FAIRHOPE, Ala. — Most of us end each day surrounded by the luxuries of home — including a certain level of security and the guilty pleasure of smooth sheets and a soft pillow. Others have no place to call home, however, and find themselves sleeping under Interstate highway overpasses, on park benches, in the woods or in shelters.

What would you do if forced to step outside your comfort zone, and were thrust into the world of the homeless? For Ron Hall, a wealthy international art dealer, the experience made him spiritually richer than he could have ever expected.

“If I were listening to me telling the story, and I didn’t know it, I would think somebody made it up,” Hall said during a telephone interview last week as he and co-author Denver Moore were traveling from a book-signing in Shreveport to another in Dallas. “The lesson is one person can make a difference, and every life is worth saving.”

The New York Times bestseller, Same Kind of Different As Me, is a look at how homelessness touched three very different lives. It’s the true story of Moore, who was homeless, Hall and Hall’s wife, Deborah, who brought the two men together and helped them find their common humanity.

Hall said, “My heart was never with homeless people. My heart was really for my wife. I would do anything she asked me.”

What Debbie asked was that Hall help serve meals at the homeless shelter where she volunteered. There he met Moore, a man whose life had not been as blessed. Debbie’s dying wish later bonded the men for life.

“I became very attached to the homeless people, and really grew to love many of them,” Hall said. “The story is really about Debbie and Denver.”

Hall was delivered by his grandmother in her farmhouse kitchen near Blooming Grove, Texas in September 1945. His grandfather and the town doctor were serving on the bucket brigade at a barn fire that night.

He showed artistic and literary talent early in life, but initially chose to work as a municipal bond trader at the local bank after Debbie, who was his college sweetheart, showed embarrassment because of the feather duster he carried in his back pocket while selling Campbell’s Soup to grocery stores.

He acquired his first original oil painting in 1971 while in Houston to buy water and sewer bonds for the bank. Less than three months later, he sold it under pressure from Debbie for a $2,000 profit, accidentally launching his art career.

Debbie became upset when she found out Hall bought it on a 90-day loan by pledging the 50 shares of Ford stock her father gave her as a graduation present. He said he used the proceeds from the sale to buy her lavish gifts and get himself out of the doghouse.

He put his art career on hold after 25 years of wheeling and dealing though to realize his dream of being a cowboy. Hall filled his days with ranching, team roping, cowboy poetry and anything else Debbie asked, like being Moore’s friend.

Moore was born in rural Louisiana in January 1937, and after several tragic events went to live on a plantation in Red River Parish with his Uncle James and Aunt Ethel, who were sharecroppers.

The modern day slave began a life as a homeless drifter around 1960 when he hopped a freight train, but was sentenced in 1966 to 10 years at Angola State Prison. After his release, he spent 22 more years on the streets and again rode the rails across the country, visiting different cities and hobo jungles.

Moore met Debbie Hall in a Fort Worth shelter in 1998, and Hall said her deep faith brought the two men together.

“She didn’t go around telling people about Christ, she lived her life so people would wonder why she did the things she did,” he added.

Hall said Debbie took in homeless people, would often wash their feet and always made them feel welcome. Her goal was to help each get back on their feet, and reunite them with their family.

She ultimately singled out Moore, and goaded the suspicious man and her well-to-do husband into a friendship that led to Hall learning the man he had been calling Dallas was actually named Denver.

Although hesitant at first to befriend Moore because of their social differences, Hall discovered how similar they were, thanks to his wife. Their friendship grew stronger when Debbie developed colon cancer.

She passed away in November 2000, and after several sleepless nights, Hall began writing the book at Moore’s suggestion.

“God was preparing her to leave the Earth and gave her a story for us to tell,” Hall said. “Her final words to me were, ‘Don’t give up on Denver. God is going to bless your friendship in ways you can’t imagine.’”

Today, Moore is an artist, public speaker and volunteer for homeless causes. Fort Worth residents honored him in 2006 as Philanthropist of the Year for his work with homeless people at the Union Gospel Mission, where a chapel is named in Debbie Hall’s honor.

Hall invited Moore to move into his guest house seven years ago. The unlikely pair have since walked the streets together, helping homeless men and women they encountered along the way.

