Karessa Lang said her grandfather, George Dawson, would have been awed by the success of the book, "Life Is So Good" — which he co-authored and which was inspired by his life and how he learned to read at the age of 98.

"He would just be in awe," said Lang, of Killeen, Texas. "If he was sitting here right now he'd say, 'God is amazing.'"

Area residents gathered at Washtenaw Community College Saturday to hear author Richard Glaubman talk of the book and his friendship with Dawson, who died in 2001 at the age of 103. The book is the focus of this year's Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Reads program.

While Dawson learned to read and write at the age of 98, his "real accomplishment was that in 100 years of daily struggle, the desire to learn was still very strong," Glaubman said to the crowd that nearly filled the Towsley Auditorium.

Glaubman remarked at Dawson's optimism, despite the adversity and injustices he experienced in his lifetime.

Glaubman said learning to read was bittersweet for Dawson — he finally was able to sign his name and read the Bible, but he also discovered that the "working-man's history" he had wanted to read "was so rarely recorded."

Lang told the audience her grandfather "didn't worry about anything" and "always found the good" in situations. She said the family never knew Dawson was illiterate, especially given the fact that he encouraged each of his seven children to excel academically, often helping them with their homework. Each of his children graduated from college.

"That takes a special kind of person," she added.

Carolyn Morado, of Ann Arbor, and her friend Steve Nason, of Jackson, Michigan, attended the event.

"I usually come to the Ann Arbor Reads (event) each year and this year it was wonderful," Morado said. "It's a book of such depth and — I'm going to cry — such a life."

Nason, who said he's about halfway through the book, said reading it has been an "emotional" experience.

"You hear about lynchings, you hear about discrimination ... but to hear him tell it, for me, was very emotional," he said after the presentation.

Morado added, of the book, "You can't put it down."

Paula Williams-Jones, of Ypsilanti, said she read about the event in the AnnArbor.com print edition Thursday and decided to get a copy of the book.

"I can't wait to read it," she said, after having her book signed by the author Saturday. "The presentation was fantastic."

Williams-Jones said the problem of illiteracy persists today.

"The fact that people are passed through schools and are still illiterate — I know of a person in their 50s, who passed the Ypsilanti School District and can't read or write," she said.

Glaubman said the book's title is a phrase Dawson often said.

Lang recalled her grandfather saying, "Life is so good and I do believe it's getting better every day."

Heather Lockwood is a reporter for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at heatherlockwood@annarbor.com or follow her on Twitter.