Over the past several months, Richard Manganaro made two of his dreams come true.

First, at the urging of a mutual friend, he flew from his home in Florida in order to meet Coplay resident Sophie Kesselring.

He recalled getting off the plane and seeing Kesselring playfully hiding behind her daughter, Amanda.

He knew she was the one, he said.

"We connected," he said.

She helped him make a second dream come true – the publication of "How to be Positive: Manifesting Your Dreams and Discovering Your True Self." Released in mid spring, it is a collection of stories of events that have shaped his life.

"They are the memories I rely upon to remind me of all the people, places and experiences I have lived and learned from," he writes in the book's forward.

The book started out as a blog, he said.

"I started getting feedback from all over the world saying, 'This is good stuff. It ought to be out there,'" he said.

He completed the original version of the book in 2012. Then, in 2013, he met Kesselring.

She thought the word "blog" was too generic and, instead, decided his stories should be called "affirmations," he said.

After doing nothing with the book for several months, Manganaro got started again.

"I just sat down and I think it probably took me three weeks to revise the whole book, get it back to my editor," he said.

He uses the pen name Richard Osborne in honor of his grandmother, Lillian Osborne, who helped him get started on the path to writing.

When he was 2, his grandmother realized he most likely was suffering from hearing loss. Tests revealed a 65 percent hearing loss in both ears, he said.

The treatment was a hearing aid, which was quite different from those found today. It actually was a box with a harness worn around his neck.

Manganaro remembers being ridiculed by other students.

"I actually took my hearing aid and flushed it down the toilet at school," he said.

He found a safe haven with his grandmother, who lived next door to a library and took him there every day, he said.

"She was from England and she'd read all the great classics," he said.

She also had him read aloud to develop reading and pronunciation skills.

"I missed out on so much in school," he said. "I was very blessed to have a grandmother who took the time with me and taught me."

Manganaro avoided other children, retreating to the library and a world of books. He still holds libraries in high regard.

"The library is a resource. I don't care what they come up with electronically," he said, adding nothing is the same as walking into a physical library.

He began writing at the age of 8, he said.

"I submerged myself in writing and music," he said. "It was my way of connecting with the world without having to socially interact."

He and his grandmother often sat outside together and he learned from her to appreciate nature. Some of his first written works were about the natural world, he said.

Manganaro, who will be 58 July 29, did not enroll in college until he was approaching age 40.

He enrolled in Caldwell College in North Caldwell, N.J., in order to take advantage of an external degree program. He met with each professor once and then did his work independently, he said.

"It was ideal for me because I didn't have to sit in a traditional classroom," he said.

He used college writing assignments as a platform for advocacy, writing about the Americans with Disabilities Act and the resources available to those with hearing loss.

He earned a bachelors degree in business administration and a masters in global management, graduating in 1999.

He remembers walking during commencement and his two children, Evan, now 23, and Erica, now 21, running out into the aisle to hug him.

"To me, it was setting an example for them that it's never too late," he said.

Still, he struggled with his self image, saying he wore his hair long for many years so his hearing aids would not be visible. Eventually he learned to accept his hearing loss and became comfortable talking about it with others.

Since his first visit from Florida this spring, Manganaro decided to stay in Coplay to be near Kesselring.

"This is my home now. I love it because it reminds me a lot of where I grew up," said Manganaro, a native of Metochen, N.J. "Being new to Coplay, I want to come in as a positive member of this community. I love the town of Coplay. I love the people here."

Manganaro's book is available on Amazon.com. Because another author has the name Richard Osborne, he said those interested in checking out his book should type in the title as well as the author name.