Moore used to have to remind Hall not to pigeonhole others.

Hall related a story about a time when he and Moore were walking around an area populated by street dwellers. They met a man asking for help who was unable to stand up, and Hall assumed the man was drunk.

He said Moore admonished him, saying, “‘Don't judge the man, just bless him.’”

It turned out José had been self sufficient at one point in his life, and was in fact a hard worker. He was unsteady on his feet only because he had suffered a stroke, and Hall found out the man didn’t drink.

“I judged a man without knowing his story,” he said. “I looked at many people without knowing their story — the way they looked, the way they smelled, the color of their skin. I found what looks like trash may be a treasure.”

Hall, who is white, and Moore, who is black, have traveled thousands of miles together, sharing their story through the book. They have also received letters and e-mails from people living in 57 countries so far, who said Same Kind of Different As Me inspired them to help the homeless.

They heard from a Seattle woman with an 8-year-old son who told them she decided after reading the book to help the next homeless person they saw.

After leaving the grocery store one day, she and her son walked up to two homeless men standing next to a Dumpster in a nearby alley. They handed over their chicken dinner, and gave each a $20 bill in hopes it would make a difference.

“To her, that was the end of the story,” Hall said. “She felt good about herself.”

But, it wasn’t the end of the story. One of the men took the Andrew Jackson he was given to a bar and began drinking. He became intoxicated, and while there met another woman and told her about the mother and child giving him the money.

He also shared his story of homelessness. The man had not seen his family in 20 years, and they assumed he was dead. The woman purchased a bus ticket and gave it to him so he could go home.

He was immediately embraced by his family, regained his sobriety and turned his life around.

The reformed man then returned to Seattle where he began dating the woman he met at the bar, and eventually asked her to marry him. The man visited the woman and her son who originally helped him out, and invited them to attend the wedding.

Hall said, “We hear (similar) stories about what a simple act of kindness can do. Deborah and I did that many times, buying bus tickets and sending them home.”

Same Kind of Different As Me gave Hall and Moore the motivation and the means to continue carrying Debbie’s torch.

“We didn’t dream big enough to imagine what God had in mind for this book,” Hall said. Inspiring others to help the less fortunate for the right reason is their mission.

“We try to encourage people not to show up and feed the homeless because you feel guilty,” he said.

Hall suggests helping agencies that help homeless men and women transition into productive lives. Giving of your time and your money is equally helpful.

He said, “Homeless shelters are usually the ugliest buildings in the oldest part of town, filled with castoff furniture. Debbie’s dream was for new buildings, new clothes and transitional housing.”

Shelters should offer job placement and medical services as well, Hall stressed.

“The real key to it is relationships. If you’re moved to help the homeless, get to know them,” he said. Hall acknowledged, “There aren’t many in my position who have the time and money.”

That’s why fundraisers are so important, and volunteers are always needed.

The New York Times bestselling authors will sign Same Kind of Different As Me on Monday, Oct. 6, from 4:30-6:30 p.m., at Fairhope United Methodist Church Christian Life Center, 155 S. Section St.

Admission is $5, and ticket proceeds will benefit Family Promise, a faith-based organization that utilizes church facilities and volunteers to serve Baldwin County families in crisis. A portion of the book sales the day of the event will be donated to the Waterfront Rescue Mission, an agency that helps the homeless.

Hall and Moore will also be the featured speakers at a free luncheon on Tuesday, Oct. 7, at the Arthur R. Outlaw Mobile Convention Center, but due to enormous response the luncheon is already “sold out.”

Both the luncheon and the Page & Palette event are made possible due to the hard work in obtaining sponsorships by the nonprofit organization, A New Season. The organization’s purpose is to raise awareness and provide an opportunity for those who are blessed to be a blessing.

Copies of Same Kind of Different As Me will be available for purchase at the luncheon with the proceeds benefiting the Waterfront Rescue Mission.

“Debbie’s life and Denver’s life have helped many people,” Hall said.

For more information, or to purchase tickets for the Fairhope event, contact Page & Palette at (251) 928-5295, or visit them online at www.pageandpalette.com. The authors will exclusively sign all books purchased from Page & Palette. Books will be available for sale at the event.