southern Regional Council, the Atlanta Urban League, the Anti-Defamation League and other "liberal" organizations. It documented the Talmadge Era as seen through the eyes of local politicians and civic leaders in each of Georgia's counties.

"The report was not widely distributed, but it became sort of an underground resource in several universities," Calvin said. "Fifty years later (1998), it was reprinted as a book by the University of Georgia Press."

Kytle is not new to publishing, either. Following a 30-year career as an insurance executive, director of a federal civil-rights agency, and head of his own Washington-based public relations firm, in 1978 he founded Seven Locks Press, which published nonfiction mainly in the fields of public policy, politics, health and race relations. He sold the company in 1991 after retiring to Carolina Meadows.

Kytle was interested in writing early on. He worked his way through Emory University partly as a reporter for the Atlanta Constitution. After graduating in 1941, he served in Gen. Douglas MacArthur's Australian headquarters, editing a weekly newsmagazine for troops in the Southwest Pacific. Later he contributed to magazines such as Harper's, Coronet and Saturday Review.

Kytle's wife, Elizabeth, also is a distinguished author. Her book "Willie Mae," a first-person biography of a Georgia black domestic worker, was on the 1958 New York Herald Tribune's bestseller list. Published by Knopf, it is still in print.

Her true story, "The Voices of Robby Wilde," chronicles the life of a mentally disturbed man. It was lauded by psychiatrists and psychologists and used in university courses. "Four Cats Make One Pride," beautifully illustrated with Elizabeth's color photos, chronicles how cats communicate with one another and their owners. It, too, received praise from psychologists.

Carolina Meadows seems to attract writers. The library has an entire shelf filled with books written by residents such as Bill Aycock, Amos Hawley, Peggy Hollingsworth, Elizabeth McMahan, Nannette Melcher, Joseph Patterson, Elizabeth Ryan, Virginia Sampson, Margaret Wharton and Andrew Secrest. Robert Huddleston has a biography about his father-in-law, a World War II spy, coming out soon.

While most of the authors completed their books while at Carolina Meadows, Elizabeth McMahan found she worked best on her illustrations for "Cammie" while on a container ship bound for Australia. In fact, it took two voyages.

Elizabeth Ryan completed her detailed history of Hillsborough, Chapel Hill and Carrboro, "Orange County Trio," in time for the county's 250th anniversary celebration of its founding in 2002. The book took five years to research and write, including a final year after moving to Carolina Meadows.

Other writers have published their stories, poems and essays in "Voices," the Carolina Meadows literary magazine, the only publication of its kind in North Carolina.