Willard was born and raised in rural Illinois. He successfully completed a career in the Army and later owned his own automotive business. His previous work, a docu-novel entitled End of a Silence:...view moreWillard was born and raised in rural Illinois. He successfully completed a career in the Army and later owned his own automotive business. His previous work, a docu-novel entitled End of a Silence: Full Moon over Fox Prairie, offers a vivid retelling of a tumultuous event that occurred near his childhood home in the 1800s.view less