Fort Wayne, IN – December 2025 — Author, educator, speaker, Lafayette native, Purdue graduate, and Fort Wayne resident, Stuart D. Jones, Ph.D., just released his debut memoir, For the Love of Stephen: The Story of a Boy Who Was Never Broken (Every Life Publishing © 2025). He is the son of Carroll County residents who live in Flora, Keith and Phyllis Jones.
More than a memoir, the book is a testimony of love, resilience, and the enduring power of family against societal prejudice.
Born three months premature in the 1950s and diagnosed with what was then called “mental retardation,” Stephen Keith Jones was not expected to survive—let alone thrive. Doctors urged his parents to place him in an institution. Instead, they chose love. What followed was a life that defied expectations, broke barriers, and became a beacon for inclusion at a time when society was not ready to embrace it.
Told through the eyes of his brother, Stuart, For the Love of Stephen blends candid family storytelling with humor and sharp social commentary. It traces Stephen’s journey in Lafayette through classrooms that weren’t ready for him, workplaces where he found pride and purpose, and friendships that revealed both humanity’s cruelty and its extraordinary kindness.
About the Book
For the Love of Stephen: The Story of a Boy Who Was Never Broken is more than a family memoir—it is a mirror, a memorial, and a movement. It challenges readers to confront the labels society imposes on people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and to consider what is lost when we fail to see them fully.
Publication Date: December 2025
Format: Paperback, Hardcover, eBook, and Audiobook
Publisher: Every Life Publishing
Pages: 348
ISBN: 979-8-89694-939-8
Available: Distributed through Amazon’s KDP platform
About the Author
Stuart D. Jones, Ph.D., is a retired higher-education executive, former church minister, professional speaker, and lifelong advocate for disability inclusion. He has spoken at universities, churches, and conferences worldwide, but no credential has shaped him more than being Stephen’s brother. For the Love of Stephen is his first narrative nonfiction memoir—and his most personal work.
Stuart grew up in Lafayette, Indiana, is a Purdue University graduate, and currently lives in Fort Wayne. His parents are Keith and Phyllis Jones of Flora, Indiana.
