Will Malone, the grandson of Steele Malone of Bainbridge, has written a 207-page biography about his grandfather, an 86-year-old veteran, engineer and family man.

Will Malone’s book, An Interview With My Grandfather, retails for $17.14 and is available at the online retailer, www.lulu.com.

Malone said the book is a story of his grandfather’s life, which including growing up in the South during the Great Depression, serving as a medic in World War II, and how he achieved a successful career in southwest Georgia.

“I think his story is of interest to anyone of my grandfather’s generation, as well as anyone who knows people of that generation,” he said. “I think this would also be of interest to people who want to know what it was like to grow up in this region.”

Will Malone said it took him about a year to complete the book. In summer 2010, he visited his grandfather and completed the interview sessions over a course of two days. He also talked with his grandfather regularly, to ask follow-up questions and request more information.

He completed the first draft in summer and finished the manuscript in November.

“Even at 86, ‘Papa Steele’ has a great memory and keeps excellent records,” the younger Malone said. “We could more or less follow the events of his life chronologically. I was hearing these stories for the first time, and he was telling many of them for the first time.

“Papa Steele has been an engineer all of his life, and still thinks like one. So, in a way, I think he appreciated the opportunity to take all the pieces of his life, lay them out on the table, and see how they fit together.”

The young authors said he worked as a newspaper reporter for several years, and had previously interviewed World War II veterans. However, he had never attempted a full book until this one.

“I decided to approach my grandfather about writing the book, primarily because I knew the broad details of some of the things he had seen and accomplished in his life, and I wanted our family to have a record of his experiences,” he said. “At the same time, it felt like my grandfather would appreciate a chance for our family, especially future generations of our family, to learn more about our own history.

“But I knew he was too modest to write his own life story, so I was happy to do it for him.”