York prosecutor was helped by teacher 40 years ago. Now there’s a movie about it.

Words changed the life of a skinny, freckle-faced kid terrified of a new school. Teachers who read those words in books to wide-eyed kids can change lives, too.

For York County’s top prosecutor, it was both.

The actions of one Florida teacher for prosecutor Kevin Brackett more than 40 years ago were so inspiring, a movie has been made about the love of the teacher, a book she read, and the book and life she gave.

“Mrs. Elizabeth McSheehy enriched my life, changed my life,” Brackett said. “It all started with a book.”

That book was “Where the Red Fern Grows,” by Wilson Rawls, about a young boy and his dream to own hunting dogs.

Brackett was a military brat whose father was stationed with the Air Force all over the world. He changed schools many times. In 1975 he was in the fifth grade in Fort Walton Beach, Fla. McSheehy was his teacher at Kenwood Elementary School.

Brackett was the new kid, again. McSheehey read the book to the class. She told young Brackett he could be anything he wanted to be.

When Brackett moved to yet another school, he was heartbroken.

His first day at the new school, a package arrived at his classroom. Inside was a copy of “Where the Red Fern Grows.”

Not just any copy. It was McSheehy’s paperback copy. And now it was his.

He was a star in his new class.

“Everyone wanted to be my friend,” Brackett remembered after 44 years as if it were yesterday.

That kindness and the words and the book helped chart Brackett’s path. McSheehy fueled his love for words. Brackett is now an elected solicitor for the 16th Judicial Circuit in South Carolina that covers York and Union counties. He is the top prosecutor for 300,000-plus people.

In 2017, Brackett wrote McSheehy a letter thanking her for what she did all those years ago. The letter was so touching that a short movie about the impact was made. That movie, “The Gift of the Red Fern,” has been seen at screenings in Florida and New York. It has won awards.

The star of the 10-minute movie is not Brackett. It is McSheehy.

McSheehy’s family, including her daughter who works with CBS, and other family members, made the short film.

It will be shown in its South Carolina premier Thursday at the Underexposed Film Festival York County at Winthrop University. It is also scheduled for the Myrtle Beach International Film festival in April. It will be seen in Texas and other states, too.

McSheehy, now 85 years old, came to York County this week to meet with Brackett and attend the Winthrop screening.

Wednesday they went to Fort Mill’s Springfield Elementary School, where Brackett’s daughter attended school years ago.

Principal Peter Olinger told the assembled staff how the idea that teachers could impact the lives of students every day was not just a speech. It was real.

In a chair sat McSheehy.

In the school library, every school’s den of books and words and dreams and hope, Brackett tried not to cry as he told the teachers how special they are and how special the lady next to him is.

Brackett read the letter he wrote to McSheehy. He thanked the teachers for their hard work. He told those teachers these words: “I believe every one of you can be a Mrs. McSheehy.”

The teachers gave Elizabeth McSheehy an ovation.

Some of the teachers wiped tears away.

McSheehy thanked them all.

In her three decades of teaching, McSheehy said her job, her role, was to show children just like Brackett that each one could be, and would be, great.

“I helped them to soar,” she said of her thousands of students.

Brackett beamed standing next to his real-life hero. He still has that dog-eared copy of the book. He has carried it with him his whole life.

He carried it Wednesday.

“My teacher,” Brackett said of McSheehy. “I never forgot you.”

Want to go?

“The Gift of the Red Fern” will air in a block between 7 and 9 p.m. Thursday at the Winthrop University’s DiGiorgio Campus Center in Rock Hill. Brackett and McSheehy will be there to answer audience questions.

The film festival runs through Saturday at Winthrop.

For information about tickets and seeing the film, go to underexposedfilmfestivalyc.org and yorkcountyarts.org.

This story was originally published March 27, 2019 at 5:27 PM.