The Roberts Siblings Honor Their Mother’s Legacy of Faith in New Book 'Lucy Sings'
For Sally Ann Roberts and Lawrence Roberts, the songs and words of their mother are ones that ring true. In their new children's book Lucy Sings, the two siblings tell personal stories of their mother's life and illustrative stories of their mother's faith. Sally Ann and Lawrence are the siblings of Good Morning America host Robin Roberts, but the two are very clear that the book isn't about their influential sister; it's about the faith and stories that their mother instilled in them.
Crosswalk Headlines: Okay, Lawrence, how did Sally get you to say yes to writing with her?
Lawrence Roberts: We've shared stories back and forth, you know, and this was going on for quite some time. I'd write something. She'd write something, and then we started on this particular work. My mother's story is so powerful. We just started thinking about this as a greater, larger work. The publisher saw just a segment, and they said this segment was fantastic. They then asked if we should focus on this segment of her life, which God sent. We just had a lot of fun working on it. I would tweak, Sally would send it back, I would send it back to her, and so on. Our mother's story speaks of her faith and how she loved Jesus.
CWH: Sally, was it hard going back over some of the stories of your mother?
Sally Roberts: I think about my mother's life as a blessing to me -- to have Lucy Marian Roberts as my mother. She could change the atmosphere wherever she went. She was well known in our community and served on many different boards and commissions, but she always took the Lord with her. She always had a word of encouragement for people. My mother was not timid about speaking her faith in every situation, and letting people know they loved them. My mother also had the gift of singing. She would sit at the piano, and she would sing her hymns, and all those hymns were just like she changed the atmosphere of the home. We could be going through difficult times or having challenges of one kind or another. When my mother hit those keys and started singing, we just felt the light around us.
CWH: Why do you think your mother's story needed to be told?
SR: My Mom's story needed to be told. I spoke to my mother about the book, but I didn't know that at the time, my mother only had a few months left. It was a shock when she passed away. I'm so grateful that the historian in our family, Lawrence, my brother Butch, he has a remarkable memory as well as documents about our family. And, um, so it was a perfect match.
CWH: What do you think your mother would say about the book?
SR: I know my mother is singing in heaven right now and rejoicing.
CWH: The book describes so many stages of your mother's life. How did you know which stages to include?
LR: We were a military family, and we moved twenty-seven times. Everywhere we went, my mother, when she set up shop, we knew certain things were going to happen. First, we were going to find a church; we knew the house would be filled with music, and we knew the house would be filled with love, in a broader sense. To your question, my mother's story is about history, the history of this country. Throughout the twenty-seven times that we moved, my mother instilled in us those stories, and I'm just thankful that we're here to tell the story.
Photo Credit: ©Screengrab from YouTube/Tamron Hall Show
Originally published July 09, 2025.
